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AUGUSTA, Ga. — Why do you love Augusta National?

Idiot question. 

Maybe it shouldn’t have been asked. Not after Thursday, when he rewound the clock for 14/18ths of his Masters first round, only to be undone on the par-5 15th (quadruple bogey), the par-3 16th (double bogey) and the par-4 17th (double bogey). Nine-five-four. You dial that on a phone, but never on a golf course, should you want to answer the bell. 

Maybe the idiot question shouldn’t have been asked following the cruel occurrences on the par-3 12th and the 15th. Thirty-four years ago on 12, on his way to winning, his ball somehow took a seat on the upslope to the green, leaving Rae’s Creek below thirsty. This Friday, after he backed away a couple of times before swinging, his ball landed around that same area, took around the same number of tumbles — and dove in. On 15 on Thursday, he found the pond that defends the front of the green twice on his way to that nine. On Friday, he dropped one ball into the water, but the hope, of course, is less than that. “I’ve never wedged it into the water or really wedged it 15 yards over the green,” he said. “In the old days, I went for it every time, but not for 10 or 12 years, and then now it’s water, water, water every time I look at the goddamn thing, and I don’t know why.”

Maybe the idiot question shouldn’t have been asked as he realizes that his singular identity to the masses — one of the best ever to hit a stationary ball — is becoming unrecognizable over time. In premier-level golf, birthdays add both candles and strokes. On Thursday at the Masters, he shot 78. On Friday, a 75. Maybe this year is the last one for the 66-year-old, though it’s unlikely. But perhaps next year. His goodbye is coming. 

And yet, maybe now is the ideal time to ask. He’d declared his feelings ahead of this year’s Masters. What do they say in marriage vows? For better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health? Do you still love something when things aren’t going to your liking? You may get a bit of an anthem if he did. On him. On the Masters and Augusta National, which, while not necessary, is always welcome, given various states of world affair (and we’ll leave that at that).

And there he was on Friday, still smitten. He was practically prancing as he birdied the par-4 9th after a soft-landing wedge, and every man, woman and child got a fist-pound on the way to the 10th. En route to the 11th, he bypassed the rope-lined path, lifted another rope about 50 yards to the left of it and just walked among folks. Five dudes looked up from their green beer cups to see him in front of them. His swing on 14 was the epitome of “tempo.” But it was how he moved. Connection. A thump of the driver head against the hollow turf before he leaned on the club to grab his tee. A tilted-up head. The chest-forward strut toward the ball in the middle of the green floor under the blue roof. Walking up the 17th fairway, he also licked his finger to clean the face of his driver. Standing on the 18th tee, he licked his golf ball to remove a bit of dirt.

News

But the patrons love it. They love him. If the Masters has a green jacket-wearing mascot, it’d be him, the 1992 green jacket winner. Ask a security guard at the 2nd tee how her day is going, and she’ll tell you about the “king” that came through earlier. Ask U.S. Mid-Am winner Brandon Holtz whom he’d want to play a practice round with, and his name comes out first. 

So let’s ask him this: 

Why does he think the patrons love him? 

“Well, I’m better off here than other tournaments. I can be real on that. I’ll give you a real answer.”

We wouldn’t take it any other way. He continued.

“I have a lot of respect for this place. I have a lot of respect for golf.”

And that’s part of what I heard when I asked:

Why do you love Augusta National?

Here are his first 114 words. 

“You know, as a kid you grow up watching it. I can’t tell you, you know, Sam Snead and what he did, Hubert Green, and then Jack Nicklaus winning and Tom Weiskopf. Those were all the greats. Weiskopf, Green, Sneed, they never won, and maybe they should have.

“Then you come here, and you finally see it, and you go, you know, it’s — I mean, the only other guy I’ve really heard use the same words is Phil [Mickelson]. It’s like paradise. People love it, but I consider it to be just the greatest walk you could ever have.

“There are great courses all over the world, but there are none of them like this.”

And here are the last 31 words to Fred Couples’ answer:

“First of all, you would have to be an idiot not to love Augusta National. I don’t know if you can use those words, but they might like that, hearing that.”

