"put the jinx" on his playing partners -- defending champion Ph

HOYLAKE, England -- Ernie Els hit a spectator in the face with his opening tee shot at the British Open on Thursday, shaking up the two-time champion for the rest of his first round at Royal Liverpool. The mans injury and Els subsequent triple-bogey 7 on the first hole were just the start of his problems. The Big Easy will have a big task trying to stick around for the weekend after carding a 7-over 79, including 42 on the front nine. Els said he was "quite rattled" after he realized the man, who he estimated was in his 60s, was bleeding profusely from a shot that Els said hit the spectator directly in the face. "There was blood everywhere," Els said. "It was like a bullet coming at him. I obviously felt pretty bad about it. It wasnt nice. I was trying to hit it left, and should have told the starters to move the people back on the left side, but I didnt do that." Els said he would make inquiries about the mans recovery. Tournament officials said the spectator was not seriously injured. On the first green, Els missed a bogey putt from about eight inches, bizarrely backhanded the subsequent foot-long putt just past the hole and tapped in for his triple bogey. "Yeah, I was kind of finished. I started to miss short putts, it was just a nightmare," he said. Els said he may have "put the jinx" on his playing partners -- defending champion Phil Mickelson shot 74, and Masters winner Bubba Watson had a 76. Watson said he felt Els was affected by the mans injury. "When we got to the green Ernie said he hit somebody right in the jaw and he said it wasnt good," Watson said. "And you could tell Ernie was shaken up by it. Youre not trying to hit a bad shot in, but when you hit somebody like that its not a good scene, and its very heart-breaking. Im not saying thats why he struggled on that hole, but Im pretty sure thats what it was." There was a bit of comic relief on the 18th where Els had to gently prod a frog away from the tee box with his driver, prompting a smile. Els won his British Open titles 10 years apart -- at Muirfield in 2002 and at Royal Lytham in 2012. He also has two U.S. Open trophies. Hes playing his 24th British Open, where he has seven top-five finishes, and has missed the cut just three times. That total could well be four after Friday. "I played the front nine in 7-over par, (on) a perfect day, and thats just unheard of," Els said. "Hopefully well get it tomorrow." Tyler Naquin Indians Jersey . Rico dove horizontally to meet Andoni Iraolas precise long cross from the right to score his second league goal of the season in the 33rd minute. Two minutes later, Aritz Aduriz netted Bilbaos second when he raced forward and pounced on a poor clearance by Villarreal defender Mateo Musacchio, sending a low shot rolling past goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo. Francisco Lindor Jersey . 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His absence against the Celtics comes a day after he scored 43 points in the Heats 100-96 win at Cleveland.The Dallas Cowboys are releasing Kyle Orton after their backup quarterback missed all the off-season workouts amid reports he was considering retirement. A person with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the Cowboys were cutting ties with Orton slightly more than a week before the start of training camp. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team had not announced the decision. The 31-year-old Orton started the finale last year after Tony Romo injured his back a week earlier. The Cowboys lost to Philadelphia, their third straight season-ending defeat against an NFC East rival with a playoff berth on the line. The new backup is likely to be Brandon Weeden, Clevelands first-round draft pick in 2012. The Cowboys signed Weeden in March, and he worked with the first team during the off-season while Romo continued his recovery from back surgery. Orton was fined about $70,000 for failing to report during the off-season and missing the mandatory minicamp in June. The move saves DDallas about $3.dddddddddddd25 million this season, but will cost the team about that amount on the salary cap over the next two seasons. After getting into just one game in his first season with the Cowboys in 2012, Orton played briefly in two games last year before starting against the Eagles. He was 30 of 46 for 358 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions against Philadelphia, including one late that clinched the Eagles 24-22 win. Orton has started 70 of 75 games in a nine-year career. He spent his first three seasons in Chicago before going to Denver, where he lost the starting job to Tim Tebow and signed with Kansas City after the Broncos cut him during the season. Weeden started right away after the Browns took him with the 22nd pick, but was benched for good late in his second season with a career record of 5-15, including losses in all five starts in 2013. Weeden turns 31 in October but is going into just his third season because he spent five years playing professional baseball out of high school. ' ' '