John Terry, Usain Bolt and Jean van de Velde... Sportsmail looks at 10 of the worst sporting nightmares in light of Ernie Els' shocking nine-shot start at the Masters"

Ernie Els endured the worst-imaginable start to this year's Masters after hitting an extraordinary nine shots on the par-four first.

The South African's quest to win his first green jacket looks remote after the worst opening hole score in Augusta history.

Here, Sportsmail takes a look at 10 of the worst sporting nightmares in history.

ohn Terry - Manchester United vs Chelsea, 2008 Champions League final

Captain, Leader, Legend John Terry had the chance to win Chelsea's first-ever European Cup against one of their domestic rivals in 2008. After Cristiano Ronaldo's penalty shootout miss earlier for Manchester United, the responsibility of creating Chelsea history fell on their iconic defender Terry in the pouring rain of Moscow. With just Edwin van der Sar to beat from 12 yards, Terry unfortunately slipped as he made contact with the ball before seeing it cannon back off the right-hand post. United went on to win the shootout 6-5.

Gareth Southgate - England vs Germany, Euro 96 semi-final

Our second penalty miss on this list and one of national significance. Gareth Southgate could have been England's hero but instead was the villain as the tournament hosts crashed out of the 1996 European Championship.

Facing Germany in a penalty semi-final, Southgate was England's first sudden-death penalty taker. With the expectation of a nation firmly on his shoulders, the defender saw his spot-kick saved by Andreas Kopke. If he had scored the pressure would have been on Andreas Moller to keep Germany in the tournament against a baying Wembley crowd. Instead it was to put them through to the final, which he duly obliged.

Steve Harmison's wide ball - England vs Australia, 2006-07 Ashes Series

Dubbed by many as 'the worst ball in history' England's woeful attempt to retain the 2006-07 Ashes is synonymous with the first ball of that series delivered by Steve Harmison.

After finally breaking Australia's stranglehold of the urn the year previously, this Ashes contest was the most eagerly-anticipated in recent memory. Towering fast bowler Harmison was given the responsibility of the first ball at The Gabba, but found second slip - resulting in umpire Steve Bucknor calling one of the easiest wide's of his career. England went on to suffer a 277-run defeat during that Test and a 5-0 series whitewash.

'I froze,' admitted Harmison afterwards. 'I let the enormity of the occasion get to me... My whole body was nervous. I could not get my hands to stop sweating. The first ball slipped out of my hands, the second did as well and, after that, I had no rhythm, nothing.'

Jean van de Velde - 1999 Open

With this year's Masters currently underway, the current field of golfers will be hoping to avoid the fate of Jean van de Velde.

At the 1999 Open in Carnoustie, the Frenchman inexplicably threw away the chance to win the Claret Jug on the final hole. With a three-shot lead going into the 18th hole, Van de Velde ended up making a triple-bogey seven that included a water hazard.

That nightmare hole dropped him into a three-way play-off with Justin Leonard and Paul Lawrie, as the latter came out the winner. That was the closest Van de Velde ever came to winning a major.

Lindsey Jacobellis - 2006 Winter Olympics
A 10-time Winter X Games champion and four-time Snowboarding World Championships winner, Lindsey Jacobellis should be able to call herself an Olympic gold medallist too. Emphasis on should.

At the 2006 Winter Olympics, the American was on course to win the Snowboard Cross event with a clear three-second lead over Switzerland's Tanja Frieden. However, on the penultimate jump Jacobellis started to showboat - to her cost as she fell. By the time she had recovered it was too late as Frieden stormed past her to win.

Liverpool - 3-3 vs Crystal Palace, 2013-14 Premier League

Referred to as 'Crystanbul' Crystal Palace's home clash against Liverpool will forever go down in the annals of Premier League history as one of the great games.

Leading 3-0 with just 11 minutes remaining, Liverpool's quest to win their first league title since 1990 was still on course, despite their 2-0 defeat by Chelsea. However a Damian Delaney strike and a brace from Dwight Gayle saw a barnstorming comeback by Palace to earn a 3-3 draw.

Cue tears from Luis Suarez at full-time as Brendan Rodgers' side handed the advantage firmly to eventual league champions Manchester City going into the final day.

Mauro Bergamasco - England vs Italy, 2009 Six Nations

Mauro Bergamasco represented Italy 106 times over a 17-year international career - all predominately as a flanker. However, in 2009 the Italian forward started as a scrum-half for his country during a Six Nations encounter against England at Twickenham.

With three first-choice scrum-halves injured, Italy coach Nick Mallett named Bergamasco as his No 9. Regarded as one of the worst performances by a player in international rugby, Bergamasco was hooked at half-time with three of his mistakes leading directly to England tries.

'I lost the bet and I accept responsibility,' Mallett said post-match. 'I thought about substituting Mauro after 25 minutes but I didn't want to take him off like that in front of the eyes of 80,000 people. I assured him that this performance would not affect his future in the team at flanker.'

Usain Bolt - 100m final, 2011 World Championships

The one blotch on Usain Bolt's almost-impregnable career as the world's finest-ever sprinter.

The Jamaican was the overwhelming favourite for gold at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu. However, Bolt never completed the race after being disqualified for a false start. He burst from his blocks in lane five but within a couple of strides was tearing off his vest in fury, roaring his frustration as he realised the enormity of his error.

Chris Iwelumo - Scotland vs Norway, World Cup qualifier 2008

Chris Iwelumo would have dreamed of this moment for years. An open goal on his Scotland debut in front of the home supporters. A striker's wish. In reality though it proved a nightmare - and one moment that he has never been able to shake off.

Coming on as a second-half substitute against Norway in a World Cup qualifier, Iwelumo was presented with a tap-in from three yards. Somehow though he contrived to put his effort wide in match that ended 0-0. He made just a further three appearances for his country.

Lewis Hamilton - 2007 Chinese Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton was on the cusp of F1 immortality as the first-ever driver to become world champion in his rookie season. Sitting in second place the Chinese Grand Prix, Hamilton prepared to come into the pits to change his tires as conditions changed at the Shanghai International Circuit.

However, as he entered the pit lane with his tyres worn down to the canvas, he failed to negotiate the sharp left-hander into the pits, beaching his car in the gravel. Despite marshal's efforts to get him back into the race, he suffered the first retirement of his career. The McLaren driver eventually lost the title to Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonnen.