Golfer regains confidence, talks about his son's autism

From a NY Times story about South African golfer Ernie Els:

After two and a half years in the golf wilderness, during which he struggled with his game, came to grips with the autism of his 6-year-old son, did not win a golf tournament on tour and did not smile much, Els is now reminding people why he used to be called the Big Easy. . .

But even for the gifted, life has a way of creating power drains. In July 2005, Els injured his right knee in a boating accident, tearing his anterior cruciate ligament. He tried to come back five months after surgery, and his knee was swollen for another six months. Swing flaws crept in. During this time he and his wife, Liezl, were also starting to deal with their son Ben’s autism, which Els publicly discussed for the first time last year.

He broke a victory drought of more than three years by winning the Honda Classic last March, and many were surprised when Els first talked publicly about Ben’s autism a week later. He said he wanted to get the word out to raise awareness.

“A lot of young parents like myself and Liezl are going to be affected by it,” Els said. “It’s happening every day as we stand here, families are being affected by it. It’s a shock at first, you’re not quite sure what to do, where to go. We started talking out about it, and it’s basically just to tell other families not to hold it back.”