Ernie Els

Ernie Els
Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Elsis a South African professional golfer. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature) along with his fluid golf swing. Among his 71 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...
NationalitySouth African
ProfessionAthlete
almost eagle field five hole strongest three week win
I was five under on that hole for the week with an eagle and three birdies. But there you go. This was strongest field in the world this year...and to almost win is fine.
david far tendencies
One of my tendencies is to let the ball drift too far forward in my stance, and it's something I've been working on with David Leadbetter.
dad hard imagine played sitting tears tried
My dad told me that Seve said, You know, I tried very hard today. I played very well today. But, your son. Very special.' You can imagine my dad sitting there with tears in his eyes.
arms bit club conscious cracking loosen smash whip
Make a conscious effort to loosen your hands and let your arms feel soft when you're at address. Take the club back a bit shorter, and feel as if you're cracking a whip on the way down - not tensing up to smash something hard.
coming love
I love coming here when I get the chance,
bogey came five huge mistakes par sums
I feel that to bogey a par five is a huge sin. But after making mistakes I came back well and that kind of sums up the whole day.
finished second six
I finished second six times to him that year,
downward hitting promote
With shorter clubs, your ball position should be just back of middle, to really promote hitting the ball first on a downward strike.
bad beautiful black check easing further good hands mandela nelson
You have to go back, man. You have to. It's now in the hands of the black man, as it should have been before Nelson Mandela was put in jail. We'd be so much further along. You're from Chicago, so you know the really good things and the really bad things about Chicago. Johannesburg is a big city, too, and it still has a big city's crime, but less. Less. It's easing off. It's better. If you really know Johannesburg, it's a beautiful place. You have to come check out the change.
course everybody golf jack wants win
When you have a golf course that's so pristine, you just want to play well. Jack Nicklaus has also got something to do with that. Everybody wants to win this golf tournament.
best bomb driver par shot tee
When you get to the tee on a really long par 5, I know what you're feeling. You want to let the shaft out on the driver and try to bomb it down there. I get the same feeling. But a big tee shot is not always the best strategy, especially on a long hole.
technology
We've got the technology out there. It's how you use it.
couple great
Up to now, I've had a great career. A couple of putts here and there, it could have been a lot better.
final majors round taking
There have been so many majors that got away, starting at Riviera in '95, taking a three-shot lead into the final round of the PGA and not winning.