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Check in to GOLF’s Tour Confidential every Sunday night for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest topics in the sport. This week, with the Masters at Augusta National, we’ll hit one key topic every night.

We are at the halfway point of the 2026 Masters, and everyone is chasing Rory McIlroy. The defending champ poured in six birdies over his final seven holes to close out his second round, posting a seven-under 65 to open up a six-shot lead. Sam Burns and Patrick Reed are tied in second at six under, while the trio of Justin Rose, Shane Lowry and Tommy Fleetwood sit another shot back. There are still 36 holes to play, but McIlroy’s six-shot lead at the halfway mark is the largest in Masters history. Can anyone catch him?

Sean Zak, senior writer (@sean_zak): Absolutely not. Patrick Reed is playing incredible golf. McIlroy got some incredible breaks. Get them in the final pairing on Sunday and anything is in play. That said, I’m definitely afraid that it’s over. I’m considering it. I’m hopeful it’s not because that’s no fun. 

Josh Sens, senior writer (@JoshSens): Agreed. Long coronations are only fun for the player being crowned. Hard to know which Rory we’ll see, though. Is it going to be the McIlroy who squeezed the life out of the U.S. Open at Congressional and the PGA Championship at Kiawah? Or the Heart Attack Kid of last year at Augusta? My guess is something in between. I expect him to win fairly comfortably in the end, but I also think he’ll make it interesting along the way with a loose, perplexing swing here and there — with some help from the guys chasing him.

Zephyr Melton, associate game-improvement editor (@zephyrmelton): As Rory knows all too well, no lead is safe around Augusta National. A six-shot cushion is great heading into the weekend, but there’s nothing harder than playing with a lead. He’ll now sleep on the lead for the second straight night — and I’d imagine sleep will be hard to come by. These next 36 holes will go a long way in defining Rory’s legacy, a fact I’m sure he is well aware of. Playing with that on his mind will be no easy task.

Josh Schrock, associate news editor (@schrock_and_awe): There’s still a lot of golf to be played, but I do fear that we are another good nine-hole stretch away from this being a coronation. Rory is 90th in driving accuracy out of 91 players in the field and leads by six. He has gotten some breaks but has also been patient, taken his medicine and taken advantage of the bounces when he has gotten them. Patrick Reed and Justin Rose are playing good golf and I would expect one of them to push Rory over the weekend, but we’re on the verge of this thing being over before we get to Sunday.

James Colgan, news and features editor (@jamescolgan26): Nope, definitely not over. In fact, there’s a persuasive argument that the story only just now gets interesting. I’m sorta amazed by how much time is left. If a six-shot lead becomes a three-shot lead tomorrow, nobody will bat an eye … but that’ll make Sunday afternoon tight. Rory isn’t just battling the field now, he’s battling complacency.

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AUGUSTA, Ga. — Golf, man. It does things to the brain. 

There is evidence all over of men breaking down at this year’s Masters, toiling on a sun-fried Augusta National. But look no further than the Thursday evening comments of Harry Hall, an Englishman playing in this tournament for the first time. 

First round at the Masters, he was asked. What do you take out of that? 

“I need to get a lot better,” Hall said, doing his best Eeyore impression. 

He looked off into the distance as he spoke, slow and resolute. This broken man promised changes: He’d put a second driver in the bag for his second round, he said. He was going to change putters, too. He needed to hit it further and spin his irons better so he could “stop it on a dime.” That’s the only path he saw forward. He was going to grind on the range well past dinnertime to figure it all out. And then wake up Friday to try and make the cut. This is the golf life he chose.

Hall is 6-foot-4 and lumbers when he walks. When he misses with his driver(s), it’s a big paw stuck out in the direction of its path. You saw these signals all week. On Friday it was a Ping driver and a TaylorMade driver — the former set up for a fade, the latter for when he wanted a draw. 

With the fade driver, Hall pulled his first shot into the trees on 1. With the draw driver, he did the same on 2. He started stepping out of his swing a bit, a move to straighten things out. He began over-emphasizing the draw swing with his arms. This was a man in mental prison. Then he blocked one into the trees on 7 before hooking one into the pines on 9. 

