Els' Hall of Fame career has been 'comfortable ride'

ATLANTA -- He was only 24 and while he knew he had the game, Ernie Els was still trying to find his way on the PGA TOUR.

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The South African came of age at Oakmont in 1994, though, two days after one of his childhood heroes, Arnold Palmer, bid a tearful farewell to the U.S. Open and barely five weeks after the legendary Nelson Mandela changed the complexion of life in Els' homeland.

Els' playoff victory over Loren Roberts and Colin Montgomerie in that steamy Pittsburgh suburb would be the first of what has grown to be 18 PGA TOUR victories with the addition of two more earlier this year. The win was also the first of Els' two U.S. Open titles and along with the 2002 British Open, three majors overall.

That first one, though, was special.

"If I look back, that will be my defining moment, as a young pro from South Africa and winning the biggest tournament in the world, the U.S. Open," Els said. "... And from then on, it was a very comfortable ride."

That ride has taken Els to the top of his profession with Wednesday's announcement that he has been elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame. Els will be inducted next May on the eve of THE PLAYERS Championship along with President George H.W. Bush and two-time major champions Doug Ford and the late Jock Hutchison.

A final inductee will be announced in October.

The 40-year-old Els said he learned that he had been voted in on the first ballot during the BMW Championship two weeks ago. While he was honored, Els joked that he thought "you had to be a little bit more senior" to be in such an august body. The next challenge was keeping the selection a secret.

"In awards like these, basically it's a big team effort, and there's a lot of people behind you, behind the scenes that you don't normally see or talk about."

-- Ernie Els

"I only told my family about it the night before last before I came here because I knew, especially my daughter, she wouldn't be able to keep it quiet," Els said with a grin. "I think everybody at the Pine School knows about it, her dad going into the Hall of Fame. ...

"Obviously this makes the year, it makes you feel very good about maybe what you've done."

Els, of course, has some unfinished business this week at THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola that coould make 2010 even more special. He started the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup ranked No. 1 in the standings, but has fallen to eighth after failing to finish higher than 13th in the first three events.

A win at East Lake, where he has top-10s in four of his last five starts, would give Els a chance to win the FedExCup. Not to mention, as the TOUR's only three-time champ in 2010 he would become the favorite for PGA TOUR Player of the Year honors.

"I think I obviously had a really, really good chance up until the U.S. Open, and then my game hasn't quite been really on fire since then," said Els, who finished third at Pebble Beach but hasn't had a top-10 since. "But I've been showing some flashes, especially in Chicago I had a bit of a flash there, and I feel my game is coming together.

"So this is a huge week, and I know there's a lot of players with a shot. It seems like the guy that could win three events -- there's a lot of us winning two events, and then Phil obviously with the major, the U.S. Masters -- so there's a lot to be playing for this week."

Regardless of what happens at East Lake, though, Els can now add Hall of Famer to his resume and he is hoping the recognition will make his countrymen proud.

He has been an active supporter of junior golf back in South Africa, and one of the players from his foundation -- Louis Oosthuizen -- won the British Open earlier this summer. Els has also become a crusader for autism awareness after revealing his son Ben is afflicted with the disease.

"Obviously my career on the PGA TOUR alone goes back to the days when President Mandela got elected as president back in South Africa eventually after he got released from Robben Island," Els said. "So time flies. ...

"And obviously my history as a golfer goes back in South Africa to the days back in the early '80s when we were isolated from golf worldwide, and especially Gary Player doing it for us on the pro tour and me as a youngster in amateur golf, winning the World Junior and playing in Europe as an amateur. ... People have been very (supportive) of myself and my career since I was very young. So I think they'll like it."

Els said he'll jot down some notes, but he plans to speak from the heart at the induction ceremony next May. He expects to be "desperately be shaking in my boots," but he's handled pressure situations before with considerable ease. He was looking forward to telling his parents the news on Wednesday afternoon.

"In these things, in awards like these, basically it's a big team effort, and there's a lot of people behind you, behind the scenes that you don't normally see or talk about,' Els said. "So what I'm most proud of is the collective effort of myself and Liezl, because I've known Liezl before we got married only in '99, and we were together from '93, so she's seen the bitter struggle that we had to go through and all of that. ...

"It's how you make other people feel that's close to you that makes you really feel good. Obviously I've had a lot of achievements, I've won a lot of golf tournaments, especially worldwide, but on the PGA TOUR (too). ... So for a boy from South Africa, that's kind of nice.

"Growing up I also had my heroes in (Nick) Price, Greg Norman, you go back to Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, guys like that, and every young kid wants to be like his hero, and to actually play it out in real life in some ways is quite thrilling."