Biography of Golf Star Ernie Els

Ernie Els was born on October 17, 1969 in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was a sensational tennis player as a child growing up in South Africa, but at the age of fourteen he decided to focus all of his sporting efforts on golf. In 1984, he won his first major golf tournament when he won the Junior World Golf Championship for kids aged 13 and 14.

In 1989, Ernie Els decided to take the next step in his golf career when he turned professional. Two years later, in 1991, he won his first tournament as a professional when he finished in first on the Southern Africa Tour. He is arguably the most international golfer as he plays in tournaments all over the world and takes part in the tournaments of different tours, not just the PGA Tour like many golfers.

Over his career, Ernie Els has accumulated a total of 61 professional tournament wins. 15 of the wins have come on the PGA Tour. 20 have come on the European tour. His 28 other wins have come from other random tournaments not sanctioned by the PGA Tour or the European Tour. Many of these tournaments have taken place in South Africa or Asia.

Ernie Els' wins on the PGA Tour have been:
1994 and 1997 U.S. Open
1995 GTE Byron Nelson Golf Classic
1996 and 1997 Buick Classic
1998 Bay Hill Invitational
1999 Nissan Open
2000 The International
2002 Genuity Championship
2002 The Open Championship
2003 Mercedes Championships
2003 and 2004 Sony Open in Hawaii
2004 Memorial Tournament
2004 WGC-American Express Championship

Ernie Els' wins on the European Tour have been:
1994, 2002, and 2005 Dubai Desert Classic
1995 Lexington South African PGA
1997 and 2003 Johnnie Walker Classic
1998 South African Open
1999 Alfred Dunhill South African PGA
2000 Standard Life Loch Lomond
2002, 2003, and 2004 Heineken Classic
2002 Open Championship
2003 Barclays Scottish Open
2003 Omega European Masters
2003 and 2004 HSBC World Matchplay Championship
2005 Qatar Masters
2005 BMW Asian Open
2006 Dunhill Championship

Some of Ernie Els' other professional tournament wins include:
1992 First National Bank Players Championship
1994, 1995, and 1996 Toyota World Match Play Championship
1997 PGA Grand Slam of Golf
2002 Cisco World Match Play Championship

Among Ernie Els' other accomplishments include his PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Award which he earned in 1994. He has also been the European Tour Golfer of the Year in 1994, 2002, and 2003. In 2004, he finished 2nd in total earnings on the PGA Tour. He has also been ranked number one in the PGA Tour rankings.