“Fighting to hit it where I’m looking,” Hall said Friday. Succinct and sufficient. On paper, golf can be simple like that. 

He changed his putter overnight, too. From an Odyssey blade to a TaylorMade mallet. It’s not a crazy thing to swap gear around like this, but context is everything. The dueling drivers is old hat — he did it a few weeks ago in Houston. (And played well!) But in 2025, Hall was one of the best putters in the world. In the world. He’s ridden that Odyssey for six years. It only recently started acting up. 

Pity the man searching with his driver and his putter in this exacting place. Hall turned to the back nine at Augusta National at seven over, with basically no one watching. The only crowd he attracted this week was an angry one online, upset about the hat he wears. 

But then something happened. On the back, he made four straight birdies quicker than you could say West Cornwall Golf Club. That’s where Hall was raised, on the southwest English peninsula. That’s why he wears the goofy flat cap the Twitterverse hates — because Jim Barnes used to wear one and Jim Barnes is from West Cornwall and Jim Barnes won four majors. He never won a Masters because he never had a chance to play one. The tournament didn’t exist in his heyday.

It now exists for Hall as some sort of confusing haunt. He said he learned that the Masters is a “great test of golf,” in addition to all those feelings of inadequacy about his irons, his length, maybe his entire skillset. Golf, man. It does things to the brain. 

When Hall was 10 years old, he wrote himself a story with all kinds of detail and characters about what his “golf dream” would look like. It was a Saturday at the Masters, alongside Tiger Woods, eating a Cornish pastry when it was over. The latter details would be difficult to create this year, but Hall had a fighter’s chance to play on a Masters Saturday. 

He made two-putt pars on 15 and 16, but then that fade driver faded too much on 17, leading to a bogey. It sliced wayyyy too much on 18, landing short of the start of the fairway. He took his medicine, punched out, played up the hole and had a chip shot for par. He couldn’t have known it at the time, but he needed to make it to play the weekend. It curled short of the hole, and about 20 minutes later a reporter suggested it was the perfect summation of Hall’s first Masters.

Hall gave him a golfer’s response:

“It’s not over yet.”

He figured he had a 50 percent chance that his five over would make the cut. It didn’t matter that he was wrong and not particularly close. The cut was never going to be five over. But that’s golf, man. It asks you to do crazy things. Like play with two drivers, and swap in a new putter, and also, to just believe.

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The second round of the 2026 Masters is officially complete, and the cut has been made. Check out below for the Masters cut rules, projected cutline and more.

Masters cut rules

The cutline at the Masters is a little different from other majors. The PGA Championship and Open Championship only reduce the field to the top 70 (and ties) after 36 holes, while the U.S. Open cuts the field to the top 60 (and ties). At Augusta National, the field gets chopped even farther.

At the conclusion of 36 holes, only the top 50 (and ties) will stick around for the weekend, making the Masters cut one of the smallest in all of golf.

Masters projected cut

With the conclusion of play just after 7 p.m. ET, the cut was officially made at four over par, with 54 players making the cut. Check out below for a list of notables who won’t be around for the weekend.

Who’s in danger of missing the cut?

J.J. Spaun +5

Danny Willett +5

Bubba Watson +5

Zach Johnson +6

Bryson DeChambeau +6

Robert MacIntyre +7

Cameron Smith +7

Fred Couples +9

Min Woo Lee +11

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The post How to get tickets for the 2027 Masters at Augusta National appeared first on Golf.

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AUGUSTA, Ga. — Apologies, but if you are reading this, you are probably not at this week’s 90th Masters at Augusta National Golf Club.

But don’t fret, because like the 91 players in the field this week, you need to be optimistic, too. There’s still a chance for you to get tickets for next year. Here’s how you can do that.

How to get 2027 Masters tickets

Your first step to get tickets for the 2027 Masters is to enter the Masters ticket lottery, which is your best way to find yourself at Augusta National come this time next year.

The application window is not open at this time, but here’s what you need to do so you are prepared. (You can also go to the Masters site and it will help you set a calendar invite so you remember to apply.)

