ERNIE ELS was born in South Africa on 17 October 1969. As a youngster, he was outstanding in soccer, cricket, rugby and tennis. Indeed, at the age of 13 he won a significant regional tennis event, the Eastern Transvaal Junior Championships. Some say he could have become world-class had he chosen that sport. It was around that time, however, that he chose to focus his attentions on golf and was soon playing off a scratch-handicap. At the age of 14 Ernie was junior world champion, winning the title in San Diego, California. A young American by the name of Phil Mickelson was one of the many talented youngsters left trailing by Ernie’s performance that week.

Ernie was just 16 years old when he formally competed against professional golfers. He was awarded his Junior Springbok colours in 1984, the State President Sports Award in 1987, and in 1988 his full Springbok colours.

Ernie turned professional in 1989. Three years later, at the age of only 22, Ernie won the ‘Big Three’ tournaments on the South African Tour: the SA Open, the SA PGA and the SA Masters, along with three other events in the same season.

In 1993 he won the prestigious Dunlop Phoenix Tournament in Japan.

In 1994 he won the Dubai Desert Classic, breaking the Emirates Course Record in the first round, with an astonishing 11-under par 61. That year he also won the Johnnie Walker World Championship, the Sarazen World Open and his first World Matchplay Championship at Wentworth.

In 1994 he won his first Major Championship, the US Open, which included a three-way 18-hole play-off (against Loren Roberts and Colin Montgomerie) and a subsequent two-way, two-hole sudden death playoff (against Loren).

In 1995 he again won the South African PGA, the Bell’s Cup, and then went on to win the Byron Nelson Classic in Dallas. He also successfully defended his World Matchplay Championship title at Wentworth, becoming only the fourth player in the 32-year history of the World Matchplay to win successive titles.

Ernie went on to have a superb year in 1996, winning the South African Open Championship. His schedule saw him playing extensively in the US, where he won the Buick Classic, and also in Europe, South Africa and the Far East. He had an historic third successive win at the World Matchplay Championship and the following month Ernie went on to win the Johnnie Walker SuperTour Championship, which took place over five days in five different destinations, namely Asia, Taiwan, Korea, the Philippines and Thailand.

Later that same year Ernie teamed up with Wayne Westner to win the World Cup of Golf title for South Africa. That week he also won the individual title.

1997 saw Ernie off to an excellent start, winning the Johnnie Walker Classic in Australia in January. He then won his second major championship, the US Open, and the following week won his second Buick Classic in New York. It was this rich vein of form which helped elevate him to the No.1 spot in golf’s official world rankings. He has been consistently ranked in the top three ever since.

Ernie went on to win the PGA Grand Slam Tournament in November 1997 – a tournament featuring the four Major winners of 1997: Tiger Woods, Justin Leonard, Davis Love III and Ernie himself. Ernie was also a part of South Africa’s winning Dunhill Cup team at the home of golf, St Andrews.

Ernie started off his 1998 schedule with a typically consistent show of form, finishing second in the Johnnie Walker Classic in Phuket, Thailand; third in the Heineken Vines, followed by yet another win in the South African Open Championship in Durban.

He also won the Bay Hill Invitational on the PGA Tour, and again was on the winning South African team at the Dunhill Cup. Later that year, Ernie married his long-time sweetheart, Liezl Wehmeyer in Cape Town, South Africa.

1999 saw Ernie open the New Year by winning the Alfred Dunhill PGA Championship. He followed this with another significant victory on the PGA Tour at the Nissan Open in California.

On 26 May 1999, Ernie and Liezl were delighted with the arrival of their first born child, Samantha Leigh. She was born near their home in Wentworth, England and now travels extensively on tour with both mum and dad.

The new millennium kicked off in trademark fashion for Ernie, with more victories around the world, including the Loch Lomond Invitational in Scotland, the Nedbank Challenge at Sun City in South Africa, and over in the US the International, presented by Qwest.

In 2001 he won the Vodacom Players’ Championship and the World Golf Championship - EMC World Cup.

In 2002 he added the Genuity Championship to his expanding collection of PGA Tour titles, that week playing a standard of golf which Ernie still rates as among the best of his career. On the European Tour he amassed an impressive haul of titles, including the Heineken Classic, the Dubai Desert Classic. He also won a fourth World Matchplay title at Wentworth and a second Nedbank Challenge. Most significantly of all, however, he won the Open Championship at Muirfield, the third major title of his career.

In 2003 Ernie broke the all-time PGA Tour scoring record in his first tournament of the season, the Mercedes Championship in Hawaii, shooting a scarcely believable 31-under par for four rounds. He then travelled to the Sony Open the very next week and won again. When he switched his attentions to the European Tour, the result was the same! Another win at the Heineken Classic, followed by victory in the Johnnie Walker Classic. Later that year he would also win the Barclays Scottish Open, Omega European Masters and a record-equalling fifth World Matchplay Championship.

In 2004, Ernie successfully defended his Sony Open title in Hawaii, then went on to win the Heineken Classic at his beloved Royal Melbourne, for a third successive year. In June he added the prestigious Memorial Tournament to his collection of titles, before winning the WGC American Express Championship in Ireland. In October, he became the only man in history to win the World Matchplay Championship for a sixth time. The 2005 season started with a few agonising near misses in Hawaii, but when he switched his attentions to European Tour action, he collected back-to-back victories in Dubai (courtesy of a spectacular eagle-three on the 72 nd hole) and Qatar (where a last round 65 in blustery conditions literally blew the opposition away).

As is evident from Ernie’s list of achievements throughout his 16-year professional career, he is one of golf’s few truly global players. Fiercely competitive and far more driven than his casual, easy-going exterior might suggest, Ernie has nevertheless not lost his approachable nature. Indeed, his fellow professionals and the golfing media frequently comment on the fact that he is one of the most naturally likeable and uncomplicated young men one can hope to meet. He is objective and remarkably cool and calm during pressurised situations, the hallmark of all great champions. His golf game truly reflects his personality, and after all, it is his golf game that has brought him to where he is today. Ernie Els has all the qualities and talents needed to be one of the world’s greatest golfers of all time.