ernie-els-putt

Ernie Els did not have a good year with the putter in 2015. If you don’t like scary movies, look away now, because here follows two videos of Ernie Els missing extremely short putts. 

There was this yippy horror show at the Dunhill Links Championship:

And this painful to watch miss at the CIMB Classic:

We could easily show more, but we’ve all had enough. 

Anyway, good news: the 46-year-old four-time major champ reckons he’s turned the corner. To back that up, he holed every putt from five feet or less at last week’s Qatar Masters. 

“From really being terrible on the greens, which is probably an understatement, to being 100 percent from five feet and in last week, you know, that’s the improvement I was looking for,” says an optimistic Els. “I’m starting to feel more comfortable. I’ve got to put a couple more things together in my game, but the things I’m working on on the greens are starting to come around a little bit, which is so pleasing for me. For a while I had the heebie-jeebies. I’ve had some bad years but last year was probably the worst.”

Els also revealed how badly last year’s yips were affecting him. 

“It was all on the greens and it was really getting into my head. I mean, you cannot play the game if you can’t putt. You might as well find another job. So I was thinking that for a while!”

Els says a change of grip helped him feel “immediately more stable”. Having turned the corner, he’s optimistic about a better year in 2016.

“I’m looking forward to this year. There are some great Major venues with the US Open at Oakmont, then Troon and Baltusrol for the US PGA. We’ve got great tournaments coming up. I’d love to make a bit of noise this year as much as I can.”

NEXT: Why Brandt Snedeker’s 69 was one of the best rounds you’ll ever see