When it’s time to apply — the window goes live June 1-20, 2026 — go to the Masters site here and either log in to your existing account or create a new one. Select which days you want to attend and how many tickets (1-4). You can select all the days if you like (Monday through Sunday) although if you win it will only be for one day, and you won’t get to decide which.

For those who win the lottery, you’ll be notified and need to supply payment in July.

Ticket prices for next year have not yet been announced, but for the 2026 Masters it was $125 for Monday and Tuesday, $150 for Wednesday and $160 for tournament rounds on Thursday to Sunday. The tournament-round price was a $20 increase from 2025.

This is your best chance to get Masters tickets — unless you somehow stumble into a coveted Masters badge — because doing so from third-party sites could potentially lead to your tickets being canceled and you banned from future tournaments.

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The post I walked all 18 at Augusta National. These little details jumped out appeared first on Golf.

The post I walked all 18 at Augusta National. These little details jumped out appeared first on Golf.

AUGUSTA, Ga. — A couple hours after the 2026 Masters began Thursday morning, I set out to walk all 18 holes with three goals in mind: Watch some golf, offset the caloric intake of Augusta National’s press center (which Willy Wonka would deem a bit decadent) and take some time to admire the little things.

Our photographer Darren Riehl did the hard work. I mostly just pointed at stuff. Here begins our tour.

Editor’s note: This may be a strange, wandering story but it has good pictures, so feel free to skip the words and skim those.

No. 1

The entire Masters Tournament relies on a certain assumption of orderliness from its patrons. Even its insistence on calling them “patrons” helps set the tone. It’s easy to roll your eyes at some of that stuff, but here’s the result: When players walk from the clubhouse toward the 1st tee, they very often just walk through the sea of people gathered there. There are a few officials with ropes who can establish temporary order, if need be. Often need don’t be.

We’re behind Wyndham Clark, who’s bobbing and weaving without issue toward the practice green adjacent the 1st tee. If he tried this at the WM Phoenix Open, he’d emerge soaked in cheers and light beers. The group ahead is getting ready to play. Saquon Barkley is among those looking on from the left side of the tee. The green jacket makes an announcement.

Fore please! Now driving, Andrew Novak.

Fore please turns into fore left. The patrons duck for cover. It’s an organized setting but an unpredictable game.

No. 2

You know the hazards on the second nine here; there’s water on 11, 12, 13, 15, 16. You may not know there’s also a creek down the left side of the 2nd hole. And you really may not know the way Augusta National marks that creek; rather than automatically conforming to the usual shape and size of your standard penalty-area stakes, in line with Masters minimalism, the club has innovated with these undersized, understated mini-stakes.

No. 3

This is the trendiest hole at Augusta National; it’s always been excellent, but as a brain-bending short, tricky par-4, it seems to be having a bit of a well-deserved moment of appreciation. Also trendy: Drake Maye, who’s on the right side as we arrive.

A couple hours after our pass-through, Scottie Scheffler will drive the green, but that’s a rarity. What’s far more common are tricky, in-between wedge shots. In the span of two minutes, we see Andrew Novak playing a clever spinner from the pine straw that zips back past the hole, which one onlooker immediately declares “the shot of the tournament.” We see Brian Campbell taking the safe way out of his half-wedge, flying it well past the front hole location to the middle of the green. We see Tom McKibbin hit one low, glancing cleverly off the bank and trickling just past the hole. These guys are good. This course is hard. A leaderboard looms behind them.

No. 4

Augusta National’s lone palm leans over, glancing at the front right bunker. There used to be more of these.

No. 5

Do all the trees have numbers? And tags? Here, down the left side of the brutish par-4 5th, is No. 2230. There’s a lot of monitoring going on here, amidst the nature.

No. 6

The hill at No. 6 provides a particularly unique spectating perspective; I can’t think of any other hole in professional golf where the golfers hit directly over your head, with you facing their target. You can see the par-3 16th from here, too — it may be my favorite Thursday-Friday spot to sit and watch. (The 6th tee is at the top of the photo, if you use some imagination.)

