‘The Big Easy’ Theodore Ernest Els is one of the greatest players we have witnessed in our lifetimes. Even young golf fans are left in awe when they watch his old videos of his triumphs on YouTube or other media channels. Els has earned a lot of respect from everyone in the golf fraternity, including his fellow pros.

He himself has also always shown a lot of respect towards other pros. In fact, in an interview about 7 years ago, Ernest Els shared his views about another golf legend whom he faced during the last few years of his career.

Ernie Els meets Tiger Woods

Ernest Els sat down to interview for In Depth with Graham Bensinger back on 26 Jul 2017. Graham kicked off this section of the interview questioning Els about his rivalry with Tiger Woods. Els admitted that he admired the young Woods back then. Talking about Woods’s domination, Els said, “He definitely dominated. Unfortunately, for me, he did dominate our era. You know, the 10-year era.” The 10-year era that he is talking about is the one between his second victory at the Open in 2002 at Muirfield and his third glory in 2012 at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

An honest Ernie Els continued to credit Woods in the interview, saying, “He beat me a lot more often than I wanted to get my hands on him.” As modest as the golf legend is, he did understate how often he clashed with Woods. They have faced each other a staggering 213 times. Out of this, Woods has conquered the leaderboard 52 times while Els just has 10 victories. 10 triumphs is, by no means, a small number of titles, as most golfers haven’t even reached that mark. But such was the stature of the individuals involved in these battles.

But nonetheless, Els had nothing but praise for Woods as he said, “He was just amazing. Just absolutely amazing talent.” For a moment, he also turned into a fan as he imagined a dream feud between Woods and another legendary golfer. He said, “I never played with Jack Nicklaus but obviously they would have had a great rivalry.”

The ever-so-humble Ernie Els continued to share how amazed he was watching Tiger Woods play. Els said, “He was just a little bit too good. You know… It pains me to say that but that’s just a fact.”

It’s amazing to watch any golfer compliment his fellow pro for his strokeplay. This is what makes golf a gentleman’s game and any fan would love to see this. However, Els did have a few things to complain about during the interview.

“I don’t wanna sound like sour grapes”

As much as Ernie Els admired Tiger Woods, he did have an alternate opinion about their rivalry. Following his ‘sour grapes’ comment, he said, “Playing against him in the United States gave him a little bit of a; I wouldn’t say upper hand, but he was a bit more comfortable maybe than I was.”

Intrigued by the statement made by Els, Graham questioned whether Woods had an advantage because of his fan following. To this, ‘The Big Easy’ replied, “No, just because you’re playing at home.” Speaking of his own fanbase, Els said, “I’ve got great support here. Unbelievable support through the years,” confirming that fans didn’t have any impact on Woods playing at home. Erns clarified, “At the end of the day you’re playing at home and the other guy is not. So you just feel a bit more comfortable and that played into his hands.” But he didn’t stop acknowledging Woods for the talent he possesses. Els said, “The talent of the man is just amazing. The shots that he played and the best closer I’ve ever seen in my life.”

As much love as Els has received over the years, his fans can also acknowledge how good Tigers Woods was. Either way, both of them are elite golfers and their rivalry will always be a part of the history books. Can you think of any other rivalry that was just as good as Ernie Els vs. Tiger Woods? Let us know in the comments section.