Hall Of Famer - Ernie Els

Ernie Els could be thought of as a globetrotter in a way due to his international playing. All of his international golf was giving the administrators at the PGA Tour a headache trying to figure out how to keep Els playing only in the United States and for the PGA Tour.

He does not just play in the tournaments he wins them.

Being born in Johannesburg South Africa in 1969 Els was playing many sports when he was a child including tennis. Winning the Eastern Transvaal Junior Championships at age 13 Ernie could have taken the tennis route and the game of golf would not have had the privilege to watch the man play.

At the age of 14 Els, beats Phil Mickelson in the Junior World Golf Championship in 1984 giving Els his first tournament win. In 1989, Ernie turned professional months after he won the South African Amateur Stroke Play Championship. Not taking long to get his first professional win at the Southern African Tour in 1991 Ernie was on his way to golfing stardom.

Ernie birdies his second hole in sudden death playoff at the 1994 U.S. Open taking the win away from Loren Roberts and Colin Montgomeri, giving Els his first PGA Tour win, not his last.

Having 64 professional wins from all over the world, Ernie has done some traveling in his career. Winning 18 PGA Tour events and 3 major’s the U.S. Open in 1994, 1997 and The Open Championship in 2002.

Ernie’s best year was in 2002 when he started with a victory at Heineken Classic and later that year taking the win away from the number one player in the world Tiger Woods. Perhaps Els best play was at The Open Championship at Muirfield when Ernie stood on top with a win in a four-man play off, winning the Claret Jug.

On the course, Ernie and his elegant style burned the grass behind him, leaving only a foggy haze for all others to challenge him.

Ernie Els is not only a man to be reckoned with on the golf course but in the real world, Ernie has left his mark for sure. The Ernie’s Els foundation was founded in 1999, providing South African youth with educational services and life skills, with the opportunity to become skilled golfers in the process.

Ernie’s son was born with autism, giving Ernie and his wife Liezl another direction in life. Again creating the Els for Autism Foundation, Ernie raises money and donates millions of dollars to the Foundation to help finding a cure and helping children with autism live full lives.

Ernie Els has been in the golf game for many years and has won many Tournaments and Awards for his aspiring style of golf and his demeanor on the course. Along with Ernie’s charities and his impressive accomplishments on the golf course Ernie is to have his story told among the golfing greats at the World Golf Hall of Fame, inducted in 2011.