NEWPORT BEACH – When World Golf Hall of Famer Ernie Els returns to Newport Beach Country Club every spring, he says he feels like he’s back home in South Africa, where he was born and took up the game.
“It reminds me of where we grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa — the topography, the vegetation is very similar, the Kikuyu grass,” Els said earlier this week during a media interview as he was preparing for his title defense in this weekend’s Hoag Classic.
Newport Beach Country Club also reminds him of winning. In three starts at the Hoag Classic, Els has won twice, in 2020 and 2023, and he played in the final group on Sunday in the other one, in 2022.
“I love this place,” he said. “It fits my eye—the grass, the weather, the whole place just feels like home.”
In 2020, his third PGA Tour Champions event after joining the 50-and-over tour, Els picked up his first Champions title. After stumbling in the final round in 2022 to finish seventh, he rebounded to win again last year, shooting a bogey-free, 6-under 65 to finish at 13-under par, overtaking a large group of challengers to win by one shot.
In doing so, he became the fourth two-time winner of the Hoag Classic, joining Hale Irwin, Fred Couples and Jay Haas.
As he reflected on his Hoag titles, he also pointed out that several of his South African countrymen have won in Newport Beach.
“There’s a reason why so many South Africans have won here,” he said, accentuating the home-away-from-home feeling. “Nick Price won (in 2011), David Frost (2013), myself, Retief (Goosen in 2022)—we all kind of like it out here.”
Talent might have something to do with it, too. Els is a 19-time PGA Tour winner, including two U.S. Opens and two British Opens, with 47 other international titles and more than 300 career top-10 finishes.
Els, nicknamed “The Big Easy” because of his 6-foot-4 stature and his smooth, seemingly effortless swing, also likes Newport Beach Country Club because…
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