2004 PGA TOUR Media Guide

ERNIE ELSEXEMPT STATUS: Winner, 1997 U.S. Open (through 2007)FULL NAME: Theodore Ernest Els HEIGHT: 6-3 WEIGHT: 210BIRTHDATE: October 17, 1969BIRTHPLACE: Johannesburg, South AfricaRESIDENCE: Wentworth, England FAMILY: Wife, Liezl; Samantha (5/26/99), Ben (10/6/02)SPECIAL INTERESTS: Movies, reading, sportsTURNED PROFESSIONAL: 1989 JOINED TOUR: 1994Nationwide Tour AlumnusPGA TOUR VICTORIES (12): 1994 U.S. Open Championship. 1995 GTE Byron Nelson GolfClassic. 1996 Buick Classic. 1997 U.S. Open Championship, Buick Classic. 1998 Bay HillInvitational. 1999 Nissan Open. 2000 The International Presented by Qwest. 2002 GenuityChampionship, British Open Championship. 2003 Mercedes Championships, Sony Open inHawaii.INTERNATIONAL VICTORIES (34): 1992 Protea Assurance South Africa Open [SAf],Lexington PGA Championship [SAf], South African Masters [SAf], Hollard Royal Swazi SunClassic [SAf], FNB Players’ Championship [SAf], Goodyear Classic [SAf]. 1993 DunlopPhoenix Tournament [Jpn]. 1994 Dubai Desert Classic [Eur], Toyota World Match PlayChampionship [Eur], Johnnie Walker World Championship [Eur], Sarazen World Open.1995 Lexington South African PGA Championship [SAf], Toyota World Match Play [Eur],Bells Cup [SAf]. 1996 South African Open [SAf], Toyota World Match Play [Eur], JohnnieWalker Super Tour Event, World Cup—Individual. 1997 Johnnie Walker Classic [Aus],World Cup—Individual. 1998 South African Open [SAf] 1999 Alfred Dunhill PGAChampionship [SAf]. 2000 Standard Life Loch Lomond [Eur], Nedbank Challenge. 2001Vodacom Players Championship [SAf]. 2002 Heineken Classic [Eur], Dubai Desert Classic[Eur.], Cisco World Match Play [Eur.], Nedbank Challenge [SAf]. 2003 Heineken Classic[Eur], Johnnie Walker Classic [Eur], The Barclay’s Scottish Open [Eur], Omega EuropeanMasters [Eur], World Match Play Championship [Eur].OTHER VICTORIES (1): 1997 PGA Grand Slam of Golf.BEST 2003 PGA TOUR FINISHES: 1—Mercedes Championships, Sony Open in Hawaii;T5—U.S. Open Championship, PGA Championship; T6—Masters Tournament, TheINTERNATIONAL; T10—MCI Heritage.2003 SEASON: Continued role as global golfer, playing 17 PGA TOUR events and nineEuropean Tour events. In addition to winning twice on the PGA TOUR in Hawaii andfinishing ninth on the TOUR’s money list, compiled four official European Tour wins (inAustralia, Austria, Scotland) and won the European Tour Order of Merit. Also won his fifthcareer HSBC World Match Play Championship, a European Tour-approved special event.One of three players (along with Mike Weir and Kenny Perry) that posted three top-10s inmajor championships in 2003: T6 at Masters Tournament, T5 at U.S. Open and T5 at PGAChampionship…Became the first player since Steve Jones in 1989 to capture the first twotournaments of the season when he won the Mercedes Championships and Sony Open inHawaii in early January. Only Byron Nelson (1946), Lloyd Mangrum (1953), Johnny Miller(1974, three events; and 1975), Gil Morgan (1983), Jones and Els have accomplished thatamong modern-day players…Captured season-opening Mercedes Championships inrecord fashion, finishing at 31-under-par 261. Total in relation to par broke MarkCalcavecchia’s 72-hole tournament TOUR record of 28-under set at the 2001 PhoenixOpen. Eight-stroke margin of victory over K.J. Choi and Rocco Mediate was largest onTOUR since Calcavecchia’s eight-stroke Phoenix victory in 2001. Shared the lead with JimFuryk after opening with a 9-under-par 64, and held the lead outright for the remainder ofthe tournament with rounds of 65-65-67…Sank a 43-foot birdie putt on the 10th hole, thesecond playoff hole, to beat Aaron Baddeley at the Sony Open in Hawaii. Both playersfinished at 16-under-par after Baddeley birdied the 72nd hole…Led the Caltex Masters onthe European Tour after 36 and 54 holes but lost to Lian-Wei Zhang by a stroke…Oneweek later, defended his Heineken Classic title at Royal Melbourne on the European Tour.A final-round 65 gave him the win by a shot over Peter