1997 - 2000

In 1997 Ernie was off to an excellent start, winning the Johnnie Walker Classic in Australia in January. He then won his second major, the US Open at Congressional, where he hit one of the shots of his life, a stunning 5-iron into the treacherous 17th green in the final round. The following week Ernie won his second Buick Classic, which elevated him to the No.1 spot in golf’s official world rankings. Ernie went on to win the PGA Grand Slam Tournament, featuring the other three major winners of 1997: Tiger Woods, Justin Leonard and Davis Love. Ernie was also a part of South Africa’s winning Dunhill Cup team at St Andrews.

In 1998 Ernie won the South African Open Championship in Durban. He also won the Bay Hill Invitational on the PGA Tour, and again was on the winning South African team at the Dunhill Cup. Later that year Ernie married his long-time sweetheart, Liezl Wehmeyer.

In 1999 Ernie celebrated the New Year by winning the Alfred Dunhill PGA Championship. He followed this with another significant victory at the PGA Tour at the Nissan Open. On May 26th Ernie and Liezl were delighted with the arrival of their first born, Samantha Leigh. Ernie won his first Nedbank Challenge, shooting a record score of 25-under par.

The new millennium kicked off with more victories around the world, including the Loch Lomond Invitational in Scotland and later that year a second victory in the Nedbank Challenge at Sun City in South Africa. In the US Ernie won the International, presented by Qwest.