Fowler’s Great Shot Earns Ernie Els’ Autism Foundation One Million Dollars

South African golfer Ernie Els was jumping for joy on Monday, when Rickie Fowler hit a brilliant hole-in-one on a bonus hole to earn Els’ autism foundation a whopping one million dollar donation from sponsors at a charity event in Florida!

The event took place at Palm Beach Gardens in the USA, where Els has lived since relocating the family from Wentworth…a move he made not only to benefit his golf, but “more importantly” to secure “a more intensive form of therapy” for his son Ben, who has autism.

“I’d like also to be remembered as somebody who took the issue of Autism and did something with it”

Els tweeted on Monday: “Will always remember this moment. Great support once again from pros. #humbled still can’t believe it! #iwasthere” and the following morning he said he woke up not believing it was true and tweeted: “Thank you again to @KetelOne and @SAP for sponsoring the 19th hole $1M contest. Still on cloud 9.”

Watch Els’ excitement below as he lifts Fowler, ranked 13th in the world, off the ground to celebrate.

Els says on his foundation’s website: “Years from now people may remember me as a golfer and a major champion. But I’d like also to be remembered as somebody who took the issue of Autism and did something with it. The rest of my life, I’ll be fighting this thing…I hope you’ll join with me.”

Els says when you first find out your child has autism “you feel sorry for yourself and for your kid and for your family. And the tragedy is that even in this day and age, the kid who has Autism is often forgotten about. The feeling is that he’s almost a waste of time, which says a lot more about society than it does the child. It’s heartbreaking.”

He says “Ben’s condition was the main driving force behind our decision to relocate our base from Wentworth to West Palm Beach in Florida” and that “Samantha, his older sister, is great with him.

“Liezl and I are private people, but we are also very much in the public eye and we recognize that this gives us a platform to help raise funds and awareness for the causes of Autism and its possible treatments. It is something that we both feel very passionate about.

“The feeling is that he’s almost a waste of time, which says a lot more about society than it does the child. It’s heartbreaking.” – Ernie Els

“We established our Els for Autism Foundation in the spring of 2009. My first goal was to help create a Center of Excellence, a model for the world of what should be available to children on the autism spectrum. The Center will launch a global digital learning platform that will make best practices in education and therapy available to thousands of children around the world on the autism spectrum. The Center will also have on site education for ages 3-21, professional and medical services, research and transition to adulthood. We’re working with some of the best experts in the world to make the Center a reality.”

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Read more about Ernie Els’ autism foundation here: http://www.elsforautism.com/