It might be time for Ernie Els to just pack up his clubs and leave Augusta National. After six-putting and carding a nine on the first hole Thursday, he continued his awful luck on that hole Friday.
Els pulled his second shot from the fairway and hit a fan, Luke Fewel, who was standing alongside the green, in the head. Fewel said that he heard people yelling "fore!" and then the ball struck him just behind his right temple.
Course medical personnel arrived at the scene and gave him an ice pack as well as some ibuprofen, according to Nancy Armour of USA Today.
Els then went on to double bogey that hole after a three-putt, which was half of his putt total from his showing on that green yesterday. It's been a bad showing for the 46-year-old, as he'll attempt to claw his way into making it through the weekend, although that will require a miracle, since he's currently 12-over par with 11 holes remaining.
The PGA Tour veteran also hit a fan at the British Open back in 2014, but it was a much more unsettling scene. Els' first shot of that tournament hit a man in the jaw, and he was taken to a local hospital. Els said he was "quite rattled" and there was "blood all over."
The man ended up being fine and Els got him tickets for the rest of the weekend, but the incident undoubtedly affected his play.
Today's incident wasn't nearly as bad, but the first hole at the Masters may now always be a bad omen for Els, as the media will likely focus on the two occurrences over the past two days in future tournaments.
As for the rest of the field, leader Jordan Spieth (-6) will tee off at 12:55 p.m. ET with Paul Casey (-3). Bubba Watson is having a rough second round, as he's fallen to six-over par and is now two strokes away from the projected cut of four-over.
Stay tuned for a recap of the second round later today.
