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While Augusta National Golf Club is known for its immaculate manicuring and incredible views, it's also one of the most difficult golf courses that pro players face each year. And as the only men's major that the pros return to on an annual basis, experience can be a valuable asset to competitors. As part of our annual Golfweek/USA Today Masters surveys, we asked players, including several past champions, a simple question: What is a secret to success at Augusta National that you figured out?
I figured out that the middle of the green at Augusta is pretty good 90 percent of the time. If you short side yourself at Augusta, you're in trouble. You're not only inviting bogey, you're inviting double bogey real quick.
The big change for me was around 2010 I figured out that the course will give you a lot if you let it. You don’t have to beat it up. For a lot of years before 2010, I played defensively. I had all the places you shouldn’t go in your head.
Avoid 3-putting. It’s virtually impossible. You rarely have a straight putt. You’ve got to hit it in the right spots in the greens based on where the pins are.
Staying aggressive. I think Augusta over the years has made me quite tentative at times, especially with approach play, and I think once you get tentative, you can start leaving yourself in some really bad spots, and it's hard to get up-and-down.
So I think staying aggressive around there. I played a practice round with Phil Mickelson, maybe, I don't know, 10 or 15 years ago, probably closer to 15 years ago, and I always remember he said to me, "Rory, one of the reasons I love Augusta National is because I feel I can be so aggressive here."
I remember thinking, "What does he mean?" I feel the opposite. I feel I can't be aggressive here because there's so many bad places to miss. But Phil had so much -- still has, probably, so much faith in his short game that if he does miss an approach shot by being aggressive, he still feels he can get that ball up-and-down.
I think, I would say by becoming a better putter and by maybe working on my short game a little bit and becoming better around the greens, that probably allowed me to become more aggressive with my approach play at Augusta. I think that's been a big part of the reason why I've -- well, now that I've eventually won there, but why my play has gotten better there over the years.
My pro I worked with, Luke Barnes, we were working on my game in 1987, and he pointed over to Jack Nicklaus and said, "See that man, he's one six times here. Get the ball up in your stance and get that ball up in the air. You need to hit that ball high and land it soft on these greens." I think there is something to that. Iron play is so important at Augusta. You have to control the ball flight and the spin to manage your way around those greens.
Being good off the tee and being able to curve the ball both ways with some of these tree lines is really important, as you get lots of chances coming into the greens, which I feel is one of my strengths...My caddie, Joe Skovran, has caddied in quite a few events there in the past so I’m lucky that I’ve never felt like a rookie because of all the knowledge he’s been able to share with me.
You have to putt so well. You’re going to have to make a lot of 6-footers for par.
You have to be disciplined. There’s one shot on every hole that you have to really focus in. If you don’t get that shot correct, it makes playing the rest of the hole very hard.
Good speed control with putting.
The secret to success at the Masters is precise iron play. Distance and spin control as well as trajectory control is extremely important.
It’s a course with so many opposites: you’re trying to draw it off a left-to-right slope and cut it off a right-to-left slope, you’re trying to hit it high off a downslope. I played with Scottie (Scheffler) in the first two rounds when he won. I remember him taking so much more club when we were in the same spot or 10 yards apart and he was hitting 2 or 3 more clubs than me just to hit the correct window to the right spot on the green. It takes everything to win there.
The biggest thing is putting. If you can eliminate three putts, that’s the key. You’re going to have some serious lag putts and if you can just tap them in that will make your life so much easier.
Well, if I knew, I wouldn't want to share it. But a big thing for me around there is not trying to be so perfect.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Masters Survey: What pros say is secret to success at Augusta National
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Jack Nicklaus
I figured out that the middle of the green at Augusta is pretty good 90 percent of the time. If you short side yourself at Augusta, you're in trouble. You're not only inviting bogey, you're inviting double bogey real quick.
Adam Scott
The big change for me was around 2010 I figured out that the course will give you a lot if you let it. You don’t have to beat it up. For a lot of years before 2010, I played defensively. I had all the places you shouldn’t go in your head.
Craig Stadler
Avoid 3-putting. It’s virtually impossible. You rarely have a straight putt. You’ve got to hit it in the right spots in the greens based on where the pins are.
Rory McIlroy
Staying aggressive. I think Augusta over the years has made me quite tentative at times, especially with approach play, and I think once you get tentative, you can start leaving yourself in some really bad spots, and it's hard to get up-and-down.
So I think staying aggressive around there. I played a practice round with Phil Mickelson, maybe, I don't know, 10 or 15 years ago, probably closer to 15 years ago, and I always remember he said to me, "Rory, one of the reasons I love Augusta National is because I feel I can be so aggressive here."
I remember thinking, "What does he mean?" I feel the opposite. I feel I can't be aggressive here because there's so many bad places to miss. But Phil had so much -- still has, probably, so much faith in his short game that if he does miss an approach shot by being aggressive, he still feels he can get that ball up-and-down.
I think, I would say by becoming a better putter and by maybe working on my short game a little bit and becoming better around the greens, that probably allowed me to become more aggressive with my approach play at Augusta. I think that's been a big part of the reason why I've -- well, now that I've eventually won there, but why my play has gotten better there over the years.
Larry Mize
My pro I worked with, Luke Barnes, we were working on my game in 1987, and he pointed over to Jack Nicklaus and said, "See that man, he's one six times here. Get the ball up in your stance and get that ball up in the air. You need to hit that ball high and land it soft on these greens." I think there is something to that. Iron play is so important at Augusta. You have to control the ball flight and the spin to manage your way around those greens.
Ludvig Aberg
Being good off the tee and being able to curve the ball both ways with some of these tree lines is really important, as you get lots of chances coming into the greens, which I feel is one of my strengths...My caddie, Joe Skovran, has caddied in quite a few events there in the past so I’m lucky that I’ve never felt like a rookie because of all the knowledge he’s been able to share with me.
Keegan Bradley
You have to putt so well. You’re going to have to make a lot of 6-footers for par.
Jason Day
You have to be disciplined. There’s one shot on every hole that you have to really focus in. If you don’t get that shot correct, it makes playing the rest of the hole very hard.
J.J. Spaun
Good speed control with putting.
Trevor Immelman
The secret to success at the Masters is precise iron play. Distance and spin control as well as trajectory control is extremely important.
Xander Schauffele
It’s a course with so many opposites: you’re trying to draw it off a left-to-right slope and cut it off a right-to-left slope, you’re trying to hit it high off a downslope. I played with Scottie (Scheffler) in the first two rounds when he won. I remember him taking so much more club when we were in the same spot or 10 yards apart and he was hitting 2 or 3 more clubs than me just to hit the correct window to the right spot on the green. It takes everything to win there.
Wyndham Clark
The biggest thing is putting. If you can eliminate three putts, that’s the key. You’re going to have some serious lag putts and if you can just tap them in that will make your life so much easier.
Rickie Fowler
Well, if I knew, I wouldn't want to share it. But a big thing for me around there is not trying to be so perfect.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Masters Survey: What pros say is secret to success at Augusta National
Continue reading...
