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Ernie Els opened up his Thursday round at the Masters in historic fashion: a 10 on the par-4 1st hole, the worst tally on the first hole in the history of the tournament, according to ESPN.
The Big Easy qualified for the Masters by winning the British Open five years ago, the final year the result will qualify him. His game has struggled of late to the point that he has fallen out of the top 50 in the rankings. It's quite possible that this will be Els' last Masters, particularly if he continues to putt like a below-average weekend golfer.
Let's take a look at his disastrous first hole. He missed six putts, so it wasn't as though his high mark came from a shanked drive or a shot off a tree. This was, simply put, atrociously poor putting.
Take a look:
INCREDIBLE!! @TheBig_Easy suffers a NIGHTMARE at #TheMasters hitting a 10 on a par 4. #GoingForGreen #Golf pic.twitter.com/ef9brhINM5
- FOX Sports Asia (@FOXSportsAsia) April 7, 2016