It was a day to forget for Ernie Els as he missed SIX shots from within four feet of the hole as he ended up with a 10 on the par 4 first hole.
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Ernie Els vowed on Friday to sort out what has gone wrong with his putting stroke following the ghastly greens showing that wrecked his Masters campaign.
Els then knocked his third shot on the green and had 47 feet to the hole. He contracted the mental disease at the 1927 Shawnee Open when he took a 23 on the par-5 17th hole, which is believed to be the highest score registered on one hole in competition.
The 46-year-old South African nicknamed “The Big Easy” found nothing simple at all on the 445-yard hole named Tea Olive, time and again unable to sink short putts.
But he kept it together, and while he had a few opportunities get away, Els did make four birdies and had three more bogeys.
“I can’t explain it”, Els said.
“I can go to that putting green now and make 20 straight 3-footers”, he said.
The highest score on any Masters hole is a 13 with Tom Weiskopf achieving that score at the par-3 12th in 1980, while Tommy Nakajima followed him at the par-5 13th in 1998. “I don’t know how I stayed out there”. I can’t explain it. I’ve played a lot of these things and I couldn’t pull the putter back on the 1st.
“It’s the first time ever I’ve seen anything like that; I feel for Ernie”, Day said.
“I had three goes and then it went all over the place…I’m not sure where I’m going from here”.
Then came the agony, misses from all around the hole.
” I was complaining about the crowd not cheering”, Sullivan said.
“I feel like I’m pretty good mates with him, being on past Presidents Cup teams and I’ve known him for a long time now”. It’s very tough to tell you what goes through your mind.
The last six-putt on the PGA Tour was made by Graham DeLaet at the 2014 British Open at Royal Liverpool, eighth hole on Friday.
The problems were not just at No. 1 on Thursday either, he missed a short putt at No. 2, 16, 18 and throughout the round as he narrated to the press.
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Els said his household was “in shock” Thursday night but that he slept OK after watching the Bulls-Heat game. Do you know someone that does? The par-three is a showcase of having fun and maybe it shows I need to have my kids out on the golf course with me a little more.
