What Tiger Woods got Ernie Els doing during his playing career which helped him win two major championships

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Ernie Els is a four-time major winner and played at a time when battling Tiger Woods was a struggle for everyone in golf.

With Tiger’s emergence coming after Els won his first major in 1994 at the US Open and around the same time as he won his second US Open in 1997, Els – like many – was well aware of the new force arriving in golf at the time.

Over the years, Woods’ impact on the game has been well-documented and there are few who would question he has changed the game for good.

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Indeed, when it came to the impact he had on his fellow players, that was also evident.

In fact, it’s something that Ernie Els has admitted very much kicked him into another gear.

Ernie Els says why Tiger Woods helped him be successful

With Woods’ obvious impact on the game and the sheer brilliance in his golf game, his fellow players were always going to be looking on with intrigue and sometimes, envy.

For Ernie Els, who went on to win two more majors in Tiger’s era in 2002 and 2012, Woods had a direct impact on him.

Speaking during a stint on US Open commentary this weekend, Els had it put to him how Scottie Scheffler’s current standard will be driving others on.

And according to Els, it was the same with Woods, with the South African sharing a snippet of how he adapted thanks to Tiger.

“Absolutely. He got me in the gym. Yeah, he made us work harder. It’s always good to have somebody to work towards,” Els said.

“Back in the day, I used to spend a lot of time with Nick Price and Vijay Singh. I always felt like I needed to play with someone that was a little better than me, who could really pull me along.”

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When Tiger Woods took down Ernie Els to win The Sentry in 2000

Anyone who has followed golf for a while knows that Woods and Els have a tremendous amount of respect for each other.

That respect was forged in battles they had out on course, with one particular epic coming at The Sentry in 2000 as they faced off in a playoff to win.

After both making birdie on the opening playoff hole on 18, they went to the 10th and once again both had birdie looks from distance.

This time, though, Woods drained a 40-foot putt to put the pressure on Els from 35 feet. The ‘Big Easy’ couldn’t follow Woods in, leading to Woods getting the win and a mutual respect being born early on.

It will take some player to come in and make the impact Tiger Woods had on the game of golf.

But as Els says, his presence is still being felt today and it’s little wonder we see so many golfers now follow the modern athlete model over the traditional golfer look.