The news from Johannesburg on Monday was that Ernie Els didn't
win. South Africa's national hero had won his country's Open
title the previous week, then tracked Zimbabwe's Tony Johnstone
for three days at the Dunhill South Africa PGA before catching
him with two holes to play. Ernie's fade to second place—he
bogeyed 18 to finish two shots behind Johnstone—didn't dim the
Els-mad crowd's ardor. For Theodore Ernest Els, once described
as "so laid-back he's virtually horizontal," can do no wrong in
his homeland. When 28-year-old lager lover Els, a.k.a. the Big
Easy, did some pub crawling after the '92 South African Open, he
left his $25,000 winner's check in a bar. Next day, retracing
his steps, he found the check where he'd left it.
A 6'3" 210-pounder, the two-time U.S. Open champ has rock-star
charisma his boyhood hero Gary Player couldn't match. Unlike
Player the grim whippet, Easy Ernie inspires groupies as well as
golf fans. Call them Els's Belles—they're the swooning girls
who chase Els everywhere, much to the dismay of his longtime
girlfriend, Liesl Wehmeyer. Friends say wedding bells may be
next for Ernie and Liesl; fans say he's sure to win another
major soon, maybe the Masters. If both predictions come true
this spring, the South African beer industry may never recover.
Issue date: February 23, 1998
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