Breakfast Ball #63: Augusta's Best

Four weeks of Masters content starts right now! However, we are still keeping an eye on Bethpage in September, as Viktor Hovland won his 7th PGA Tour title.

In This Week’s Newsletter:

Masters Prep Week 1: The 3 Best Holes at Augusta National

Ask any golf fan for their three favorite holes at Augusta, and you're unlikely to hear the same answer twice. As someone who’s never set foot on the property, my picks are shaped entirely by how the course comes across on TV—an experience that could be completely different from someone who’s seen Augusta National in person. There is also no wrong answer here, as there are probably nine or ten holes that could easily have made it into my top three.

Therefore.. in no particular order, these are my three favorite holes at Augusta National Golf Club.

Hole No. 12: Golden Bell

In my opinion, Amen Corner is the most iconic stretch in all of golf. It kicks off with the daunting par-4 11th, where survival is often the goal, and wraps up with the risk-reward par-5 13th—a hole that offers an opportunity to propel or derail an entire round. But the crown jewel of Amen Corner is undoubtedly the par-3 12th, a deceptively short hole that has shaped countless Masters moments and broken more than a few hearts.

Jordan Spieth was three shots clear with seven holes to play in 2016 and dunked two balls in the water. In 2019, Brooks Koepka, Francesco Molinari, and Tony Finau all found the water during the final round, allowing Tiger Woods to make a charge and win his fifth green jacket.

Standing at just 155 yards, the 12th seems like it should be quite approachable. However, it is the 4th hardest hole at the course with an average score of 0.27 shots over par.

The tee box is sheltered from the wind, making club selection extremely difficult into a green that is just 20 feet deep. The green is tilted diagonally from short left to long right along the border of Rae’s Creek, meaning the yards needed to cover the hazard are entirely dependent on the pin and the shot you want to play. Any shots that are short slide off into the river and leave a very difficult pitch from the drop area, while any shots that are long result in a tough up-and-down facing the water.

The traditional Sunday pin on the back right of the green (marked above) is 15 yards longer than the shortest pin position on the front left. It is also in the narrowest landing area of the entire hole, luring players into a dangerous shot that could ruin their round. Tiger Woods religiously played his tee shots to the center of the green, where the landing area is at its widest and both short and long shots give you the best opportunity to get away with par.

The 12th hole is a timeless masterpiece—proof that brilliant design can withstand decades of advancements in golf technology and player skill. Despite all the evolution since the first Masters in 1934, it remains as challenging and captivating as ever.

Hole No. 10: Camellia

While Augusta National certainly demands strategic thinking off the tee, hitting the fairway itself isn’t the hardest task. With an average width of 51.7 yards, its fairways rank as the third widest among PGA Tour courses over the past decade. But that’s where the genius lies—it's not just about finding the fairway, it’s about finding the right part of it. Positioning is everything, and a tee shot just a few yards off line can turn a scoring opportunity into a scramble.

The 10th is a great example of this. A sharp, downhill dogleg left, the tee shot benefits right-handed golfers that play a draw or lefties that play a fade. The left half of the fairway has a little chute that will push golf balls down toward the bottom of the hill, leaving only a wedge or short iron into a green that slopes from back to front. However, if you find the right side of the fairway, it pushes balls to the right and into the trees, leaving a longer iron into the green off a downhill lie.

It was here in 2011 where Rory McIlroy, in an attempt to draw a drive around the corner, collided with a tree and found himself in the back garden of one of the cottages on the course. He would triple bogey the hole, turning a one shot lead into a two shot deficit. The following year, however, the 10th provided one of the most incredible shots in golf history.

Bubba Watson and Louis Oosthuizen were locked in the second playoff hole of the 2012 Masters, and both players found the right trees off the tee. Then, Watson hit an outrageous hook around the trees that landed on the green, and when Oosthuizen wasn’t able to make par, Bubba made a two-putt for par and the green jacket.

Hole No. 18: Holly

Every great golf course needs a great 18th hole, and Augusta National is no different. The tee shot is visually intimidating, as players hit straight down a narrow tree-lined alleyway, with two bunkers waiting for any long shots that run through the fairway. The hole then cuts uphill to the right, forcing players to try to move the ball from left to right off the tee.

Again, the wind is an incredibly important factor as a helping breeze will force players to club down to avoid the bunkers. Tiger Woods’ strategy on 18 is simple: “Basically, I’m using a club that puts me just short of the closest bunker on the left.” If players try to cut the corner a little too aggressively they will find the trees and it is almost an automatic bogey. However, if they are able to find the fairway, the uphill shot to an inviting green does give players the chance for a birdie.

The main reason the 18th is one of my favorites is simply because it is an ideal final hole of The Masters. It is difficult enough to derail someone with a two shot lead, but also offers the opportunity for a challenger to birdie the hole and win the tournament. The perfect finish to a magnificent golf course.

This is the first of four weeks of Masters Content coming your way!

Monday, March 31st: 10 things to watch in the 2025 Masters & what does the history of the tournament tell us about who can win in 2025?

Tuesday, April 8th: The full 2025 Masters Preview, with winner picks and predictions for every European in the field

Monday, April 14th: A recap of the 2025 Masters, with shots of the tournament, prediction outcomes, and everything you need to know about this year’s edition

Other news and results from the golfing world:

• 😃 Viktor Hovland and Justin Thomas went head to head at the Valspar Championship, and the Norwegian came out on top by one shot!!

  • Much has been documented about Hovland’s struggles since he won the Tour Championship in 2023, and while the Valspar Championship is certainly not the height of golf, this win will give him an incredible amount of confidence

  • Viktor was three shots behind Thomas approaching the 14th hole, but birdied three of the next four while JT struggled and made two bogeys

  • This interview on Saturday displayed some of the difficulties Viktor has gone through: “You start thinking things you’ve never thought before. And this game becomes infinitely more challenging — and it’s already really challenging.”

  • Hovland after the round: “I honestly did not believe I could win this week.”

  • Shane Lowry and Seamus Power also picked up top 10 results in T8

• For those counting: that is 6 European winners on the PGA Tour this season - Straka, Åberg, Detry, McIlroy x2, and now Hovland

• 🫠 Shot of the Week: Sometimes pros do things that truly make you realize how much better they are than everyone else. This week, it was Billy Horschel

  • Horschel was 120 yards out from the green, but due to an obstruction from a tree he had to hit a left-handed approach to the green - Horschel is a right-handed golfer

  • Not only did he hit a back-handed wedge on the green, he holed the putt for birdie

• Richard Mansell won the Porsche Singapore Classic on the DP World Tour for his first major tour victory

  • The 29-year-old Englishman claimed victory by one stroke ahead of Keita Nakajima

  • Tom McKibbin (T3) and Bob MacIntyre (T9) were among those in the top 10

Trivia Corner 🤔

Rory McIlroy joined an exclusive club last weekend as the fourth man to win two Players Championships and two majors. The other three members of that club are Scottie Scheffler, Tiger Woods, and Jack Nicklaus. Good company.

Coming up on tour this week:

• 🤠 The Houston Open is the first stop in Texas on the PGA Tour in 2025

  • Rory McIlroy will tee it up in Houston for the first time since 2014 as he ramps up preparation for The Masters

• 🇮🇳 The DP World Tour moves on to the Indian Open at DLF Golf & Country Club, a truly bizarre golf course designed by Gary Player that is one of the most difficult tests of the DPWT season

If you have any feedback for the newsletter or would like to get in touch, I would love to hear from you! Email [email protected] or message us on Twitter/X at @BlueHorizonGolf. Thank you for reading!