Els Keeps Missing Shots and Could Miss the Masters ORLANDO, Fla. - The 8-iron from the right rough had a chance to go into the hole on the ninth green, narrowly missing by a couple of inches. The birdie putt from 4 feet, however, had no chance, sliding by for a painful par. And so it goes for Ernie Els, who may want to change his sobriquet. Lately, golf has become as complicated as calculus for the player nicknamed the Big Easy. This week marks the two-year anniversary since Els's last victory on the PGA Tour. He has had only two top-10 finishes in his last 26 starts and is on the verge of missing his first Masters since 1993. While one of those top-10s came in last week's Transitions Championship, that was hardly reason for Els, a 42-year-old South African, to celebrate: He missed two putts inside 6 feet on the last three holes, finishing with a pair of bogeys to miss a playoff by one excruciating shot. Els, one of the more affable players on the tour, even snapped at reporters and tour officials afterward. A few days later, Els assured everyone that he was over that disappointment - until he endured another tough finish in Thursday's first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. After opening with 10 consecutive pars, he reeled off three consecutive birdies at Bay Hill's second, third and fourth holes to move into a tie for second place. (Els, ranked No. 62 in the world, needs to finish no worse than alone in second this week to move into the top 50 and qualify for the Masters.) Just when it appeared that Els was moving closer to Augusta National, he went backward with an unexpected bogey at the par-5 sixth, another bogey at the par-4 eighth and the par on his closing hole. He fell from second to 16th, five shots behind the co-leaders Jason Dufner (66) and Charlie Wi (66). Els was not in a jovial mood afterward. "I played good all day," Els said. I just read the wind wrong on 8 and misread it on 9. I'm playing really good. Just have to keep going, keep capitalizing on good shots. Els has played five of the last six weeks - missing the W.G.C.-Cadillac Championship at Doral because he was not eligible - and said he would play in next week's Shell Houston Open. "In a slump like I've been in, sometimes it's good to play to see where your game is," Els said. I obviously see what I have to work on, and that's what I'm doing. It does not take a PGA instructor to know Els's weakness: putting. The longest putt he made Thursday was a 9-footer. This is not a new problem for Els. Last year, he was one of the tour's worst putters from inside 15 feet. He ranked 174th from inside 5 feet (94.8 percent), 183rd from 5 to 10 feet (47.8 percent) and 178th from 10 to 15 feet (23.5 percent). If Els had made a 6-foot birdie putt at the 16th hole last week at Innisbrook, he would have taken a two-shot lead and probably would already have his house reserved in Augusta. Instead, he continued to grind away Thursday. "Ernie is playing better," said Tiger Woods, who shot a 69 while playing alongside Els. I think he's been hitting it pretty good. It's just making a few putts at the right time. Today he putted a little better, and it was good to see. It would be better for Els to see more putts disappear into the hole. Asked about last week's close call, Els seemed to make it clear he may be over the missed putts, but not the scrutiny of them. "You guys have to understand, I started the final round three shots behind," he said. I played a hell of a round to get to the lead, then O.K., I made some mistakes. You guys keep going on like I've killed somebody. I missed a couple of putts and I missed a couple of shots.