Ernie Els of South Africa hits the ball out of the bunker on the sixth hole during the Dubai Desert Classic golf championship February 6, 2016. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah
AUGUSTA, Georgia (Reuters) - Ernie Els suffered an embarrassing start to his 22nd Masters when he required seven putts from a short distance on the first green to post a record-high 10 on the par-four hole in Thursday's opening round.
The four-times major champion and former world number one has struggled with short putts for more than a year, but he felt earlier this season that he had overcome what golfers refer to as the yips. But his short-putt troubles returned in nightmarish fashion after Els’ third shot, a chip, came to rest just shy of three feet from the cup at the opening hole.
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