Most people who play the Masters know that success or failure with a variety of short game-shots will make or break the tournament.
When a player is exceptional within 100 yards of the green, they’ll often be in contention. But if they’re struggling, it could lead to a long couple of days at Augusta’s difficult trek.
Which short game shots are the most critical at the Masters? The ones that players need to master in order to give themselves a chance at a green jacket? I spoke with Keith Mitchell‘s short game coach, Parker McLachlin, to get some answers.
The most important short-game shots to win the Masters
McLachlin, known to many as the “short game chef“, spent the week at Augusta with Mitchell to help prepare for the Masters. The video above gives some great insight into the short-game shots McLachlin wanted Mitchell to get most comfortable with, as the Tour winner provides some knowledge of his own.
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It’s a great tutorial for any amateur looking to improve around the green themselves, so take a look to learn a few things.
After spending the past few days at Augusta, McLachlin told me the below short game shots are the ones he and Mitchell were focusing on the most — and that very well could decide who goes home a winner at this year’s Masters.
The higher, spinny pitch shot
According to McLachlin, this pitch shot has a “steeper vertical land angle than [Mitchell’s] normal pitch shot.”
He adds, “we had to build in some height without giving up the spin. So we worked a little bit on his takeaway in lengthening his backswing, and then just allowing him the freedom to have a nice release with the hands and arms on the way through.
“One of the things that Augusta does is it really forces you around the greens to go to extremes. So if your normal type of a pitch shot is sort of bounce, bounce, check, trickle out, at Augusta, it’s more of a bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, check, trickle down a hill, to now 30 feet away or maybe off of a green. So you have to go closer to the extremes, where the ball’s landing softer, and it’s got a bunch of spin on it.”
A recovery shot from flying long of the green
Due to the difficult pin placements that the Masters is known for, McLachlin said he and Mitchell worked on short game shots that may require some recovery when flying long of a green.
As McLachlin told me, “it was a type of a bump-and-run shot, without having it be a ton of run out. That was a thing that we really had to manage; the landing spot. Just making sure that [a player is] really precise with the landing spot.
“Once you did that, you just didn’t want that ball to then start rolling end-over-end and just take off on you. You still had to have it sort of bounce. Almost, like, skip and bounce upwards, having one little check on the green, and trickling out.
“So you’re throwing the ball further back in your stance, and the shaft goes a little bit further forward.
“But with that one, we actually played it with a slightly open face to allow that ball to have a little bit of backspin on it. That was a little tweak to sort of a normal bump-and-run type of a shot; shorter backswing, shorter through swing, a little bit more energy through the ball to give it that driving type of motion into the hill.”
Bunker shots
Given the depth of the bunkers at the Masters, McLachlin said the final short-game shot he had Mitchell focus on were ones from the sand.
The short game chef said it was crucial to hit high, soft shots, not only to secure a good out from the bunker, but also to “have the ball land softly with some spin.”
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McLachlin adds, “Usually [at Augusta], you’re landing on some type of a down slope. There’s not a ton of chunk-and-runs at Augusta. You sort of have to fly it up and out of the bunker, landing it on a certain spot with some spin to get it close to the hole.
“So we worked on getting [Mitchell] a bit more height out of the bunker.
“We got him just a fraction further away from [the ball], and got his hands a little bit lower at address. He was then able to give it some more speed; so that he’d hit this thing high and soft.”
The most important shot within 100 yards at the Masters
Finally, McLachlin told me the most important short game shot within 100 yards at the Masters, saying the green jacket could be won or lost from that “30-to-80 yard” mark.
“The shots from 30 to 80 yards are going to be really, really important.
“With 13 being lengthened — and possibly playing a little wet [because of the forecast] — all of a sudden, a good percentage of the time, you’re laying up. Understanding how to flight it, the proper trajectory, and manage your spin, that’s going to be paramount for really accessing the par 5s — and having those be your scoring holes.
“But also, if you drive it into trouble and miss the fairway, then you’ve got to find a way to sort of pitch out, getting it down there 40, 50 yards short of the green. You want to find a way to get that thing within that four- or five-foot circle so that you can keep the momentum of the round going.”