Augusta National stretches 13th hole to bring back risk-reward factor. Is it working?
The date is April 11, 1954. The scene is the fairway on Augusta National Golf Club’s 13th hole, and amateur Billy Joe Patton is facing a decision with the Masters title hanging in the balance.
Go for it, or play safe? Risk worth the reward?
He had reason to ponder. He had led the tournament after the first two rounds, then faltered in the third before a hole-in-one at the par-3 sixth highlighted a front-nine 32 that pulled him into contention with Ben Hogan and Sam Snead.
Imagine that. An amateur side-by-side on the leaderboard with two of the game’s most famous players — and with the tournament at stake on one of golf’s great holes.
He could challenge the water-guarded green. Or not.
Fast forward to the present day. With the combination of advanced equipment and technology — and stronger players — all that guesswork went away.
The 13th lost its teeth.
The stern test at the hole known as Azalea developed into a birdie fest, and this beauty became among the easiest of Augusta National’s 18 holes. Make par and lose ground on the scoreboard.
Thus, the change.
Tournament officials stretched No. 13 an additional 35 yards, to 545, this year. Predictable responses came quickly.
They’ve ruined the hole, some pros claimed. Reports came that long-bomber Dustin Johnson planned to lay up. Nobody will go for the green with their second shot, the critics complained.
Turns out, they cried “wolf” too early. The sky is not falling.
Looks like the pros treated the 13th like they have in recent years in Thursday’s first round of the 87th Masters.
Mike Weir, the champion a generation ago, came through first on Thursday. Never a long hitter, he attacked the longer 13th like always, laying up with his second and wedging to the green.
“I had 270 (yards to the green), so there was no decision for me,” he said.
Along came the bombers. Patrick Reed’s second, with an iron, ended on the back-of-the-green fringe. Seamus Power went 310 off the tee and sent his 218-yard second swing onto the green. Chris Kirk made eagle after his 245-yard second shot stopped two feet from the flag.
Players needed longer clubs for their second shots, and that’s the idea, Augusta National and Masters chairman Fred Ridley said.
“We believe the modification will put the driver in play more often and restore the element of risk and reward that was intended in the original design,” he explained at his pre-tournament meeting with reporters. “... I played two weeks ago with Scottie Scheffler; he hit a 5-iron (second shot) into the hole one day.
“You may be right that the data will show that more players will lay up, (but) I think for a still large number who will go for the green in two. I think it’s going to be a much more challenging and a much more exciting shot.”
Tiger Woods said both he and Xander Schauffele had lies “with balls not sitting very good in the first cut” and laid up Thursday.
“Not an opportune time to go for it,” he explained.
Kevin Kisner, not a long hitter, laid up from 210 yards “with a limb in my way and a side-hill lie.” But, he said, “if we were playing last week, I’d go for it every time” with either a 5- or 6-iron.
Longer now than then, but the 13th remains one of the wonders of golf. Combine the playing potential, the tilted terrain and nature’s beauty, and what’s not to like?
The 13th bends around a stand of trees and features a tributary of Rae’s Creek guarding the green. Behind the putting surface: a series of bunkers and more than 1,000 azaleas providing an outline to envy.
This, historians say, is the first hole that club founder Bobby Jones and architect Alister MacKenzie spotted in walking the property about 90 years ago. “A classic par-four-and-one-half,” Jones once said.
And the 13th is laden with Masters lore, especially in the days before the players began to overpower the hole.
Curtis Strange once came to 13 on Sunday with a three-shot lead and the tailor taking measurements for a green jacket. He then put his second shot into the creek, had his third from the water trickle back down the bank short of the water, chipped on and then two-putted.
Bernhard Langer saw his shot on 13 take a miracle hop to avoid the hazard on his way to the 1985 title, and Claude Harmon saved par from the water en route to the 1948 title. Tom Watson did the same in 1981.
Gary Player survived a major disaster on 13 to claim the 1961 championship. He drove into the trees on the right, pulled his second into the creek, took a penalty, chipped on and three-putted for double-bogey.
Tommy Nakajima showed how not to play the hole in 1978, scoring a 13 on 13. And Jeff Maggert showed the best way in 1994, sending his 3-iron second shot into the cup from 225 yards for a double-eagle.
Note that those adventures occurred once upon a time, and restoring those possibilities is the goal.
“I certainly look forward on Sunday to having someone in competition with a 3- or 4-iron or even a hybrid hitting their shot into the 13th rather than an 8-iron,” Ridley said.
Indeed, today’s players could be facing the same decision that Billy Joe Patton faced all those years ago.
Go or play safe? Risk worth the reward?
Patton said, “Go!”
And he made double-bogey to miss the Hogan-Snead playoff by one shot.
Does drama to match that await Sunday at No. 13?
