Ernie Els stands tall in a tough moment at Augusta

Ernie Els did something remarkable Thursday.

No, not the six-putt on the first green. That was shocking sure, but any one of us could pull that off. What Els did that was so impressive came four hours later, when he faced reporters and answered every question they had about one of the most startling things that ever has happened at a major championship.

Els not only answered. He pulled up a psychiatrist’s couch and unpacked a lot of baggage after a round of 80.

He readily acknowledged a colossal case of the dreaded yips. He talked about “snakes in your head.” He used the term “heebie-jeebies” in its proper context.

“You make some stuff up in your brain, you know, it’s difficult,” he said. “It’s something that, what holds you back from doing your normal thing? It’s unexplainable. A lot of people have stopped playing the game, you know, it’s unexplainable. It’s very tough to tell you what goes through your mind.”

Els, a 46-year-old four-time major winner, did not have to speak to reporters following the round. In fact, he already had cleared the gaggle waiting to see if he would talk and was close to a door that would have allowed him to duck out and head to the house. Instead, when he realized the group was waiting for him, he returned and opened the floor for questions.

Reporters love people who stand and deliver in tough moments like that. A large part of that is because it makes our job easier and most of us got into this profession because we don’t have the constitution for real work, but there’s some real world value in it, too.

It was a human moment. Golfers at this level can become walking, talking corporations. They are beginning to resemble Sprint Cup cars they are so festooned with advertisements, and many of them talk of themselves as a “we” to reference a team that includes swing coaches and sports psychologists and agents and who knows what else. It’s easy for us (and too often for them) to forget they’re just folks and “one of those darn days” is coming for all of us now and then.

Let’s contrast Els’ grace with Bubba Watson’s public reaction to his round Friday. Watson shot his second consecutive 75 on Friday and barely made the cut in his eight Masters appearances.

When a reporter asked Watson about his confidence level entering the event, Watson replied, “I’m still fourth in the world, so I feel good. I don’t know if you’ve ever been fourth in the world, but you have pretty good confidence. There’s only three guys better than you in the world.”

The “I don’t know if you’ve ever been fourth in the world” part of that came off very much as a way for Watson to separate himself from the rank-and-file who couldn’t possibly understand his rare air.

Els, though, was perfectly willing to be one of us these last two days, warts and all.

“You play long enough, you make a fool of yourself somewhere and I did it on the biggest stage,” he said Friday, again facing the music after shooting a 73 and missing the cut.

Els was greeted heartily by the Augusta patrons on Friday. He received a loud ovation when he walked onto the practice range for the first time, which he appreciated because it was another tough moment for him.

“After what I did yesterday, you feel quite embarrassed,” he said. “I couldn’t quite get myself going this morning. It was a very surreal experience. It was a weird feeling this morning. I walked onto the range and even the players and caddies kind of looked at me as if I didn’t have pants on or something. I felt like I’d robbed something and got caught. It was really not a nice feeling, but you know they’ve got good reason to look at me funny.”

Els six-putt and overall struggles on the green (He three-putted the first hole Friday and had 68 putts in two days time.) were the talk of the tour players Thursday evening and again Friday.

“It’s terrible. I don’t wish it on anybody,” Bernhard Langer said. “I can’t think of any worse way to start a golf tournament than what he did. You’ve already lost the tournament in one hole. It’s a shame because he’s a great champion and a great player.”

He also proved he’s a decent guy, and that’s important, too.

This story was originally published April 9, 2016 at 12:24 AM with the headline "Ernie Els stands tall in a tough moment at Augusta."