3 Keys to Winning The Masters at Augusta National

The Masters Tournament is special for a lot of reasons, but at the top of that list is where the tournament is played. Augusta National Golf Club is an elusive, almost heavenly piece of property for most golf fans. Each year, the best moments are added to the collection of the biggest moments on each hole. Jordan Spieth’s meltdown at No. 12 in 2016, Bubba Watson’s hooked gap wedge from the trees at nine and Tiger’s chip in from the back of the 16th green are parts of the history that is added to every year.

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With one course hosting the Masters every year comes a blueprint. A road map that each winner takes to navigate the beautiful green fairways and undulating greens all the way to a green jacket. This year is the 85th playing of the Masters and the last 84 champions have shown us how to win at Augusta National. It’s almost guaranteed that the winner each year does a few things really well en route to a victory.

So, let’s take a look at three keys to winning at Augusta National and securing a spot in the most exclusive club in golf.

1. The Par 5’s as a foundation, but performance on the par 3’s and 4’s is crucial.

Everyone knows about the par 5’s at Augusta National. The second, eighth, 13th and 15th holes bring so much excitement every year and that’s not an accident. The par 5’s are where guys win and lose this golf tournament, especially on the back nine on Sunday. They are the epitome of risk reward holes. The 13th and 15th are both easily reachable in today’s game, but slightly wayward shots are quickly punished by Rae’s Creek at 13 and the pond short of the 15 green. Phil Mickelson tamed the 13th from the pine straw in 2010, but Francesco Molinari saw his bid for a green jacket effectively end courtesy of the pond at 15 in 2019.

They deliver in the biggest moments, but the par 5’s are important throughout all four rounds. Since 2017, Masters champions are a combined 39-under on the par 5’s. Patrick Reed finished 13-under on the 16 par 5’s he played when he won in 2018 and Dustin Johnson was 11-under back in November. But the secret is those holes must be the foundation of low scores, but not the end all, be all.

In 2020, Marc Leishman was a ridiculous 15-under on the par 5’s, but he was +9 on the par 4’s at Augusta which is why he finished in just a tie for 13th. In fact, the three best par 5 performances in 2020 came from Leishman, Charl Schwartzel and Jordan Spieth. The trio was 41-under on the par 5’s, however, they were a combined +24 on the par 4’s and not all that much better on the par 3’s. Matt Wallace and Bubba Watson finished 12-under on the par 5’s but neither finished inside the top 45 because they combined to go 29-over on the par 4’s.

So, you get the point. It’s really hard to win this tournament without taking advantage of the par 5’s, but it’s impossible to do if you fall apart on the other 14 holes of Augusta National. Johnson was 9-under on those other 14 holes in 2020, Tiger was 5-under and Reed was 6-under on the par 4’s.

2. Augusta National is a second shot golf course.

You might find outliers when it comes to the par 5’s (Danny Willett was even on the par 5’s in 2016), but you will never find a Masters champion who didn’t hit a lot of greens on his way to a win. The undulating greens and severe elevation changes at Augusta National put ball striking at a premium.

In 2020, Dustin Johnson hit 83.33% of his greens. He hit four more greens than anybody else in the tournament and was six percentage points better in that category. In 2019, Tiger Woods hit 58 greens in regulation, three more than anyone else in the field. Patrick Reed was in the top 21 of greens hit in regulation combined with his ridiculous par 5 scoring. Reed was an outlier. Other than Reed in 2018, you have to go all the way back to Mike Weir in 2003 before you find someone outside of the top 18 in greens in regulation. Weir finished in a tie for 37th that week in that category.

Many of the fairways at Augusta are fairly easy to hit and the rough isn’t nearly as punishing as the rough found at majors like the U.S. Open. That’s not where Augusta gets its teeth. It challenges players with the slopes and speed of the greens and forcing players to be accurate with their irons all week. Furthermore, there is very little fluffy rough around the greens at Augusta and the majority of the chip shots come off of tight lies to pins that are near slopes that will eat players up if they aren’t precise.

Think about it, almost all of the most important shots that a player hits on the way to the clubhouse on Sunday are with an iron in his hand. The tee shot at the par 3, 12th, the second shots on both 13 and 15 and the tee shot with water short on the par 3 16th. Yes, the tee shot at 13 and 18 are very important as well, but more times than not we see players win — or lose — this tournament with an iron in their hands on the back nine on Sunday.

In case you were curious, some of the most notable names at the top of the SG: Approach the Green category on Tour this season are Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Corey Conners, Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Paul Casey. All seven players are in the top 15 this year. When in doubt, pick the guy who you have faith in to hit a lot of greens because that guy is going to have a really good chance to win.

3. The right to left shot off the tee and some experience.

Once upon a time, Martin Kaymer fundamentally changed his swing trying to learn how to hit a draw off the tee. Why? So he would have a better chance of winning at Augusta National. Now, don’t take this too literally because Dustin Johnson holds the scoring record at the Masters and he hits almost exclusively left to right golf shots. But some of the most important moments require a right to left shot.

The tee shot at 13. Right to left shot is ideal to attack the green in two. The tee shot at 15. Same thing. If you put too much right to left on it you’re blocked out by trees but if you don’t put enough you’re hitting a lot of club into a very shallow 15th green. The tee shot at the par 3, 16th, specifically on Sunday calls for that right to left shot as well. Three of the four par 5’s are best taken advantage of with a draw for right handers or a cut for left handers off the tee. Jordan Spieth hits a draw off the tee. Bubba Watson can hit that awesome right to left Bubba slice. Patrick Reed has always been a drawer of the golf ball and so was a guy like Zach Johson. It certainly can be done without that right to left shot but it’s a lot easier when a guy has that in the bag.

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And finally, experience is really important at Augusta National, for multiple reasons. For starters, the pressure on the back nine on a Sunday at the Masters is just a different kind of pressure. Anyone will tell you that and it’s impossible to prepare for it. But it’s also impossible to really be prepared for the intricacies of Augusta without actually seeing it for yourself. The speed of the greens, the putts that do one thing when they look like they should do something else and knowing exactly where to miss it to have a chance to get out of trouble without dropping shots. Jordan Spieth made several big mistakes on the back nine against Bubba Watson in 2014 before finishing it off in 2015. That starts with actually knowing what to expect from that green golf heaven.

There’s a reason why Fuzzy Zoeller was the last guy to win in his first Masters over 40 years ago and it has nothing to do with new guys not being good enough to get the job done.

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