Lonard and Nick Faldo…Twoweeks later, captured Johnnie Walker Classic in wire-to-wire fashion, making it four winsin five starts…No. 2 seed was upset by Phil Tataurangi in 20 holes at WGC-AccentureMatch Play Championship…Held lead at 16th tee of final round of MCI Heritage at 14-under-par, but drove out of bounds on 16, made double-bogey six and finished 4-over-paron last three holes to drop to T10…Shot a two-under 69 in the final round of the ScottishOpen to coast to a five-shot victory. It marked his third European Tour victory of the seasonand the 14th of his European Tour career…Finished T18 in British Open defense. Streakof 12 straight made cuts at the British Open is the longest streak in terms of consecutiveyears, having missed in his first appearance in 1989…Posted a final-round, 6-under 65 atthe Omega European Masters to come from behind to win by six strokes, his fourth victoryon the 2003 European Tour schedule…Defended his title at the HSBC World Match PlayChampionship, and joined Seve Ballesteros and Gary Player as the only five-time winnersof the event. Defeated Tim Clark, Vijay Singh and Thomas Bjorn, 4 and 3, for thewin…Played in homeland of South Africa at The Presidents Cup, competing for TheInternational Team.CAREER HIGHLIGHTS: 2002: A year to remember with the birth of a son and third careermajor victory at the British Open…Won four official events worldwide, including twice onthe PGA TOUR, solidifying No. 3 Official World Golf Ranking. Won the Heineken Classic inMelbourne, Australia on the European Tour by five strokes for his ninth European Tourvictory…Collected first PGA TOUR victory since 2000 at the Genuity Championship. Roundsof 66-67-66 gave him an eight-stroke lead with 18 holes to play. Final-round 72 earned himthe two-stroke victory over Tiger Woods and a paycheck of $846,000…Won again thefollowing week at the Dubai Desert Classic, becoming the first multiple winner in thetournament’s 14-year history after posting all four rounds in the 60s…Earned third careermajor victory at the 131st British Open at Muirfield with scores of 70-66-72-70—278. Tiedfor the lead with Shigeki Maruyama, Padraig Harrington, Duffy Waldorf and Bob Tway after36 holes at 6-under-par. Held 54-hole lead at 5-under-par, two strokes ahead of SorenHansen. After losing a three-shot lead on the back nine on Sunday, Els survived a playoffwith Thomas Levet, Steve Elkington and Stuart Appleby to earn the Claret Jug. Afterparring his way through the four-hole playoff, made a par out of the greenside bunker onthe first hole of sudden death against Levet. With his right foot anchored on the top of abunker left of the 18th green, blasted out to five feet and made the putt to secure thevictory. Earned a career-best $1,106,140…Named PGA TOUR Player of the Month forJuly…Pulled out of Dunhill Links Championship’s final round for the birth of second child,Ben Neels…Also earned unofficial European Tour victory at the Cisco World Match PlayChampionship, defeating Sergio Garcia in the final. It was his fourth World Match Play title.2001: In a year full of streaks, didn’t win for the first time since joining TOUR in1994…Ranked in top 30 for seventh time in eight years with 1998 the only year he failedto qualify for THE TOUR Championship…His nine top-10s were second only to 10 in2000…Best chance to win was a playoff loss at THE TOUR Championship. Closed with 68to tie eventual winner Mike Weir, Sergio Garcia and David Toms at 14-under 270…FinishedT6 at Masters Tournament, second consecutive year in top 10…Completed year inNovember by teaming with Retief Goosen to win World Cup in Japan. Els and Goosen beatthree others teams, including Americans Tiger Woods and David Duval, in a playoff.. 2000:Victory at The INTERNATIONAL extended to seven years his string of years with wins onPGA TOUR. Defeated Phil Mickelson by four points to earn his eighth TOUR title. 48 points,under Modified Stableford scoring system, tied tournament record Mickelson set in1997…Also finished second five times, most since Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer in1964 (six). Record is 13 by Harold (Jug) McSpaden (1945). First second place came inseason’s opening event, Mercedes Championships, where he lost playoff to Tiger Woodson second extra hole…Followed with seconds at Masters, Memorial, U.S. Open and BritishOpen…First player to finish second in Masters and U.S. Open in same year…At BritishOpen, added one to that total, becoming first player to finish second in three consecutivemajors in same season. Jack Nicklaus (1964) was previous player to have three majors’runners-up in same year. 1999: Earned two-stroke victory over Ted Tryba, Tiger Woods andDavis Love III at Nissan Open. Other top-10s included Doral-Ryder Open (T3), MemorialTournament (T7), Buick Open (6), Sprint International (T5), NEC Invitational (5) and NationalCar Rental Golf Classic at Walt Disney World Resort, where he placed second, one strokebehind Woods. 1998: Claimed sixth career TOUR victory at Bay Hill. Rains forced 36-holefinish Sunday and third-round 65 vaulted him to six-stroke lead while closing 73 good forfour-stroke win…After T16 at Masters, ranked No.1 in world for several weeks…JoinedDavid Frost and Retief Goosen to successfully defend Dunhill Cup for SouthAfrica…Member of victorious Presidents Cup team in 1998 with a 3-1-1 individual record.1997: Became first foreign player since Alex Smith (1906 and 1910) to win U.S. Open morethan once with victory at Congressional CC. Trailed Tom Lehman by one stroke after 36holes and by two after 54. Final-round 69, including decisive par on 71st hole, securedvictory by one stroke over Colin Montgomerie…Successfully defended Buick Classic titlethe following week in wire-to-wire fashion…First repeat wire-to-wire winner since TomWatson won Tournament of Champions in 1979-80. 1996: Won Buick Classic for third TOURtitle…Won third consecutive Toyota World Match Play Championship (1994-96)…Was 3-1-1 as member of International Team in Presidents Cup. 1995: Earned second title at GTEByron Nelson Classic on strength of second-round 61, a course record at CottonwoodValley. His 263 total broke Sam Snead’s 38-year-old tournament record…At PGAChampionship at Riviera, equaled 36-hole tournament record with 131 and set 54-holerecord with 197. Held three-stroke lead entering final round, but shot 72 to finish twostrokes out of Steve Elkington-Colin Montgomerie playoff. 1994: Victorious at U.S. Open ina playoff over Loren Roberts and Colin Montgomerie. Held two-stroke lead entering finalround, but closed with a 73. Montgomerie eliminated from 18-hole playoff after 78. Els andRoberts each shot 74 and Els won with 4 on 20th hole. 1993: Became first player to recordfour rounds in 60s at the British Open, finishing T6. 1992: Won six events on SouthernAfrican Tour…Joined Gary Player that year as only players to win South African Open,South Africa PGA and South African Masters in same year. Amateur: Was a scratch golferat age 14, when he won the world under-14 title at San Diego.PERSONAL: Started playing golf at age 9…An accomplished junior tennis player, turnedfull attention to golf at age 14…Heavily involved in junior golf of South Africa and CancerSociety of South Africa…Hosts Ernie Els Invitational in South Africa to raise money forcharity. Ernie Els Foundation formed in early 1999, with the purpose of providing fullsupport to disadvantaged children. Proceeds from the Ernie Els Invitational go to fourcharities and the Foundation…In December 1998, received lifetime membership onEuropean Tour—other non-Europeans so honored are Bob Charles, Arnold Palmer andGary Player…In 2002, the 2000 Engelbrecht-Els wine was released and received thehighest rating yet given to a South African wine…Third Ernie Els design signature golfcourse near George in South Africa proved to be a great success in opening year…Website is ernieels.com.SECTION 2 / PLAYER BIOSWWW.PGATOUR.COM 2004 PGA TOUR Media Guide / 2-45