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
drinking feel-better games
Excessive drinking is not good for my health, my family or my game. There has definitely been a change, and I feel better for it.
couple golf games
Obviously my game wasn't too good at Augusta, I had a couple of technical faults, the posture wasn't too good. It's a bit unfortunate because I was playing a lot of good golf, but when I got sick (flu) before The Masters, that was bad timing and I wasn't quite myself.
golf given belly
I've not given up hope the belly-putter will be banned. The R and A and the USGA are looking at it right now.
almost cannot leg win
I cannot complain. After all the hassle I had with the leg to come back ... and to almost win is fine.
ball came cannot complain confidence game given happy hitting knee practice sitting time
I cannot complain about the way I came back. I could be sitting here without any confidence now, hitting the ball all over the place. But the knee has been pretty good, and it's given me time to practice and get my game back in shape. So I'm happy where I am right now.
blue game good hoping inspire memories monster moving top
Got a lot of good memories from this place. I'm hoping the Blue Monster will inspire me; kind of get my game moving into top gear.
based close full hit lie primary rough shot standard
For the most part, when you play a full shot from the primary rough at your course, you're gauging how close to a standard shot you can hit based on your lie in the grass.
shoot sneak weekend
If I can sneak something in the 60s over the weekend it will be very interesting. At least I know you don't have to go out and try to shoot something like 65 to try to win.
breaks five four golf july june needed next somewhere weeks
I don't take too many long breaks through the season. My next long break will probably be somewhere in June or July when I have two weeks off. For the next four or five months, it's a lot of golf with a week off here and there and a lot of traveling. So I needed to do that just to recharge.
great guys names
It's a great championship. A lot of guys try to get their names on it, and he's done it.
future injury took unsure work
It's a dream, but it took a lot of work and a lot of rehab. After an injury like that, you're unsure of the future and how it will react.
bit careful defensive fine playing saying
It's a fine line. When I did get a little defensive on 10, it really bit me in the behind. ... You can't get defensive. If you play away from the flag, that's not saying it's defensive. That's being careful and playing the percentages.
good rest turn
I told him he was good enough to turn pro, ... He did, and the rest is history.
ball builder club confidence delighted hitting swinging
It's a real confidence builder after such a long layoff. I was swinging the club well and hitting the ball great, and I was delighted to be back in contention.