Patrick Reed makes eagle, up ahead. It takes a minute for the leaderboard to change to a red 5, explaining the roar.

No. 7

The strange thing about Rory McIlroy’s miraculous recovery shot from the trees left of No. 7 — last year, that is, in the final round — is that he missed the short birdie putt that followed. The same strange thing is true of his miraculous approach at No. 15, which resulted in a short miss for eagle. That was a clean, miraculous result after a day of contradictory, messy storytelling. McIlroy double-bogeyed the first hole, opening the door to the rest of the field. Then he slammed it shut with a run of good play, then opened it again, etc. The only clean narrative came in retrospect, with his win.

Anyway, when you walk No. 7, it’s tempting to see where McIlroy played that approach shot through the trees. But that’s not pictured below. Here’s a little rope in its little rope spot. This is how they keep order at the walkways. They let you cross as soon as the players pass. The whole process seems to work more smoothly here than elsewhere.

No. 8

The leaderboards are famous around here. You likely know about the Masters no-phone rule; one of its effects is that there’s an outsized pressure on the changing of the boards and thus the updating of the patrons.

What that means is that it’s important to match the correct names with the correct scores. Here’s a look at how they do that, from the rear of the leaderboards: by writing the names in light-green chalk. Simple done right.

No. 9

You’re never far from much as a patron on No. 9, and as you work your way toward the green, you can hang a left, cross the 1st fairway and get to the merchandise shop, or the concession area, or a rocking chair. If you’re a golfer you can also hang a left and play down that same 1st fairway. Here’s Nico Echavarria taking the alternate path, though not on purpose.

No. 10

We’ve caught Bryson DeChambeau’s group now, which is alternately known as Xander Schauffele’s group, or Matt Fitzpatrick’s group, but based on the ooh that goes up as DeChambeau hits a towering draw around the corner, there’s one guy commanding outsized attention. Kevin Hart is in this gallery. So is Kai Trump. None of the above are pictured. Instead here’s a tree down the right side, an outlier among the pines, that Darren particularly liked.

No. 11

The course is firm and fast and it’s separating the guys in full control of their distance and their spin from those without. Here are Patrick Reed and Tommy Fleetwood and Akshay Bhatia. They’re a combined nine under par — for now. This must be the hottest group on the property. It’s a back pin and downwind, which means it’s playing less perilous than usual. None of them has to visit the lonely drop zone down the left.

No. 12

I’m struck by the stark difference between Augusta National’s two iconic second-nine par-3s. No. 16 is a hub of crowd activity from tee to green, while at No. 12 you play toward solitude. It must feel quiet over there.

No. 13

As we walk toward the green at No. 13, Shane Lowry pitches his ball over the creek and onto the middle of the green. It checks up and rolls in for a triumphant eagle. Later I’ll watch highlights and see that Ludvig Aberg has a chip for eagle from behind the green that trickles all the way back into this tributary. No. 13 is easy until it’s not. Here’s a side angle you’re not used to seeing, with the azaleas a few days past full bloom.

No. 14

There’s a large, thick stand of bamboo behind the tee box at No. 14. It seems out of place, but nothing’s really out of place on the former grounds of Fruitland Nurseries. Dustin Johnson tees off. Wayne Gretzky is just outside the rope line. Johnson instinctively tosses his broken tee on the ground at the end of the tee box — then reconsiders. He picks up the tee and hands it to his brother. A tee stub stands out here more than it might elsewhere.

No. 15

A cheer goes up as Fred Couples’ name appears atop the leaderboard; at 2 under through four holes, he’s been deemed worthy of the spot. He’ll still be under par when he gets to this hole a couple hours later — but he won’t be under par by the time he leaves.

No. 16

Augusta National’s tee markers, like most everything here, are simple, minimal and just about right.

No. 17

The Masters is an interesting cross-section of analog everything with groundbreaking technology. Here’s a well-sharpened pencil being used for some scoring-related purpose. You don’t see a well-sharpened pencil in use as much as you used to.

No. 18

Have you ever seen a ladder like this? I have never seen a ladder like this. This is how Augusta National’s scorers get up to the big leaderboard beside the 18th green.

