Can Ernie Els Make it Back to the Top?

Ernie Els burst onto the PGA Tour in 1994 and within just a few months, he had captured his first major when he won the US Open at Oakmont Country Club.

Before there was Tiger Woods, Els, along with Phil Mickelson, were the brightest up-and-coming stars on tour. 

Els was an extremely accomplished amateur and was touted as the best golfer to come out of South Africa since Gary Player. 

Els won the US Open again in 1997 and the British Open in 2002, beating Stuart Appleby, Steve Elkington and Thomas Levet in a three-way playoff.  

Els has 59 professional wins, which include 18 on the PGA Tour and 22 on the European Tour. 

Back in 2005, still very much in the prime of his career, Els tore his ACL while on a sailing trip with his family in the Mediterranean. 

Els underwent reconstructive knee surgery back in 2005 and hasn’t been quite the same since. 

Most doctors estimate that it takes somewhere in the vicinity of 12-14 months to fully recover from reconstructive ACL surgery. 

Although an athlete can typically return to competitive play a lot sooner than a year after the surgery, it normally takes a full year to compete completely pain-free.

Els was fairly quiet in 2007 but had somewhat of a resurgence in 2008, which included a win at the Honda Classic in March. 

Ernie missed the cut at the 2008 Masters but finished 14th at the US Open, seventh at the British Open, and 31st at the PGA Championship.

Els had two other top-10 finishes in 2008.  He finished sixth in The Players Championship, widely regarded as the fifth major, and third at the Deutsche Bank Championship, which was the second stage of the FedEx Cup playoffs, contributing to his overall 13th-place finish in the FedEx Cup standings.

With a win, two top-10s and a respectable showing at three-fourths of the majors, Els has shown us glimpses of his pre-surgery form in 2008.

But does Els still have what it takes to get back to the top and win a fourth major? 

History has shown that the prime of a golfer’s career tends to be in his 30s. 

However, the age range that has historically represented a players’ prime is not taking into account the recent emergence of physical fitness and the continuous advancement in equipment that has enable players to remain highly competitive for many more years.

Players such as Vijay Singh, Steve Striker and Kenny Perry have shown that with a regular physical fitness routine, it is possible to compete well into your 40s and in the case of Vijay, play some of your best golf after the age of 40. 

Els is still young enough to climb back to the top. However, his situation is slightly different than others in that he has some off-the-course matters that would make hitting a little white ball seem utterly irrelevant. 

Els' 5-year-old son, Ben, has been diagnosed with autism. 

Just last year, Els moved his family its longtime home outside London to Orlando, Fla., in order to receive better care for his son. 

In the world of golf, winning a major is the most important thing there is.

However, in life, caring for a mentally challenged child is profoundly more important than winning a silly golf tournament. 

So, Els, understandably, has some of-the-course distractions that far outweigh the importance of winning a golf tournament.   

"The Big Easy," as Els has been coined, has one of the most fundamentally sound golf swings on tour. 

Els swing contains the virtually unattainable feature all golfers strive for: no wasted movement. 

Els combines a short smooth back swing with a direct acceleration through the ball.

You will not see the slightest hint of a hitch or any other unnecessary movement in Els swing, which normally allows Els to be incredibly accurate, particularly with his irons.

However, Els' swing has not provided his trademark accuracy since his surgery in 2005.

In 2008, Els only hit 56 percent of fairways, which ranked 162nd on tour.

He hit just 61.3 percent of greens in regulation, which ranked 177th on tour. 

Watch Ernie Els swing a golf club for five minutes and you will quickly realize that his mechanics and talent are surely not the cause of his recent decline in accuracy.  

Els, understandably, has most likely not been devoting the same time and energy to his golf game as he did before his 2005 knee surgery. 

Els’ son being diagnosed with autism, his move from England to Florida, along with the large amount of charity work he and his wife have been doing to raise money for autism research and care, has justifiably taken his attention away from the golf course. 

Does Els still have the physical talent and ability to climb his way back to the top of the PGA tour? 

Probably. 

However, Els has a lot more important issues than golf making demands on his time. 

Whether Els is able to return to his pre-surgery form or not, he can unquestionably be considered one of the best golfers of the past decade and an even better man.