Els 'would not accept' Masters invite

Ernie Els will not be at this week’s Masters – even if Augusta National decide to offer him a last-minute invitation.

The former world number one failed in his bid to win the Houston Open and with it the last exempt spot in the year’s first major.

There is little chance of officials adding him to the field – Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa received his invite a month ago – but he told reporters in Texas: “To go through all of this and then get an invite, I wouldn’t take it. They can keep it.

“It’s not going to change my life either way. I’ve played many out there - it’s one of those things.”

Els, twice a runner-up in The Masters, would have been there through the world’s top 50 but for bogeying the last two holes of the Transitions Championship when leading three weeks ago.