Ernie Els

Els won the South African Amateur a few months after his 17th birthday, becoming the youngest-ever winner of that event, breaking the record which had been held since 1935 by Bobby Locke.

Theodore Ernest Els (born 17 October 1969) is a South African professional golfer.

A former World No. 1, he is nicknamed "The Big Easy" due to his physical stature along with his fluid golf swing.

Els first achieved prominence in 1984, when he won the Junior World Golf Championship in the Boys 13–14 category.

Phil Mickelson was second to Els that year.

Els contested the 1987 British Amateur Championship, qualifying from stroke play for the 64-player match play segment, but was knocked out there.

In 1989, Els won the South African Amateur Stroke Play Championship and turned professional the same year.

Els won his first professional tournament in 1991 on the Southern Africa Tour (today the Sunshine Tour).

He won the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit in the 1991/92 and 1994/95 seasons.

In 1993, Els won his first tournament outside of South Africa at the Dunlop Phoenix in Japan.

Among his more than 70 career victories are four major championships: the U.S. Open in 1994 at Oakmont and in 1997 at Congressional, and The Open Championship in 2002 at Muirfield and in 2012 at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

He is one of six golfers to twice win both the U.S. Open and The Open Championship.

In 1994 Els won his first major championship at the U.S. Open.

Els was tied with Colin Montgomerie and Loren Roberts after 72 holes and they went to an 18-hole playoff the next day.

In spite of starting the playoff bogey-triple bogey, Els was able to match Roberts' score of 74.

Els birdied the second hole of sudden death to win his first U.S. Open title.

Els brought his game all around the world in his young career winning the Dubai Desert Classic on the European Tour, and the Toyota World Match Play Championship defeating once again Colin Montgomerie 4 & 2.

The following year, Els defended his World Match Play Championship, defeating Steve Elkington 3 & 1.

Els won the GTE Byron Nelson Classic in the United States then headed back home to South Africa and won twice more.

In 1996, Els won his third straight World Match Play Championship at Wentworth, defeating Vijay Singh in the final 3 & 2.

No player in history had ever managed to win three successive titles in the one-on-one tournament.

Els finished the year with a win at his home tournament at the South African Open.

1997 was a career year for Els first winning his second U.S. Open (once again over Colin Montgomerie) this time at Congressional Country Club, making him the first foreign player since Alex Smith (1906, 1910) to win the U.S. Open twice.

He defended his Buick Classic title and added the Johnnie Walker Classic to his list of victories.

Els nearly won the World Match Play Championship for a fourth consecutive year, but lost to Vijay Singh in the final.

1998 and 1999 continued to be successful years for Els with 4 wins on both the PGA and European tours.

2000 started with Els being given a special honour by the board of directors of the European Tour awarding him with honorary life membership of the European Tour because of his two U.S. Opens and three World Match Play titles.

2000 was the year of runners-up for Els; with three runner-up finishes in the Majors (Masters, U.S. Open and The Open Championship) and seven second-place finishes in tournaments worldwide.

In 2001 Els failed to win a US PGA tour event for the first time since 1994 although he ended the year with nine second-place finishes.

2002 was arguably Els's best year, which started with a win at the Heineken Classic at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club.

Other highlights in Els's career include topping the 2003 and 2004 European Tour Order of Merit (money list), and winning the World Match Play Championship a record seven times.

He was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2010, on his first time on the ballot, and was inducted in May 2011.

Els now primarily plays on the PGA Tour Champions.

Growing up in Lambton, Germiston, South Africa, Els played rugby, cricket, tennis and, starting at age 8, golf.

He was a skilled junior tennis player and won the Eastern Transvaal Junior Championships at age 13.

Els first learned the game of golf from his father Neels, a trucking executive, at the Germiston Golf course, He was soon playing better than his father (and his older brother, Dirk), and by the age of 14 he was a scratch handicap.

It was around this time that he decided to focus exclusively on golf.

He was the leading career money winner on the European Tour until overtaken by Lee Westwood in 2011, and was the first member of the tour to earn over €25,000,000 from European Tour events.

Els rose to fifteenth in the world rankings after winning the 2012 Open Championship.

He has held the number one spot in the Official World Golf Ranking and until 2013 held the record for weeks ranked in the top ten with 788.