18-hole summary

There’s a big scoreboard with everybody’s name and hole-by-hole score, listed alphabetically, by the 1st fairway — where most people enter and exit the course. When you finish, they put your name under the score you shot. It’s a good reminder that while the 60-something scores get all the attention, they’re heavily outnumbered.

If you’ve somehow made it this far, Dylan Dethier welcomes your comments at dylan_dethier@golf.com.

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The post What was the biggest surprise on Thursday at the Masters? appeared first on Golf.

The post What was the biggest surprise on Thursday at the Masters? appeared first on Golf.

Check in to GOLF’s Tour Confidential every Sunday night for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest topics in the sport. This week, with the Masters at Augusta National, we’ll hit one key topic every night.

Day 1 of the 2026 Masters is complete, and the leaderboard so far is a good one. Rory McIlroy and Sam Burns share the lead at five under, with guys like Patrick Reed (three under), Xander Schauffele (two under), Scottie Scheffler (two under) and others in contention. Meanwhile, popular pre-tournament favorites Bryson DeChambeau (four over) and Jon Rahm (six over) have to work to do. What surprised you the most on Thursday at Augusta?

Josh Sens, senior writer (@joshsens): Me sorprendió mucho el terrible rendimiento de Jon Rahm. He was supposed to be in form. He loves the venue. The course conditions–even firmer and faster than usual — seemed ideal for a guy with his great touch around the greens. All the stars appeared aligned. And he put up an absolute stinker. The putter betrayed him, for sure. But he looked wildly out of sorts throughout the bag.

Zephyr Melton, associate game-improvement editor (@zephyrmelton): Gotta be Rory McIlroy’s blazing start. We wondered if winning the green jacket might free him up around Augusta National, but I didn’t expect him to come out and immediately take the first-round lead in such stress-free fashion. He couldn’t have asked for a better start to his title defense.

Jack Hirsh, associate gear editor (@JR_HIRSHey): What did Sens say? I almost failed Spanish in high school. I really shouldn’t have been surprised by this given the forecast, but I was amazed just how perfect the golf course was on Thursday. If this holds up through the weekend, we are in for a treat because the golf course is just a perfect venue for an awesome Masters (one that Rory McIlroy is going to win by six).

Josh Schrock, associate news editor (@schrock_and_awe): It’s that both Rahm and Bryson are in danger of sharing an Uber to the airport after Friday’s round. Both came in playing well and with good history at Augusta National. Smart money was on one of them finding their way into the mix. I’m more surprised that Rahm basically exited the proceedings after nine holes. He missed three short putts early, turned in four over and then hammered his second on 13 into the bushes and made double. It’s another disappointing major result for Rahm after his move to LIV. It’s something he has to figure out. 

Josh Berhow, managing editor (@Josh_Berhow): Since the obvious answer (Rahm and Bryson duds) has been taken, how about the fact that I’m wonderfully surprised by how good this leaderboard is? The Masters, more than any other major, seems to have the cream rise to the top, but eight of the top nine are big names and seven have won majors. Fleetwood, Spieth, Koepka, etc., also in a solid spot after one round. Will be fun to see how this evolves over the next couple of days.

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AUGUSTA, Ga. — Carlos Ortiz of Mexico, the LIV Golf golfer, got into this Masters tournament by way of a T4 finish at last year’s U.S. Open. He’s a highly skilled golfer, of sound mind and body, playing in his second Masters. He shot 80 on Thursday. You could say he played poorly but this would be a more accurate statement: Augusta National is an insanely difficult course.
 
If you have ever played it, you know that any two-putt from 20 feet is an accomplishment. Augusta National during the Masters — back tees, fairways lined with spectators, cameras pointed at you, and millions watching on TV, fairways cut to crew-cut length, and the prospect of immortality — is almost impossibly difficult.
 
We ordinary golfers cannot even conceive how difficult it is.
 
My friend Mike Donald and I discuss this now and again. Not quite a decade ago, when Mike was in his 60s, we played as guests and Mike played all the way back. He played well, holed everything and shot 80.
 
