Ernie Els opens the Masters with a 9 on the first hole
Hey, there’s nowhere to go but up from here.
Then again, knowing you’re probably going to miss the cut after the first hole on the Masters can’t be a good feeling.
Making the whole scene downright surreal, none of the putts appeared longer than 4 feet. Els just kept knocking the ball back and forth past the cup, totally bedeviled by not only the slick, treacherous greens at Augusta National, but basically a meltdown in his mental approach.
He missed so many times, the score was initially recorded as a 10 instead of a 9. It was easy to lose count. Even Els wasn’t quite sure how many times he putted.
Ernie Els lined up about a 3-foot putt for par on the opening hole. Unbelievably, he needed six putts attempts to finish the hole.
Here it is:
Ernie Els 7 putted the first hole, it's excruciating to watch pic.twitter.com/0SJIyncF9k
— The Cauldron (@TheCauldron) April 7, 2016
After that debacle (which was originally a sextuple-bogey), the “Happy Gilmore” responses (and more) followed in the form of GIFs, quotes and video clips. To wit:
Ernie Els after seven putting the first hole at The Masters pic.twitter.com/1JI4NDZFcP
— Shooter McGavin (@ShooterMcGavin_) April 7, 2016
Just watched Ernie Els 6-putt from 3-feet. It was like watching @Jon_Favreau keep calling Nicki back in Swingers.
— Rich Eisen (@richeisen) April 7, 2016
Pete Grathoff: 816-234-4330, @pgrathoff
This story was originally published April 7, 2016 at 3:32 PM.