There are certain traditions on Masters Sunday that will seemingly never change (except for weather issues), the biggest of which, of course, is to award the new champion the Green Jacket.
Television viewers have gotten used to many hole locations at Augusta National on Sunday: far back right on No. 2, front center on No. 7, far right on No. 12, middle-ish right on No. 13, back left on No. 16, and front left on No. 18. All are locations that can lead to birdies but also bogeys, and all lead to excitement.
The big news of the day is that the hole location on the par-3 16th is NOT on the front-left location as it is in most other years. Instead, it will play on the back-right side of the putting surface.
A historic hole location on No. 16. #themasters pic.twitter.com/K4324Fx4yC
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 13, 2025
Is the hole location on the 16th (and other holes) traditions that really must stand year after year? Let us look at a bit of history to see if so.
No. 16 in 1975 and 2020
The reason for today’s break from tradition is that we're exactly 50 years removed from Jack Nicklaus making a ridiculously long birdie putt to the back-right hole location to pull away from Tom Weiskopf and Johnny Miller, ultimately winning his fifth Masters.
More recently, in the November Masters of 2020, perhaps owing to the low scores from earlier in the week, Augusta also opted for the more difficult back-right corner on Sunday.
No. 18 in 1986 and 2003
In both 1986 and 2003, The Masters decided to forgo the front-left spot in favor of a location on the back tier.
You may recall watching Jack Nicklaus' two-putt from the front edge, Greg Norman’s bogey from the patrons, and Tom Kite’s birdie putt slide by to the back hole location.
In 2003, Mike Weir two-putted from the front tier, making an eight-footer to force a playoff with Len Mattice to a back location.
Looking back, the hole location a few days back during Thursday's opening round foreshadowed Sunday’s location change. A slightly more back and more left location caused patrons and television viewers confusion about using Sunday’s hole location on Thursday.
Of course, The Masters knew on Thursday they were not going to use the traditional place on Sunday.
The recontouring, possibly caused from Hurricane Helene damage last fall, could be a convenience excuse to avoid areas that still were recovering or recontouring that did not quite work out how Augusta was looking for.
Either way, No. 16 this year is still an opportunity for cheers echoing through the pines, a nod to a great Masters moment 50 years ago, and a reminder that some traditions can be broken.