In the 1990 Masters, Mike played in his first (of two) Masters. The course played hard on Thursday and the stroke average was 74. Mike had to be one of the 100 best golfers in the world then. Bill Harmon, son of a Masters champion, was Mike’s caddie and he knew what he was doing. Things were clicking. Mike shot 64.
 
In those days, the field was re-paired for the Friday round based on the Thursday scores and Mike was in the final twosome on Friday. It wasn’t like he forgot how to play, one day to the next. Mike shot 82 without playing that poorly. He started with three three-putt bogeys. It happened before that day, it’s happened since then and it will happen again.
 
Somewhere out there in this great moment of podcasting, there are people talking about what ordinary golfers could shoot at Augusta. There was one podcast this year where the co-host, a 7-handicap golfer, wondered what he could do in the Masters if he could play every hole under certain fantasy conditions: Second shots on the eight par-4 holes from 100 yards, third shots on the four par-5 holes from 100 yards; tee shots on the four par-3 holes from 100 yards. The 100-yard fantasy.

This 7-handicapper said he could win the Masters on those conditions.

Mike and I were in complete agreement: He’s deluded.

“Rory McIlroy couldn’t pitch that shot on the green on 13,” Mike said, recalling McIlroy’s short third shot into the par-5 13th on Sunday. He made 7.

“From 120 yards on 18, he puts that ball in a bunker,” Mike said, referring to McIlroy’s play on the 72nd hole at last year’s Masters. He needed 4 to win, but he was playing for immortality. “He couldn’t do it and he’s the best in the world. How’s a 7-handicapper going to play those shots?”

Not gonna happen.

Let’s recap: Back tees, fairways lined with spectators, millions more watching on TV, cameras pointed at you, fairways cut to crew-cut length, playing for immortality? And your playing partner is staring bullets through you?
 
No 7-handicapper would have a chance.
 
Mike and I devised our own fantasy scoring situation, with the same 100-yard-shot rules. Our theoretical golfer would be a club champion at Acme Golf & Country Club, able to shoot 77 at home any day of the week and right around par on better days. This imaginary golfer is now the Masters leader through 54 holes, playing under 100-yard rules. Will the golfer make it to Butler Cabin?
 
Mike’s verdict: Not a chance.
 
“Anytime you’re putting from 30 or more feet, you’re never going to make one and you’re going to be lucky to two-putt,” Mike said. That was his starting point and it was a devastating one. You would do well to go around in 45 putts, with nine two-putt greens and nine three-putt greens. If you hit nine greens and missed nine greens and needed only one chip or bunker shot on those nine holes, that would add up to 71. Even that seems fantastical.
 
You’re a good club player and now you’re trying to win the Masters? Rory McIlroy was the best player in the world with a three-shot back-nine lead and he needed a playoff to win.
 
“You’re a 100 yards out, and that ball is sitting up and it’s a perfect lie — if you’re a Tour player,” Mike said. “But for the good country-club golfer, anything other than solid ball-first, take-a-divot contact will mean something fat and short or thin and long. Now you’re looking at one or two chips and, as often as not, three putts. The next hole, you’re looking at the same lie again — it’s like a ball on a driving range mat, except when you fat it the clubface doesn’t bounce up and into the ball. As for your last three-putt, it’s lodged in your head. Your putting issues are like a runaway snowball.
 
“On 15, fat is in the lake and thin is in the other one,” Mike continued. The third shot there from 100 yards is a downhill shot from a downhill lie, a gruesome combination. “If you’re chipping from over the 15th green, do you know how easy it is to run it through the green and into that lake?”
 
Very, very easy.
 
Maybe you’ll two-putt.
 
The 6th hole could be the hardest 100-yard par-3 in the world, playing to the traditional back-right Sunday hole position, on a shelf about the size of a White House banquet table. Even if you could get your tee shot to stay on the shelf, any missed putt for 2 could wind up on the front part of the severely sloping green. You would do well to three-putt from there. Another double on the card, with 12 more holes of torture to go.
 
