AUGUSTA, GEORGIA | Had you not watched the tournament, it would seem that Augusta National’s lengthened par-5 13th hole produced what it normally does.
“Azalea” finished with a 4.73 stroke average, which was a slight bit easier than in the 2022 Masters and a slight bit harder than in most recent years – but ultimately in line with the hole’s all-time 4.77 stroke average. There were eight eagles and nine double bogeys or worse throughout the week, variance numbers that closely matched with each of the past two Masters. And though No. 13 was the hardest of the course’s four par-5s, the first time that has occurred since 2013, the scoring statistics didn’t paint a drastically different picture of the hole.
It didn’t feel the same, however.
During the first two days when the 13th played slightly downwind, the average tee-shot distance was some 30 yards greater than in recent years – because most players were taking driver instead of 3-wood – nearly offsetting the 35 yards added to the hole before this year’s tournament. Hugging the corner of the dogleg left proved to be important in whether a player would lay up or go for the green, and it appeared that the penalty area on the left-hand side was more in play off the tee than it had been in the past. Meanwhile, the pine straw and trees right of the fairway attracted less action than normal.
“I think if you are stuck in between (going for it), you get more mayhem because you're going to get more water balls than guys hitting 7-iron to the middle of the green. How is that not more exciting?"
Jordan Spieth
Mid-to-long irons were necessary to take on the second shot, and many successfully pulled it off as six eagles were made in those first two rounds. More than half of the field went for the green, as 29 players found the dance floor in two on Thursday and 15 players successfully reached in round two. A total of 16 second shots found Rae’s Creek over the first two days.
There was tension in both the tee shot and the subsequent decision. Collin Morikawa hit a 4-iron from 241 yards during round one and found a watery grave, leading to a bogey. Tom Kim hit a better tee shot, leaving a better angle, and had only 220 yards into the green. He hit it to 9 feet and made an eagle. Dustin Johnson vowed to lay up all four days and then went for the green twice anyway, once making a birdie and once making a bogey.
That was indicative of the push and pull of trying to manage Azalea. Conditions, and the quality of tee shot, dictated a lot more than in the past.
“I think if you are stuck in between (going for it), you get more mayhem because you're going to get more water balls than guys hitting 7-iron to the middle of the green,” Jordan Spieth said. “How is that not more exciting? It's not very exciting if someone hits 7-, 8-iron into the middle of the green and two-putts. You want to see someone hit it from further away, or a harder shot.”
In the third round of the Masters, everything flipped. Some players had to play the hole during the Saturday deluge, the wind turned back into the field’s face and the increasingly softer ground made the hole even longer.
Only five players found the green in two during the entire round. And in round four, the wind still being into the players for most of Sunday, only five players successfully made it once again. The vast majority decided to lay up during round three, and a slight majority decided to lay up in round four, the green-in-regulation percentage spiking north as a result – only two eagles were made during the last two rounds, one of them being a hole-out from the fairway. In round three, not a single second shot found the creek as the hole played as a brutish three-shot par-5.
The wind wasn’t quite as strong in round four, and that created an interesting dynamic where some players, needing to make noise in the final round, were willing to take off a headcover to challenge the green in two. That is what Spieth and Phil Mickelson did while paired together. Cameron Young used his prodigious length to reach the green with an iron, leading to the lone eagle among players who made the green in two. Several went for it and found the penalty area, such as Scottie Scheffler (iron) and Gary Woodland (fairway wood). Collin Morikawa (iron) narrowly skirted the trees and reached the green, earning an easy birdie. Russell Henley, Patrick Reed, Sahith Theegala and Shane Lowry were among the many players who hit the fairway but opted to lay up despite needing to make up ground in a hurry.
With the wind dying even further, eventual champion Jon Rahm hit a mammoth tee shot and had only a 6-iron remaining – which he hit just over the green on his way to a birdie – but that result was the exception and not the norm.
Before this year, it was a rarity to see players take on the green with more than a mid-iron. It was also a rarity for players to hit the fairway and then decide to lay up.
Chairman Fred Ridley made it clear that he was hoping to see a new dynamic on No. 13 that brought in more risk-reward into the discussion.
“I look forward on Sunday to having someone in competition with a 3- or 4-iron in their hand or even a hybrid hitting their shot into the 13th hole rather than an 8-iron,” Ridley said before the tournament. “I think on balance it’s going to prove to be the right decision.”
After an extensive and expensive process to purchase Augusta Country Club’s ninth hole so Azalea could be stretched, it would be hard to argue with the results. Azalea was not pushed around like it has been at times in the past decade, and there still were plenty of fireworks, intrigue and indecision.
It’s a small sample size, but the alterations appear to have accomplished their mission.
Sean Fairholm