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.

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 golf courses.

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, a former world Number 1 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.

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.