AUGUSTA, Ga. — Ernie Els was only 2 feet from a par to start the Masters.
Twenty-four measly inches.
Then the unimaginable happened.
One miss. And another. And another. And another. And another. Finally, on his sixth putt — a one-handed swat that showed his total disgust — Els finished off a quintuple-bogey 9 that essentially ruined any hope of contending for a green jacket on the very first hole Thursday.
“I feel bad for Ernie,” defending Masters champion Jordan Spieth said.
Els posted the worst score ever at No. 1, a 445-yard hole known as “Tea Olive.”
No one at the Masters had ever gone higher than 8 on the par-4 hole.
“I can’t explain it,” said Els, who went on to shoot an 8-over-par 80 that matched his highest score ever at Augusta National and left him 14 shots behind Spieth, the leader. “You’re not able to do what you normally do. It’s unexplainable.”
Making the whole scene downright surreal, none of the putts appeared longer than about 4 feet. Video quickly began making the rounds on social media showing Els knocking the ball back and forth past the cup, totally bedeviled by the slick, treacherous greens at Augusta National.
Tom Watson, playing in the Masters for the final time, said Els’ putts were harder than they might have looked, especially on a blustery day.
“It’s right at the top of the hill,” Watson said. “It can really blow up there. It’s probably the windiest green on the golf course.”
After his third putt, Els stared at the ball with a disbelieving hint of a smile. By the end, he let his frustration get the best of him, making a half-hearted flick at the ball with one hand on the club from less than a foot away. Naturally, it lipped out.
Last year, Els opened the Masters with a sizzling 5-under 67 that left him only three strokes behind Spieth, the eventual winner. There was no chance of Els opening with a 67 this time around. “I’m not sure where I go from here,” he said.
