Els showed amazing consistency in the Majors but lost to Phil Mickelson in the Masters when Mickelson birdied the 18th for the title, finished ninth in the U. S. Open after playing in the final group with friend and fellow countryman Retief Goosen and surprisingly losing in a playoff in the Open to the then unknown Todd Hamilton.

Els has finished runner-up in six majors and most notably for his runner-up finishes to Tiger Woods.

Els has finished runner-up to Woods more than any other golfer and has often been described as having the right game to finally be the golfer to beat Woods in a major.

On 8 November 2009, Els almost ended his year-long slump by shooting a course-tying record 9-under 63 in the final round of the WGC-HSBC Champions to finish at 16-under par 272, a stroke back of Phil Mickelson who finished with a 17-under 271 total including a final round of 3-under 69.

Els started the 2012 season in his home country at the Volvo Golf Champions where he finished in a tie for second place after he and Retief Goosen lost out in a playoff to Branden Grace.

Ernie Els finished 3rd, with Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson finishing tied for 4th.

Phil Mickelson was second to Els that year.

In 2008 after Els started to display an " Autism Speaks " logo on his golf bag it was announced that their then five year old son was autistic.

In 1989 Els won the South African Amateur Stroke Play Championship and turned professional the same year.

The following year, Els defended his World Match Play Championship, defeating Steve Elkington three-and-one, won the Byron Nelson Classic in the United States then headed back home to South Africa and won twice more.

1997 was a career year for Els first winning his second U. S. Open ( once again over Colin Montgomerie ) this time at Congressional Country Club, making him the first foreign player since Alex Smith ( 1906, 1910 ) to win the U. S. Open twice.

Els nearly won the World Match Play Championship for a fourth consecutive year, but lost to Vijay Singh in the final.

2000 was the year of runner ups for Els ; with three runner up finishes in the Majors ( Masters, U. S. Open and The Open Championship ) and seven second place finishes in tournaments worldwide.

Els had a disappointing 2001 season, failing to win a US PGA tour event for the first time since 1994 although he ended the year with nine second place finishes.

2004 was another successful year as Els won 6 times on both tours including big wins at Memorial, WGC-American Express Championship and his sixth World Match Play Championship, a new record.

1996 was the year where Norman collapsed in the Masters and Els in the PGA Championship.

The win marked the end of a three and a half year long stretch without a win on the PGA Tour for Els.

Rashmika Els, a 17 year old girl, leaves her home on Hela to search for her long-lost brother Harbin, who left to join the Cathedrals years before.

Later that year, Hamilton defeated Ernie Els in a four-hole playoff to win The Open Championship at Royal Troon Golf Club.

At the last event of the year, Toms entered a four-man playoff at The Tour Championship where he, Sergio García and Ernie Els lost out on the first extra hole to Mike Weir.

1984 was a vintage year, with David Toms winning the 15 – 17 event, Ernest " Ernie " Els the 13 – 14s ( with Mickelson finishing second ), and Eldrick " Tiger " Woods the 9 – 10s ( despite still being age 8 ).

At the first WGC event of the year, the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, Donald in defence of his title he won in 2011, was eliminated in the opening round by South African Ernie Els who beat him 5 & 4.

Els was tied with Colin Montgomerie and Loren Roberts after 72 holes and they went to a 18 hole playoff the next day.

1998 and 1999 continued to be successful years for Els with 4 wins on both the PGA and European tours.

2000 started in historic fashion for Els being given a special honour by the Board of Directors of the European Tour awarding him with honorary life membership of the European Tour because of his two U. S. Opens and three World Match Play titles.

Els ended the major season with a fourth place finish in the PGA Championship, where a three putt on the 72nd hole would cost him a place in the playoff.

In July 2005, Els injured his left knee while sailing with his family in the Mediterranean.

On 8 April 2008, Els officially announced that he was switching swing coaches from David Leadbetter ( whom Els had worked with since 1990 ) to Butch Harmon who has revamped the golf swings of many established pros ( which started with Greg Norman ).

Adam Scott led by four shots after a birdie at the 14th hole, but bogeyed the final four holes to miss a playoff with Els by one stroke.

This has caused some friction with the PGA Tour, an organization that would prefer Els to play more tournaments in the United States.

The couple has also established the Els Center of Excellence, which began as a drive to build a new campus for the aforementioned school but has since mushroomed into a $ 30 million plan to combine the school with a research facility.

He shot 78 to trail the 74s shot by Els and Roberts, with Els winning at the 20th extra hole.

The daily soap opera El Cor de la Ciutat is the most watched fiction program in Catalonia, especially among the female audience, drawing around 28-33 % of the audience with as much as 40 % on season finales, followed by political satire program Polònia, with a share of about 28 % Morning talk show Els Matins gets around 22 % share, while El Club around 22 % share.

In 1965, while singing in a radio show called Radioscope, host Salvador Escamilla helped him secure a record deal with local label Edigsa, where he recorded his first LP, as well as joining the group Els Setze Jutges.

# Els de Groen, with 4796 votes

* Els de Groen, with 4796 votes

The company also produces sports related items such as figurines and die-cast on top of having exclusive agreements to produce memorabilia ( under the brand name Upper Deck Authenticated ) with such sports superstars as Michael Jordan, Derek Jeter, Tiger Woods, LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, Andrew Bynum, Ernie Els, Albert Pujols, Grady Sizemore, Matt Kemp, James Loney, Sandy Koufax and Ken Griffey Jr.

Els birdied the second hole of sudden death to win his first U. S. Open title.

Els shot a final round 67 in tough windy conditions, which was enough to give him the win by one stroke over Luke Donald.

Els was next in contention at the Transitions Championship, where he needed a win to qualify for the 2012 Masters, led the tournament for most of the final round and had the lead outright until the 16th hole.

Els earned $ 1, 405, 890 for the major win, and among other benefits, exemptions for five years to the other three majors.

A bogey on the 71st hole dropped Montgomerie one shot behind Els, who parred the last to win.

Players such as Ernie Els and Retief Goosen have taken advantage of this to play the PGA and European Tours concurrently and even Tiger Woods, who has sometimes played nine of the necessary eleven events, once suggested that he might enter the extra four required so that he could win the European Order of Merit, although he has yet to do so.

Norman would return to the top ranking in 1995 and 1996, then after a single week at No. 1 by Tom Lehman, Tiger Woods dominated the position from 1997 to 2010 with brief interruptions from Ernie Els, David Duval, and then from September 2004 Vijay Singh, who became the twelfth World No. 1 following his win at the PGA Championship.

He had a good chance to win, but bogeyed the final hole of the four-hole playoff to fall into sudden death with Ernie Els, where he again bogeyed to lose to Els.

Zhang came to global attention at the 2003 Caltex Singapore Masters, where he edged out Ernie Els with a birdie on the final hole to become the first Chinese golfer to win on the European Tour.