WATCH: Ernie Els misses six putts on first hole at the Masters, trends on Twitter

Ernie Els suffered an embarrassing start to his 22nd Masters when he required six putts from a short distance to post a record-high nine on the par-four first 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.