Ernie Els

Ernie Els has over 65 professional career victories to his name, including four Major Championships, two World Golf Championships and a record seven World Matchplay titles. A former World Number 1, Ernie is one of the most prolific golfers of his generation and has triumphed in tournaments all over the world.

Ernie was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011 and the South African Golf Hall of Fame in 2009. At the start of the 2011 season, Ernie was ranked number 1 in all-time career earnings on the European Tour.

The Ernie Els & Fancourt Foundation was established in 1999 to identify and assist young, talented individuals in golf, predominantly from families with limited resources, and deliver educational assistance and playing opportunities to help develop their sport and leadership capabilities.

In 2009, Els and his wife Liezl founded the Els for Autism Foundation with the goal of funding an Autism Center of Excellence, the first of its kind in the world. The facility will give children around the world access to best practices in autism education and therapy.

Els has received many charitable endeavour awards, including: the Charlie Bartlett Award by the Golf Writers Association of America, and the Jefferson Award, essentially a Nobel Prize for Public Service, for outstanding athlete in service. Els was named one of the “Top Five Most Positive Athletes in the World” by the United Nations NGO Voting Academy, and he received the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association (MGWA) Winnie Palmer Award for his foundation work on behalf of autism. The MGWA had previously conferred on Ernie its prestigious Gold Tee Award.

The Ernie Els portfolio of companies includes Ernie Els Design, a full service golf course design company with numerous golf courses open for play, and Ernie Els Wines, which has produced several award-winning wines from its vineyard in Stellenbosch.

Ernie was born in South Africa in 1969, and as a youngster, was outstanding in soccer, cricket, rugby and tennis.