Rare is the golfer who doesn’t light up when talking about Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters. The spiritual setting that warms the heart, the singular tournament that stirs the senses. The explosion of colors, the anticipation of a Sunday charge. A 12th hole that basks in beauty while serving as a devilish conquest, a green jacket that triggers dreams and lives on forever.
The gathering every April among the Georgia pines is matchless, from Augusta National Women’s Amateur to the Drive, Chip and Putt competition. While we won’t be seeing any of these events in the coming days due to the coronavirus pandemic, we think you’ll still be interested in reading about Masters traditions, the iconic holes at Augusta National and your favorite golfers who would have been in the field this month.
Golfweek surveyed 39 golfers, including 14 winners of the green jacket and 24 major champions in all, to get their views on certain features of Augusta National and the Masters. From putting to eating to predicting to offering their architectural viewpoints, we’ll roll out their takes on a variety of topics in the next 10 days.
What is the scariest uphill putt during the Masters?
“I didn’t know there was such a thing.” – Six-time Masters champion Jack Nicklaus
“At No. 5, to the front-middle pin. You have to hit a putt up the knob and then it starts going downhill, that’s scary. So you go up and then down and you have to be so, so careful.” – 2007 Masters champion Zach Johnson
“If you had to two-putt to win.” – Kevin Na
“From the bottom left to the top right on 6. The tier at the very top steepens and most people leave that first putt six to eight feet short. It’s scary because you have to give it so much more and think you have to race it by the hole to get it there.” – Three-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson
“It’s at No. 10, because it’s actually quicker than it looks towards Rae’s Creek, so you see so many players go long on uphill putts on 10.” – Luke Donald
“No. 5, if you’re going up that crest in the front and the pin is up top, so you have to go up and over and then it’s downhill, so it’s scary going uphill and then you have to watch out for it going downhill.” – Two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer
“From pin-high to the right of the front-left pin on No. 1. You have to go over a hump and then it’s downhill. You can say bye-bye to your ball in a hurry.” – Matt Kuchar
“The one to win.” – Four-time major winner Rory McIlroy
“No. 7 is pretty decently difficult. When you have to putt to the front middle pin and you have to putt up and over a ridge and then it can get by the hole and go off the green.” – 2015 PGA champion Jason Day
“Up to the top-right on six has to be the scariest, because if you don’t hit it hard enough, you get to try it again.” – Kevin Kisner
“I’d say the back-left pins on No. 1. I always have problem with those putts. I don’t think they are the much uphill but I always run it by four or five feet and then I have a downhill breaking putt, which isn’t fun.” – Billy Horschel
“Most uphill putts at Augusta are a good thing, but to the top-right pin on No. 6, if you’re short, man, that’s a tough one.” – Bill Haas
“Gosh, at No. 10. You know the putt is uphill but it’s going toward Rae’s Creek. It goes a lot faster than you believe, because everything is sloping back toward you but you know it’s heading towards Rae’s Creek, so it throws you a bit.” – Two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson
“At No. 1, if you are on the front of the green and the pin is back right or back left because it’s just so hard to get the distance and the borrow right. That’s about as tough as it gets.” – 1988 Masters champion Sandy Lyle
“Some of those putts on 9, 18 and on 8, you have to hit them so hard they can get away from you and then you have a downhill slider that you don’t want. Those stick out. You have to hammer some of those putts.” – 2019 U.S. Open Gary Woodland
“Probably to win the Masters.” – 2016 U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson
“If you’re front-right on 5 and the flag is on the back, you could just putt it off the green.” – 2011 Masters champion Charl Schwartzel
“The first hole can be scary. Sometimes you’re nervous, you’re right out of the box and that first putt, when the pin is top-left, can be scary. So hard to get your speed right.” – 1998 Masters champion Mark O’Meara
“One that has always been tricky for me is the one at No. 5 if you miss it to the right and you have to come over that big swale” – Two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen
“There aren’t any really scary uphill putts at Augusta. But I guess if you’re below the hole on the first hole and you’re putting to the back-left hole location, you know if you get it four or five feet past the hole it could roll off the green.” – Patrick Cantlay
“The back-right pin on 5. Putting to that back pin, it’s like an infinity putt. Gets your attention.” – 2010 U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell
“Thirteen, from the bottom to the back-right pin. It’s the slowest putt there but you can’t hit that past because you could go off the green into a swale or be above the hole and that’s one of the fastest putts there is.” – Tony Finau
“No. 6, with a back-right pin if you’re at the bottom of the green. You can race it by the hole off the green and you can leave it short and watch it come back to your feet and then pass you and go off the green.” – 2012 U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson
No. 16, back-right on the green. I think everybody has hit that putt and it’s come back to their feet, or you go way by and end up on the fringe and then you have a downhill putt that’s scary.” – Nick Watney
“When the pin is back-right on No. 6. You’re going straight up the hill so you have to hit it so hard to get to that top-flat plateau but you can’t race it by the hole. That one is pretty hair-raising.” – 2008 Masters champion Trevor Immelman
“Short of the pin on 6 because if you’re short it comes back to your feet.” – Keith Mitchell
“Back-left pin on No. 6. You never get it back there so you always have 45 feet, and you know it’s so slow. But if you hit it too hard then it goes by the hole and could go off the green.” – 2013 U.S. Open champion Justin Rose
“At No. 16, front-right pin. When you’re on the other tier, either pine-high or a little on got if, yeah, that’s a tough one.” – 2003 U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk
“No. 17, right flag, when your ball is left because it’s uphill for the majority of the putt and then it can get away from you right at the end. It’s just brutal.” – Charles Howell III
Editor’s note: Check back each day for another Masters Survey.
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