Ouch! Ernie six-putts from 2 feet

Cape Town - South Africa’s Ernie Els started his 2016 Masters bid in disastrous fashion when he inexplicably six-putted on the par-4 first hole at Augusta National.

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The four-time major champion opened with a quintuple-bogey on Thursday after a dramatic collapse on the first green.

It was originally reported that Els made a 10 on the first hole, with seven putts, but Masters officials corrected the score to a 9 (with six putts).

Els fired his first shot into the huge bunker right of the fairway and sent his approach 18 yards left of the green before pitching his approach to two feet.

But what followed was pure agony for South African golf enthusiasts, as Els inexplicably missed shots from all around the hole. He briefly paused and gathered himself, only to miss from close range again.

The 'Big Easy' then nonchalantly used a one-hand swing to tap the ball back toward the cup but it lipped out, prompting him to reach over and again one-hand the ball, this time finally into the cup.

INCREDIBLE!! @TheBig_Easy suffers a NIGHTMARE at #TheMasters hitting a 10 on a par 4. #GoingForGreen #Golf pic.twitter.com/ef9brhINM5

— FOX Sports Asia (@FOXSportsAsia) April 7, 2016

In the end, the 46-year-old did well to finish with an eight-over par 80.