Big debacle for Big Easy at start of Masters

It’s the ugliest start by a player in Masters history, with the hole called Tea Olive likely knocking Els out, or at least knocking out his chance to win.

Els needed 39 putts for the day, 2.17 per hole.

That’s when the drama began. Els not only six-putted the first hole but missed several more short ones throughout his round, including a two-footer on 18, a somewhat fitting and horrid way to end his day.

Making the whole scene downright surreal, none of the putts appeared longer than 4 feet. Now, that would be a gimme for most players, but Els knocked it 11 inches by the hole on his first attempt, drawing a gasp from the gallery.

No one at Masters had ever gone higher than 8 on the par-4 hole.

Els nonchalantly used a one-hand swing to tap the ball back toward the cup and it lipped out, prompting him to reach over and again one-hand the ball, this time mercifully into the bottom of the cup.

Ernie Els, of South Africa, waits to hit on the first fairway during the first round of the Masters golf tournament Thursday, April 7, 2016, in Augusta, Ga.

Els, who switched to a left-hand low putting stroke earlier this year after issues at an event in South Africa, said he tried something different on Tuesday. He putted the ball past the hole, then back again, then again and again. It’s something that I’m sure up there somewhere (in his head) that you just can’t do what you normally do.

He had three greens that he had 3 putts or more and finished with 39 for the round – or 14 more than first-round leader Jordan Spieth, who happened to beat him by 14 strokes. There wasn’t enough space in the graphic to fit THREE of his putts.

“I think 74 is not bad for old folks”, he said.

“I don’t know how I stayed out there“, he said.

Els was initially given a 10 on the scorecard before authorities conferred and changed his score to 9 with six, not seven puts.

Commentating for Sky Sports during the third round in Johannesburg, Els said: “I’m so stubborn”. “You make some stuff up in your brain”. “I was trying to get it going on the back”. “The course is very hard and putting is hard because the greens are fast and it’s windy, and putts get away from you”. But it’s unexplainable. It’s very tough to tell you what goes through your mind.