Ernie Els makes a horrific start to The Masters after six putts at the first

Ernie Els endured a horrific start to The Masters after taking an incredible nine shots to negotiate the opening hole, including six putts.

Els recently declared himself free of the "yips" that blighted his game last year, but he put on a horror show at the 445-yard first on his 22nd appearance at Augusta National.

The 46-year-old missed the green with his approach, but he gave himself a great chance to make par when he clipped a delightful pitch to inside three feet.

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But Els destroyed his confidence when, after missing the par putt, he needed five more attempts to get his ball to drop and even resorted to playing his final two putts one-handed. 

His quintuple-bogey nine is a new low for the first hole at the Masters, with Olin Browne, Scott Simpson, Billy Casper and Jeev Milkha Singh sharing the previous record with eight.

"I can't explain it," Els said. "I couldn't take the putter back. I had three goes and then it went all over the place. I don't know how I stayed out there. The last thing you want is to be out on the golf course. "I'm not sure where I'm going from here. If you have snakes in your brain it's difficult. Maybe I need a brain transplant.

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"It's hard to explain. Something withholds you from doing your normal thing. I could go on the practice putting green and make 20 straight three-footers."

Els then three-putted the second green after knocking his second to 25 feet to set up an eagle chance, although he did managed to claw a shot back when he rolled in a putt for birdie at the fifth.

Click on the video to see Ernie's nightmare start to the Masters ...