Els dreaming of ending drought in likely last Augusta appearance

AUGUSTA, GEORGIA — Ernie Els has memories at every corner of Augusta National, typical of someone who is playing the Masters for the 23rd time.

Nothing haunts him as much as the sight of the practice green.

That’s where he was in 2004, hopeful of a playoff after closing with a 67, tied for the lead as Phil Mickelson made his way up the last hole to face an 18-foot birdie putt.

Els couldn’t see the 18th green because of the crowd; all he could do was listen for the outcome. The putt swirled in the cup. Mickelson leapt. The cheer shook the ground.

Els scooped up his golf balls and walked away.

“That was a blow,” Els reflected on Monday at the hallowed Georgian course. “I didn’t play good after that.”

The moment stands out even more this week as the 47-year-old South African returns for what could be his last Masters. Past champions can play for life, and most fans would have put Els on that list when the Big Easy showed up for the first time in 1994.

He won the first of his two US Opens that summer. Two British Open titles followed, the last one in 2012 at Royal Lytham & St Annes, which earned him a five-year exemption to the Masters.

However, that free pass runs out this week.

“You can put a line on it and say most probably it will be the last one,” Els said. “We’ ll see, unless we do something down the road.

“But, you know, it’s been good. If I come back again, then great. And If I don’t, it’s been good.”

Els is on a list of greats never to have won a Green Jacket.

Greg Norman seemed to have chances just about every year for a decade. He sent a shot into the gallery in 1986 for bogey that allowed Jack Nicklaus to win a sixth Masters. A year later, Larry Mize chipped in from 140 feet on the 11th hole to win a suddendeath playoff.

Norman famously blew a six-shot lead to Nick Faldo in 1996, and Jose Maria Olazabal beat him in a back-nine duel in 1999.

But you know, it’s been good. If I come back again, great. If I don’t, it’s been good.” Ernie Els, on the possibility that this could be his final Masters appearance

Tom Weiskopf was runnerup four times. David Duval had a chance to win four in a row starting in 1998, when Mark O’Meara beat him with a 20-foot birdie on the last hole.

Much like Els, Duval, who last played the Masters seven years ago, wonders how his Augusta record would have looked if O’Meara had not birdied the last two holes.

Would he have won more than once?

“I think so,” said Duval. “Because then you know about finishing. But it goes