NEWS FROM THE TOUR VANS
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Get ready for a lot of discussion around “Azalea,” the famous par-5 13th hole that plays a starring role in Augusta National’s back nine.
Unless you’ve been on a Phil Mickelson-esque Montana wilderness retreat, you’ve likely heard about the 35 yards of distance added to the hole. Azalea initially measured 480 yards during the 1930s and has been lengthened five times (1967, 1974, 1975, 2002 and 2023), ultimately leaving this year’s competitors with a 545-yard hole.
No. 13 is historically the easiest hole on the property – just fractions ahead of the par-5 No. 15 – earning an all-time stroke average of 4.77. Despite its generosity, Azalea is best known for variance. Last year, there were more scores of double bogey or higher (10) than eagles (6), and the ratio of birdies (91) to bogeys (37) was quite healthy for what some consider golf’s ultimate risk-reward hole.
But based on past comments from club chairman Fred Ridley, Augusta National didn’t lengthen the hole to alter scoring. The club’s hope was to put more indecision back into the second shot, one that had become disfigured because of increasingly longer tee shots.
“The 13th hole does not have the same challenges that it has historically,” Ridley said at last year’s Masters before the lengthening. “I can just remember as a young guy watching the Masters, some of the triumphs and tragedies. And while we still have those, the fact players are hitting middle to short irons into that hole is not really how it was designed.”
So how is it designed now, and what will players be expecting come Thursday morning?
In the past, most players were asked to shape their tee shot around the corner on the dogleg left with a driver or 3-wood, with the most popular miss being up into the pine straw to the right. Some bombers could take it directly over the corner of the trees, leaving a short iron into the green.
With modern technology and reduced spin rates off the tee, hitting a draw is significantly easier with a 3-wood than it is with a driver. Now that the tee has been pushed back, more players likely will have to go with driver – especially when they don’t have to turn the ball over as much. It is a 290-yard carry over a tributary of Rae’s Creek, a hazard that could come into play more often this year.
Scottie Scheffler’s assessment of the altered hole echoed what several players said in how they will not try to cut as much of the corner off as in past years.
“I used to hit 3-wood there because I can sling-hook a 3-wood,” said Scheffler, the defending champion and No. 1-ranked player in the world. “I can't sling-hook a driver on purpose. The ball just doesn't spin enough. I can do it on accident, but I can't quite sling it on purpose because I like to fade my driver more off the tee, and so when it comes to that tee shot and hitting a hard hook with the driver, it's not really a shot that I'll try just because it's not worth the risk for me.
“But that's really the biggest change for me. Now I'll just hit driver kind of out towards the corner and try and use more of the contouring to get the ball that way versus before. I should say it this way: My driver is now going where my 3-wood kind of used to go. My 3-wood, I could maybe get it a little bit further around the corner, but my driver is now going to where that 3-wood was before.”
It is perhaps inevitable that we will see more players opt to lay up because they would need to hit a hybrid or fairway wood into the green, coming off of a lie where the ball is above their feet – and missing long is generally not the place to be on Azalea. Because of that, many predict we will see less variance on the hole.
“I think there's going to be a lot more laying up just because the water is now into play,” said two-time green jacket winner Bubba Watson who made a recent trip to Augusta to see the changes. “You think about it more. I hit two good drives and I had 231 (yards) the first day and then I had like 227 the second day, so I hit a 3-iron one day and a 4-iron (the next day).”
“If it's into the wind, guys aren't going to hit 3-woods into that green because it's hard to hold that thing, and long is so dead at tournament speed,” said 2018 winner Patrick Reed. “Unless you get the right wind conditions, you could just start seeing layups on both (Nos. 13 and 15). … It used to be you could make a 3, but you could also bring 6 and 7 into play. Now a layup (will likely see a) 4 or a 5. I think what it's done is just put more premium on course management, shot-making and wedge play.”
Will equipment choices change because of 13? Some think it’s possible.
“I don't see myself laying up unless I absolutely had to,” said Mickelson, a three-time Masters champion who is returning to Augusta National after skipping last year. “But I remember when Ray Floyd won in '76, he put a 5-wood in the bag and felt like that was a real key club because he hit it so many times into the four par-5s. I could see guys looking at a club in that area that gets the ball up a little bit higher and softer in that yardage area, you know, 230-ish. I think that's a possibility.”
One thing is for sure: the world will be watching No. 13 more closely than ever before.
Sean Fairholm