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." Jordan Staal Jersey . The Union looked to have grabbed a big win in the 88th minute when Amobi Okugo finally put the hosts in front. But a terrible giveaway by Union goalkeeper Rais Mbolhi handed Earnshaw the equalizer in the second minute of stoppage time, keeping the Union two points back of fifth-place Red Bull New York for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Justin Faulk Jersey . 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Gonzalez homered, doubled and singled in his return to the lineup, and the Colorado Rockies snapped a five-game losing streak with a 13-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night.FORT WORTH, Texas -- When qualifying ended at Texas Motor Speedway, Chase Elliott hopped a fence and went on his way without a single fan bothering to stop him for an autograph or picture. Dale Earnhardt Jr. watched the 18-year-old go by largely ignored and figured those days were numbered. "I thought to myself, I know hes going to win one day or another, and then just start railing off run after run after run and become the next best thing," Earnhardt said hours later. "It aint going to be long until hes going to be swarmed with attention." Boy, Earnhardt had that pegged. Elliott used a strong move on the outside to pass Kevin Harvick for the lead Friday night and then sailed away for his first career Nationwide Series victory. The 18-year-old won in his sixth career start and is the second youngest winner in series history. Hes roughly four months older than Joey Logano, who was 18 years and 21 days when he won his first career Nationwide race in 2008. Elliott won in a Chevrolet for JR Motorsports, driving the No. 9 as a tribute to his father, 1988 Cup champion Bill Elliott. "I cant believe it, just to have the opportunity to race with these guys at JR Motorsports, just to have this opportunity is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for any racer who wants to make it to the top," Elliott said. "It just means the word for me to be here." Elliott became the fourth driver in Nationwide history to earn his first series victory at Texas, joining Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch and Trevor Bayne. The victory continues the youth initiative in NASCAR as first-time winners have now won consecutive races for the first time since 2008. Two weeks ago, 21-year-old Kyle Larson scored his first career win at California. For his efforts? Elliott gets to return home and go to school on Monday as he continues to finish his senior year of high school. "I guess it will just be a normal Monday. Nobody likes Mondays," Elliott said. "Im sure it will be the same old deal, have a bunch of homework to do when I get back and get ready to go to Darlington." The win wowed Elliotts father, and back home in Dawsonville, Ga., the siren outside the local pool room wass blaring throughout the town to signify another local boys big victory.dddddddddddd "Im about speechless," Bill Elliott said in Victory Lane. "I felt like Chase could do it. Ive watched him on Late Model team too much -- I know how good the kid really is. "To come here, to never have been to some of these places, like Las Vegas, California and now here at Texas, and come out and beat the kind of guys youve beat -- Ill tell you what, youve done a heck of a job." As a sign of how much respect Elliott already has among his peers, he was met following the win on pit road by Harvick, Larson and Kyle Busch. Then six-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson came to Victory Lane to congratulate him. "Its pretty awesome to see him succeed, I knew it was just a matter of time," said team co-owner Earnhardt Jr. "He has so much composure and ability and is years ahead of guys that age. And hes learning so much on the fly. Hes learning faster than you can teach him whats going on." Kyle Busch, a 65-time race winner in the Nationwide Series, finished second. He was third two weeks ago when Larson won, and hasnt seemed to mind these defeats. "These are the guys that are growing up and are young and being able to run hard and run strong and run with the best of them," said Busch. "Its neat to see them being successful and running with the best of them. I hate to lose, but its still cool to see the younger guys have the opportunities to win races and when they do, they seem to make it look good and win in style, so congrats to Chase." Elliott, who led four times for 38 laps, was strong Friday night and passed car owner Earnhardt Jr. for the lead at one point. But he was second behind Harvick on the final restart with 23 laps to go, and flirted several times with making a pass for the win before finally completing the move with a strong outside pass. "That was wild," said third-place finisher Larson. "Hed been trying to make it work and he must have had an extreme run that one time, got to Harvicks quarter panel and made him loose. 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