Ernie Els

Els made up four shots on Adam Scott over the last four holes and birdied the final hole to win the 2012 Open Championship at Royal Lytham. It was his second Open Championship triumph, having also won in 2002 at Muirfield. The popular South African has won four major championships, including the 1994 and 1997 U.S. Opens at Oakmont and Congressional, respectively.
Els, an accomplished junior tennis player, began playing golf at age 9 and turned his full attention to golf when he was 14. His first significant international victory was at the Junior World Golf Championship, where he defeated Phil Mickelson in a playoff. He was the South African Amateur Champion at age 16, and at 22, he won the South African Open, PGA Championship, and Masters titles, becoming the first to do so since Gary Player in 1979.
Els joined the PGA Tour at the end of 1994 and, with his win at the 1999 Nissan Open, became the first player since Jack Nicklaus to win at least once in each of his first six years on tour. At one time, he was a member of three tours simultaneously - PGA Tour, European Tour, and South African Tour.
He played on eight Presidents Cup teams in 1996, '98, 2000, '03, '07, '09, '11, and '13. Els is one of the world's true global golfers and has more than 70 worldwide career victories.
He started cutting back on his international schedule in 2008 when his son, Ben, was diagnosed with autism. Since then, he has supported disadvantaged children, establishing the Els for Autism Foundation in 2008. He also began building golf courses and owns a winery in South Africa. Els was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011.
2012 Notes: Lost a playoff to Branden Grace at the Volvo Golf Champions, and two months later at the Transitions Championship, he missed a short putt at the 72nd hole that would have put him in a four-man playoff. At the Arnold Palmer Invitational, he finished T-4th but needed a 2nd- or 3rd-place finish to get into the Masters. He missed playing in the first major of the season for the only time since 1994. He lost another playoff to Jason Dufner at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. At the British Open, he started the final round six shots back but fired a second-nine 32, including a birdie at the 72nd hole, to catch and pass third-round leader Adam Scott. The win came 10 years after he won his first Claret Jug, the second-longest gap in Open history. He finished the year 26th in the FedExCup race and 16th in the money race.
2013 Notes: Els won on the European Tour at the BMW International and finished T-6th at the BMW PGA Championship. He finished 2nd at the Asian Tour CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters, a shot behind winner Bernd Wiesberger. He was T-4th at the U.S. Open, finished 68th in the FedExCup race, and was 74th on the money list. At the Presidents Cup in Dublin, Ohio, he went 3-2-0, including a Sunday singles victory, in the International team's three-point loss to the U.S.
2014 Notes: He recorded four top-10 finishes worldwide, including a 4th-place finish at the WGC-Accenture Match Play, where he made it to the semifinals but lost to Victor Dubuisson, then to Rickie Fowler in a playoff for the third spot. Els had a T-7th result at the PGA Championship, T-5th at The Barclays, and T-5th at the Hong Kong Open. He made it to the FedExCup Playoffs for the eighth consecutive year, but his season ended with a 41st-place finish in the standings after a T-16th at the BMW Championship. He finished 37th in the Race to Dubai.
2015 Notes: Els didn't record a top-10 finish in 26 worldwide events for the first time in his career. His best result was T-12th at the Abu Dhabi Championship, and on the PGA Tour, T-13th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. In 18 PGA Tour starts, he finished 173rd in the FedExCup standings, missing the playoffs for the first time.
2016 Notes: His best finish was 5th at the Quicken Loans National at Congressional, the site of his 1997 U.S. Open victory. It was his first top-5 finish since his T-5th at the 2014 Hong Kong Open. Made 12 cuts in 21 PGA Tour starts, finishing 163rd in the FedExCup standings, missing the FedExCup Playoffs for the second consecutive season.
2017 Notes: He has had a slow start, with his best finish a T-13th at the Qatar Masters. He played in the Masters for the 23rd time, finishing 53rd. He also played in his 25th U.S. Open, finishing T-55th at Erin Hills. He was 61st in the Open Championship, then played in his 100th major at the PGA, missing the cut. He played in 20 PGA Tour events making 7 cuts. His best PGA Tour finish is T-35th at the AT&T Byron Nelson.
2018 Notes: On the PGA Tour, played in 14 events making 5 cuts. Best finish T-30th at the Valero Texas Open. On the European Tour was T-3rd at the Fiji International, 2 shots back of winner Gaganjeet Bhullar.
2019 Notes: He played in 22 events on the European and U.S. PGA Tour and made nine cuts. Best finish T-7th at the Maybank Championship.
2020 & 2021 Notes: Played in 36 PGA Tour Champions events with 18 top-tens and finished 4th in the Charles Schwab Cup. He turned 50 at the end of 2019 and played in his first PGA Tour Champions event at the 2020 Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai. He finished 2nd and was in a playoff with Miguel Angel Jimenez and Fred Couples, Jimenez won it. He was T-5th at the Bridgestone Senior Players, five shots back of winner Jerry Kelly. He was 3rd at the Pure Insurance Championship, a shot out of the Furyk/Kelly playoff. He birdied the last two holes, including a 40-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole, to win by one at the SAS Championship by a shot over Colin Montgomerie. He started the final round T-9th and three shots behind the three co-leaders and finished with a 6-under 66 to win with a 12-under total. At the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, was T-5th six shots back of the Sutherland/Broadhurst playoff. Shot a final-round 66 to finish T-4th at the 2021 Regions Tradition. He was 5th at the Bridgestone Senior Player and 2nd at Dick's Sporting Goods, a shot back of winner Cameron Beckman. Finished T-8th at the 2021 Senior Open Championship, opened with back-to-back 67s before shooting 70-72 on the weekend. He was T-4th at the Furyk & Friends, six shots back of winner Phil Mickelson. He finished T-10th at the 2021 Ally Challenge after scores of 69-68-69. Closed with 9-under 63 in the final round on the way to a T-4th finish at the 2021 Dominion Energy Charity Classic, three shots back of the Bernhard Langer/Doug Barron playoff. He was T-4th again at the TimberTech Championship, five shots back of winner Steven Alker. At the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship was T-18th.
2022 Notes: Played in 22 PGA Tour Champions events with 13 top-ten finishes. He was 9th in the Schwab rankings and 9th on the money list earning $1,558,419. He led after a first-round 64 in the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai. Was co-leader entering the final round, shot 70 to finish T-6th, three shots back of the Miguel Angel Jimenez/Steve Alker playoff. He was T-10th a the Chubb Classic in his defense of his Hoag Classic title and finished 7th after entering the final round with a one-shot lead. Shot a final-round 73 to finish nine shots back of winner Retief Goosen. Finished 5th at the Mitsubishi Electric Classic, two shots back of winner Steve Flesch. Shot a final-round 68 at the Regions Tradition to finish T-3rd, seven shots back of winner Steve Stricker. He was 4th going into the final round of the U.S. Senior Open but shot 75 in the final round to finish T-13th. Was T-3rd at the Senior Players Championship and Senior Open Championship. He was 3rd at the Sanford International, two shots back of the Steve Stricker/Robert Karlsson playoff. Shot final round 64 at the Pure Insurance Championship and was a shot back of winner Steve Flesch. He ended his season with a T-6th finish at the Dominion Energy Charity.
2023 Notes: Was T-6th at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, seven shots back of the winner Steve Stricker. Shot 65-65 at the Hoag Classic to win by a shot over Steve Stricker and Doug Barron. Was T-6th at the Insperity Invitational and T-2nd at the Regions Tradition, six shots of winner Steve Stricker. Was T-9th at the Principal Charity Classic and 10th at the American Family Insurance. At the Dick's Sporting Good Open was 3rd, two shots back of the winner Padraig Harrington. Shot a final round 68 to finish T-3rd at the Kaulig Companies Championship, four shots back of the winner Steve Stricker.