Ernie Els, Retief Goosen dragged into ambush of Cyril Ramaphosa

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Former world number one golfer, Ernie Els, declared himself a “proud South African” as he was dragged into the ambush of his country’s leader Cyril Ramaphosa by US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office.

Ramaphosa invited Els and another leading South African golfer, Retief Goosen, to accompany him to the White House meeting on Wednesday, where Trump claimed genocide is being committed against white people in South Africa.

Keen golfer

The South African president had strategically chosen Els and Goosen, who are white and have six major championship titles between them, to appeal to Trump, a keen golfer who also owns several golf courses around the world.

They watched as Trump played a video that he said showed black South African politicians calling for the persecution of white people and Ramaphosa repeatedly tried to debunk the claims.

As Trump dug in, Els, who has played golf with the US president, was invited to speak from his position behind one of the sofas where the South African delegation was sitting.

Els pulled out his passport and described himself as a “proud South African” and referred to post-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela’s calls for unity in South Africa.

“I know there was a lot of anger through the transition, there was a lot of stuff happening in the apartheid days,” he said.

“We grew up in the apartheid era, but I don’t think two wrongs make a right.

Els and Goosen are part of a crop of talented South African golfers who have left their mark on world golf in the last two decades.

Ernie Els

Els, 55, is a two-time winner of both the US Open and the British Open. His British Open win at Lytham St Annes in 2012 was his last major title.

Els is nicknamed “the Big Easy”, because of his broad-shouldered physique but also because of his laid-back playing style.

A member of golf’s Hall of Fame, he refused to join the breakaway Saudi-backed LIV golf which has rocked golf in recent years, saying the format “is not proper golf”.

Els was born in Johannesburg and he and his family split their time between South Africa and Florida, where many of the world’s top golfers have a home.

Retief Goosen

Goosen is also a two-time US Open champion.

When he was 15, Goosen was struck by lightning while playing golf with a friend. He was burned but recovered and still has a scar on his wrist from the incident.

***Retief Goosen won the second of his US Open titles in 2004 © ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP/File***

Goosen, 56, whose father combined farming with working as a property developer, grew up in Pietersburg, now called Polokwane, in the Limpopo province. He has homes there, in England and in Florida.

In Washington, Goosen said his brother was still running the farm but that he has suffered attempts to attack the property.

“It’s a constant battle with… them trying to burn the farm down to chase you away,” he said.