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Jimmy Demaret leaned into a microphone shortly after the 1950 Masters Tournament.
“I’m going to adopt that 13th hole and take it home with me,” Augusta’s first three-time champ said.
Crooner Jim had played the 13th in 6 under that week to fend off Australia’s Jim Ferrier.
Two eagles.
Two birdies.
Three jackets.
Ah, the 13th hole. Azalea. The culmination of Amen Corner. The third of four par 5s at Augusta National Golf Club. And perhaps the most photographed hole in golf.
Ben Crenshaw was once asked to name his favorite hole at Augusta. “Tell you what, 13 is just completely natural,” