Who Is Ernie Els?

Ernie Els is one of the defining global players of modern golf – a towering South African whose easy tempo and heavy ball flight have produced wins on every major tour. He built his prime on the PGA Tour and European (now DP World) Tour, collecting four majors and spending years near the top of the world rankings. Today he splits time between the PGA Tour Champions, course design work and the charitable foundations that carry his name, while still showcasing the same “Big Easy” rhythm that made him a fan favorite.

Early Years

Els grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa, in a sporting family that loved golf, tennis and rugby. As a kid he spent long days at the local club, learning to flight the ball in the wind and developing the wide, flowing arc that would become his trademark. By his mid-teens he was already a standout junior, winning big events like the World Junior Golf Championships and the South African Boys Championship and proving he could beat the best young players from both South Africa and overseas.

College & Amateur Career

Instead of taking the U.S. college route, Els stayed in South Africa and piled up amateur honors at home and internationally. He claimed titles such as the South African Boys Championship, the South African Amateur and the South African Amateur Stroke Play, while also gaining experience in elite world junior fields. Those years cemented his identity as a world traveler: comfortable on firm, windy courses, unfazed by long flights and totally at home playing against the very best.

Pro Career

Els turned professional in 1989 and quickly moved onto the European Tour, where his length, calm demeanor and high ball flight translated into early wins and constant contention in big events. The breakthrough came in 1994 with his first U.S. Open title at Oakmont, followed by a second U.S. Open in 1997 and Open Championship wins at Muirfield (2002) and Royal Lytham & St Annes (2012). Across his career he has amassed 79 professional wins worldwide, including 19 PGA Tour titles and 28 DP World Tour victories, plus team appearances in multiple Presidents Cups for the International side. Late in his career he has transitioned to the PGA Tour Champions while staying heavily involved in golf course design, wine and philanthropy.

Ernie Els’s Swing Style

Els’s swing is all about width, rhythm and balance. At 6’3″, he uses a wide arc and very smooth tempo to generate effortless speed rather than violent, jerky motion. The club works beautifully “around” his body with minimal visible tension, producing a heavy, penetrating flight that typically starts slightly right of target and falls back with a soft fade. Even under pressure he looks unhurried, which is why so many players have tried to copy his cadence over the years.

That swing profile pairs naturally with players’ heads and tour-style blades that reward center-face contact, plus a tour ball that can flight down in the wind and still spin around the greens. In his current setup he’s moved into slightly more forgiving heads and modern, lightweight technology (especially in the driver and long clubs) to keep speed up on the Champions Tour, but the DNA is still pure Big Easy – controlled launch windows, reliable fade shapes and a ball that behaves the same every time.

Ernie Els – WITB Snapshot

Here’s a quick snapshot of Ernie Els’s current bag based on recent PGA Tour Champions and WITB reporting. Exact specs can change week to week, but this is the general Big Easy blueprint he’s gaming right now.

• Driver – XXIO 12 driver
• 3-Wood – XXIO 12 fairway wood (3-wood)
• Hybrid / Utility – Srixon ZX Mk II utility (4-iron style)
• Irons – Srixon ZX7 Mk II irons (5–9)
• Wedges – Cleveland RTX 6 ZipCore wedges (46°, 52°, 56°)
• Putter – Bloodline Vale center-shafted mallet
• Ball – Srixon Z-Star XV

Open the full Ernie Els WITB page

Training, Practice & Prep

Els has always leaned on repetition, rhythm and fundamentals rather than overly technical positions. He spends plenty of time on wedges and distance control, making sure he can hit the same yardage windows over and over again with different trajectories. Putting has been a lifelong focus – he’s ridden both hot streaks and cold spells – so drills around setup, eye line and pace control are a key part of his routines.

Off the course he puts real work into fitness and mobility to protect his back and keep that long arc moving freely into his fifties. He also channels a lot of energy into his foundations and autism-related work, which keeps his schedule busy but gives real purpose to his travel weeks. When you see him on the Champions Tour now, you’re watching a player whose prep is designed to keep a world-class move functional without grinding himself into the ground.

How Your Game Compares to Ernie Els

Compared to a typical amateur, Els lives in a different universe for speed, control and face strike. His 9-iron carry is in tour-pro territory, his contact pattern is incredibly tight, and his misses are usually small directional biases, not big gear-effect curve balls. That’s why he can put a relatively low-spin ball like the Srixon Z-Star XV into play with tour-style heads and still hold firm greens in major conditions.

Most golfers reading this will sit a band or two below that in speed and consistency, and that’s totally fine. A quick first step is to measure how far you really carry a 9-iron, then plug that into the My9Iron 9-iron Distance to Swing Speed Guide . From there you can explore Ball Lab and Wedge Lab to find Els-style gear that matches your launch, spin and turf interaction instead of chasing his exact serial numbers.

Fun Facts About Ernie Els

• Els’s nickname “The Big Easy” comes from his tall frame and the effortless, syrupy rhythm of his swing, which made him look like he was never trying that hard even when winning majors.
• Through Ernie Els Design he has created and co-designed courses all over the world, including multiple “Els Club” layouts in South Africa, Dubai and Malaysia.
• Els and his family are heavily involved in autism-related charities, including the Els for Autism Pro-Am and the Els Center of Excellence in Jupiter, Florida, inspired by their son Ben.

Video Highlights

Coming soon.

Ernie Els Bio & WITB – FAQ

What driver does Ernie Els use?

Ernie Els has recently been gaming a XXIO 12 driver, a lightweight, high-launching head that helps him keep up speed and carry distance on the Champions Tour while still shaping his trademark fade off the tee.

What irons does Ernie Els play?

Els plays Srixon ZX7 Mk II irons in a classic 5–9-iron players’ cavity setup, giving him a compact, workable look behind the ball with just enough forgiveness to handle modern tour conditions.

What golf ball does Ernie Els use?

The ball in Els’s bag is the Srixon Z-Star XV, a tour-level, higher-compression model built for strong winds, penetrating long-game launch and plenty of greenside spin for a world-class short game.

Can I just copy Ernie Els’s exact setup?

You can absolutely copy the brands and model families if you like the Big Easy vibe, but you shouldn’t copy his exact lofts, lies and shafts unless your swing speed, contact and preferred windows are basically tour level. The better play is to treat Ernie’s WITB as a roadmap: start with the same XXIO metalwood / Srixon iron / Cleveland wedge / Srixon ball ecosystem, then let your 9-iron distance, launch monitor numbers and miss pattern drive the fine-tuning. Use the My9Iron 9-iron Distance to Swing Speed Guide , Ball Lab and Wedge Lab alongside the Ernie Els Setup Lab to build an Els-style bag that’s actually playable for you.