BOCA RATON (Fla.) — Ernie Els isn’t able to relax much these days. He has so many things going on in his life, and it goes beyond golf.
Els’ schedule was left open on Thursday, the day prior to the TimberTech Championship at Broken Sound. Els had no commitments to the golf course or charity events. He also did not have any ribbon-cuttings, grand openings, or ribbon-cuttings at his Els Center of Excellence. Nor did he check in with his design team.
Liezl Els said, “He was just chilling.”
Els arrived on the Old Course in the morning of Friday for the first round. He was ready. Els then battled 18-22 mph wind to shoot 1-under 71. He was five shots behind the leaders Shane Bertsch and K.J. Choi, Padraig harrington and David Toms.
Els stated, “The course actually plays well with the wind.” “I didn’t do very well,” Els said. “I messed up the scoring holes.”
Ernie Els is at peace on the golf course. The golf course is Ernie Els’ sanctuary. He can do what he loves and has done for his entire life without worrying about phone calls, checking the bottom line or consulting with consultants.
Els, who is 54 years old, has played on more than 1,000 occasions in his career, and won 75 times in total, including the PGA Tour, PGA Tour Champions, and tours in South Africa and Asia.
He said, “I am a very busy man but I enjoy playing and competing.” “I don’t practice as much as I did before, but I play with the guys.”
The guys are any of the golf pros in Jupiter, Florida who Els might run into at Turtle Creek or Loxahatchee Golf Clubs.
This week, not so much. Els, former world number one and four-time major champion, was in town for a special week. 1. was looking to relax before returning to his job.
Els began his weekend Sunday evening by attending the dinner of the Integra Connect Golf Classic, which benefits Conquer Cancer. He then participated in a clinic at PGA National on Monday morning with Jack Nicklaus and Annika Sorenstam for the Integra classic. He then went to the par-3 5th hole on the Champion Course and hit 32 tee-shots, one for each group. You may be wondering if any of them found the hole.
He said, “I’m out of steam.”
The same evening, Liezl and he hosted a reception at The Breakers, Palm Beach, for Els for Autism’s final event for the season. They thanked the largest donors who had helped them raise over $3 million.
Ernie was just getting started. Tuesday was the last Els for Autism Golf Outing at Bear Lakes, West Palm Beach. Ernie drove a cart around to greet each participant. A tournament is not complete without dinner. It was Ernie’s second straight night at The Breakers.
Els, who stayed at The Breakers on Tuesday night in order to reduce his driving time to Boca to play the Old Course at 9:20 am, arrived there Wednesday morning for a pro-am. ET pro-am. The round was followed by a press conference.
He “just chilled” on Thursday. Oh, yeah, he also hit a few golf balls to prepare for the weekend.
He said, “Maybe I’ll take things a bit slower next year.” “I say it every year.”
It is not mentioned that he has also designed golf courses for Ernie Els Design. This company has opened 17 courses in the world and has another seven courses under development.
The Hall of Famer still played well enough to qualify for this year’s Charles Schwab Cup playoffs, with 13 top-10 finishes from 21 events on Champions Tour. The Hoag classic in Newport Beach in March was his only win.
Els was ranked 5th at TimberTech. This is the second of 3 Schwab playoffs events.
He said, “It is hard to win. (Finding) that little something can help you advance and win a bit more,” “I’m not quite able to finish it. I don’t quite keep it going. “I had a few leads this year, but I couldn’t finish them off.”
Els is forgiven for his slower pace, given the milestone that his Els for Autism Foundation has reached this year. In August, the Stoops Family Foundation Adult Services Building held its ribbon cutting ceremony. The building is located on the grounds of Els Center of Excellence – a 26 acre campus with two charter schools.
The Adult Center is advancing its mission of helping those with autism transition from high-school to adulthood.
Els stated, “We’ve always been a center with lower and upper schools, our golf program is at the back. This is a continuation to what we do here moving forward.”
Ernie Els’ future is busy and will only get busier.
