Ernie Els has played in 16 Masters tournaments, making the cut 12 times. His average finish is 25th place. That belies the South African’s performance at Augusta. Els has equated himself well in the Masters over the course of his career. Examining players with 50 to 74 rounds at the Masters, Els is third in scoring average with a 72.04. He sits behind only Tiger Woods (70.91) and Phil Mickelson (71.17). The only thing he is lacking is the victory.

Els opened his Masters experience with a stunning 8th place finish in 1994, including a 67 on day two of that tournament. He failed to make the cut the next year but had solid showings in the next three, finishing 12th, 17th, and 16th. The following year, 1999, found Els on the front page of the leader board going into Sunday. He picked a bad day to record his worst round in Masters play. He shot an 80, to finish in 27th place.

The 2000 Masters started an extraordinary run at Augusta National for Ernie Els. While he failed to capture the elusive green jacket that year, Els proved he could finish the tournament strong with a 68 on Sunday. He finished in second place, three shots behind Vijay Singh. Els seemingly figured out the legendary track. While he has failed to capture victory, he finished no worse than 6th place from 2000 to 2004 at the Masters.

2004 was an excruciating year for Els at Augusta. After steady, solid rounds of 70, 72, and 71 he saw the green jacket within reach and fired a 67 on the final day. Els could only watch in agony as Phil Mickelson drained an 18 foot putt for birdie on the final hole to steal the tournament away. It was only the 4th time in Masters history, that the tournament was decided by a birdie on the final hole.

Els’ fortunes have dramatically changed in his last 5 trips to Augusta. In 2005, a 3rd round 78 resulted in a 47th place finish. In 2006, a 76 on the final day saw him fall down the leader board to finish 27th. In 2007, 2008, and 2009 Els failed to make the cut after, 11 years in a row of playing on the weekend.

Ernie Els has started off 2010 with a fury winning back to back tournaments for the first time since 2003. He won the Tavistock Cup and the Arnold Palmer Invitational to build some momentum leading up to the Masters. http://www.masters.com/en_US/history/past_winners.html<ref> <ref>http://www.masters.com/en_US/history/records.html<ref>