Ernie Els

On December 31, 1998, he married Liezl Wehmeyer in Cape Town. They have two children, Samantha Leigh Els and Ben Neels Els.

The skilled golfer began to exhibit a logo of ‘Autism Speaks’ on his golf bag, in 2008. ‘Autism Speaks’ is an US organization that raises awareness about autism and sponsors research on the condition. Ernie later revealed that his 5-year-old son, Ben, has autism.

He and his wife remain involved in a lot of charitable activities related to autism. In 2009, he came up with the ‘Els for Autism Pro-Am,’ an annual charity golf event. The proceeds of its first event, amounting to US$ 725,000, were donated to ‘The Renaissance Learning Center’ that is devoted to autistic children. The couple also set up the ‘Els Center of Excellence’ and hopes to build a new campus for ‘The Renaissance Learning Center.’

He was born on October 17, 1969, in Johannesburg, South Africa, to Hettie and Neels Els. He was raised in Lambton, Germiston.

As a child, he played tennis, cricket, and rugby and began playing golf at 8 years of age. His father, who worked at the ‘Germiston Golf Club’ as a trucking executive, was the first person to teach him golf. With time, he began to outperform his father and older brother, Dirk, in the game.

He started excelling in tennis too and won the ‘Eastern Transvaal Junior Championship’ at 13 years of age. However, after becoming a “scratch handicap” by the age of 14, he made up his mind to focus on golf. He participated in the Boys 13–14 category of the ‘IMG Academy Junior World Golf Championship’ in 1984 and won it.

Moving on, he won the ‘South African Amateur Championship’ shortly after turning 17 years old. With this, he surpassed the earlier record of Gary Player and became the youngest player ever to win the championship.

He turned professional in 1989, after winning the ‘South African Amateur Stroke Play Championship’ that year.

He aced the ‘Sunshine Tour Order of Merit’ in the 1991–1992 season and again in the 1994–1995 season. Meanwhile, he earned his first tournament win outside his homeland in 1993 at the ‘Dunlop Phoenix Tournament,’ a yearly event on the ‘Japan Golf Tour.’

His first major championship title came in 1994, when he won the ‘United States Open Championship,’ also referred to as the ‘US Open,’ at the Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, with a score of 279 (–5), while Scottish golfer Colin Montgomerie and American golfer Loren Roberts finished as runners-up.

His initial years saw him playing across the globe and winning the ‘Dubai Desert Classic’ on the ‘European Tour’ in 1994. He won the title in the years 2002 and 2005 too.

The year 1994 turned out to be extremely prolific for Els, as he won his first ‘World Match Play Championship’ title that year, defeating Scottish player Colin Montgomerie 4 & 2. He defended the title the following year, beating Australian golfer Steve Elkington 3 & 1. He also won the ‘GTE Byron Nelson Golf Classic’ tournament in 1995.

He has several records to his name, such as retaining his spot among the Top 10 of the ‘Official World Golf Ranking’ for most consecutive weeks (758 weeks), from June 19, 1994, to January 11, 2009. He also made the most successive cuts (82) on the ‘European Tour,’ starting from the ‘Johnnie Walker Classic’ in 2000. Other endeavors of Els include running a golf-course design business and a wine-making business. He also has a charity, known as the ‘Ernie Els and Fancourt Foundation,’ which identifies talented and prospective young people in golf, primarily from underprivileged families of his homeland and aids them morally and financially in following their golfing dreams.