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Ernie Els 6-putts from 6 feet to start the Masters with a 9

Not to be hyperbolic, but this is probably the worst putting display in the history of the Masters.

This is hard to comprehend and quite sad. Ernie Els started his Masters by making a nine on the opening hole. Surely, he must have hit a wayward drive on one of the more difficult tee shots a pro will ever face? No, no he was in fine shape off the tee. Then his approach shot shanked somewhere off into the woods? Nope.

The most unbelievable part of Els’ nine on the scorecard is that he six-putted, and from around six feet according to The Masters’ shot tracker.

Els has had his yippy moments with the putter that have been tough to watch. The sequence allegedly included a miss from 10 inches.

Els was initially given a 10 on the scorecard, before his score was fixed hours later and changed to a nine with six, not seven puts. The nine was still the worst score ever recorded on the opening hole by a stroke.

On the next hole, an easier par-5, Ernie got on the green in two and then made a par. So that’s nine putts through two holes. We’ve seen lots of misses from inside a foot or two from Ernie in recent years, but I have no jokes in this instance. I just feel terrible.

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