Golf-Els seven-putts opening green in nightmare Masters start (Reuters)

By Tim Wharnsby

AUGUSTA, Georgia, April 7 (Reuters) - Ernie Els suffered an embarrassing start to his 22nd Masters when he required seven putts from a short distance on the first green to post a record-high 10 on the par-four 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.

But his short-putt troubles returned in nightmarish fashion after Els' third shot, a chip, came to rest just shy of three feet from the cup at the opening hole.

The 46-year-old South African went back and forth missing putts of similar…