Nick Price recalls joining up with 73-year-old Sam Snead — and being outdriven twice. Gary Woodland changed his strategy off the tee at Augusta National’s 18th thanks to a tip from fellow Kansas guy Tom Watson. Matt Kuchar always practices on Wednesday before the Par-3 Contest thanks to advice from Phil Mickelson, who alerted him to the different way the grass is cut each day.
From Mickelson to Tiger Woods to Bernhard Langer — yes, Bernie, of all the possible Green Jacket guys popped up most — winners of the Masters have been opening their notebooks and dishing from their years of experience during practice rounds to the next generation.
One of the cool things to note each year is which legends of the game get asked by rookies and amateur champs if they can join them for a practice round or sometimes simply fortuitously slip into a game. Here’s who some of the pros have called on to lend a hand in efforts to learn the famed Alister MacKenzie layout and some of the tips passed down along the way.
Vijay Singh and Lucas Glover.
Zach Johnson. He has such a good short game and just the way he uses the hills to his advantage when he gets out of position is interesting.
My first year I was too shy to ask anyone, but I played with Bubba Watson. He played with such freedom.
Most of the advice I received and took came from my late wife, Vivienne. She was a talented golfer herself and knew the swing well.
Tom Watson, Kansas guy. I asked him for a practice round and he just helped me with places where to miss it and pointed out where he got in trouble. I cut a perfect driver on 18 and he’s like, “No, Nicklaus hit 3-wood, you need to hit 3-wood.” I hit 3-wood all week and I played the hole in 2 under. I was like, yeah, this guy knows what he’s talking about.
I love playing with Bernhard Langer. He has this persona of being stern and robotic but he’s awesome to play with and very helpful. We got lucky to join up with him last year and I loved playing with him. He knows the place like the back of his hand. I’ll definitely reach out to him because he’s super engaging and one of the nicest guys I’ve ever been around.
I never really asked anyone, but I played some with Jordan Spieth. Everyone knows where to go but he had an actual plan for each pin.
Jeff Knox (a member and frequent marker during the tournament). My first multiple Masters playing those rounds with him was extremely helpful.
Phil Mickelson. He has this scrapbook where he writes down notes. He showed me that certain putts go the opposite direction and when the pin on 2 is on the back left, lay it up short right. That was really helpful.
Phil and Freddie. They were great. They showed me the crazy breaks around the short game area. Bernhard Langer went out of his way to share his knowledge.
Davis Love and Fred Couples. I didn’t ask too many questions. I didn’t want to annoy them but I watched the shots they practiced and what they paid attention to.
Bernhard Langer. He keeps lots of notes like myself.
Phil Mickelson. The differences in chipping and putting around the greens. He taught me to go out Wednesday because there’s areas that get cut differently on Tuesday than Wednesday and Wednesday from Thursday. Certain areas that you putt from and others you chip from and was awesome to have Phil’s level of input.
I played nine holes with Sam Snead in 1985, and it was the most entertaining nine holes I ever had. He was 73 at the time and outdrove me on two holes.
Bernhard Langer.
Phil Mickelson. The amount of knowledge he has around there is crazy. He’s got it all written down in a notebook.
I went around with Tiger a few times. He showed me how the ball tends to go on the greens. Same with Freddie. We played a few times. I picked their brains knowing they’ve always played well there.
I played with Vijay Singh and Ernie Els a couple of times before I played in my first one. The funny thing was they had contradictory opinions on several occasions of which way the greens broke.
I played with Bernhard Langer in 2019 when I was an amateur. Watching him go about his business was pretty cool.
I haven’t played with many of the vets in practice rounds but I did play with Bernhard Langer in my first Masters. Seeing him operate with (caddie) Terry and knowing some of the breaks in the greens were very impressive. He would play shots off a hill that I wasn’t even considering. Watching a guy who’s played there for 40 years shoot 73 and I shot 71, his score was way more impressive than mine.
As a rookie, they paired me with Mark O’Meara. I felt like I outplayed him by 10 shots and I didn’t sniff the cut. He beat me by five shots. He knew where to miss it and how to putt the greens and I didn’t. That was the best experience I could ever have. After that, I talked to Mo a bunch. I also benefited from talking to Ben Crenshaw and playing practice rounds with Tiger.