Any Sunday score under 80 for our club champ from central casting in these conditions would be an achievement.
 
“It’s late in the day, the greens are blue and you’re nervous as hell,” Mike said. Yep, 80 would be a good score.
 
Rory McIlroy showed how hard Augusta National is last year on Sunday. Carlos Ortiz showed it on Thursday. Here comes Friday, Saturday, Sunday. It only gets harder.

Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments at Michael.Bamberger@Golf.com

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The post Why is Augusta’s par-3 12th so hard? Here’s the scientific effect behind it appeared first on Golf.

The post Why is Augusta’s par-3 12th so hard? Here’s the scientific effect behind it appeared first on Golf.

AUGUSTA, Ga. — During a Thursday press conference at the Masters, Tom Watson was asked what one change he would make to a hole at Augusta National.

“I’d fill in the creek in front of No. 12,” he joked.

The par-3 12th hole — and Rae’s Creek, which guards it — has long been one of the most consequential holes at the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club. Tournaments have been won or lost there for decades. There are countless examples, although some of the most popular recent ones are from 2019 (when Tiger Woods won as the competition all found the creek) and in 2016 (when Danny Willett won after Jordan Spieth rinsed away his tournament on 12).

But what makes the hole particularly hard is a complex answer. It’s the nerves that come with it being so late during a round, it’s the intimate nature of the shot, it’s the shape of the green and it’s also the wind.

The swirling winds down in Amen Corner can trick even the most astute players and caddies. Some look at the flag on 12 to gauge the wind. Others to the flag on 11, or the trees above 12, or even down at the flag on 13.

During a recent visit with veteran caddie Ted Scott, who has caddied for four Masters wins (two with Bubba Watson and now two with Scottie Scheffler), he explained the “Eddy Effect” that makes the 12th so difficult. Scott didn’t even know of it until the Sunday before the 2012 Masters, when he was watching the end of the LPGA’s Kraft Nabisco Championship (now the Chevron) on TV. When the broadcast finished, the next program was a scientific look at the 12th hole at Augusta National and why it’s so difficult to figure out the wind.

“There’s an effect called the ‘Eddy Effect,’ which is actually a term that you typically see in rivers where water spins in a circle, makes a little whirlpool,” Scott said, relaying what he learned while watching. “Well, here’s what happens. In a 5 mph wind in Augusta, the Eddy Effect happens. It’ll triple the wind speed and it creates a whirlwind, so you don’t know which way it’s going. That’s why you look over at 11 and the flag’s going this way. And then you throw grass up here and it’s going that way, and then you look at the flag on 12 and it’s going that way and the trees are going this way. It’s called the Eddy Effect, it’s actually a scientific effect.

“So where do you look for the wind?” he concluded. “I have no idea, but here’s the coolest thing. When that was over, I told Bubba, I said, ‘Listen, this week when we get on 12, don’t blame Teddy, blame Eddy.'”

Scott also says the tee shot on the par-3 12th in the most difficult on the course for a right-handed golfer.

“The way the green is shaped, if you pull it you go long, if you push it you go short in the water,” Scott says. “A left-hander like Bubba, if he pulls it or pushes it he’s on the green because of the angle of the hole. But if the wind’s not being cooperative, it’s a super-difficult hole — you might hit it anywhere, and that can really change the course of the tournament.”

Scott doesn’t remember exactly how Watson played the 12th back in 2012 when he first learned of the Eddy Effect, but he does remember how he finished.

“He won,” Scott says. “That’s all I have to say.”

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The post 20 photos we love from the Masters Par-3 Contest appeared first on Golf.

The post 20 photos we love from the Masters Par-3 Contest appeared first on Golf.

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Few events are as beloved as the Masters Par-3 Contest, where pros, family members and significant others take on the famed Par-3 Course at Augusta National Golf Club.

From Jordan Spieth’s kids lining up a putt, to Brooks Koepka’s son playing in the sand and to Frankie Fleetwood trying to drive the green, here are 20 of the best shots of the day.

And to watch the big tournament on Thursday, here is everything you need to know about the first round of the Masters.

Masters Par-3 Contest: 20 best photos

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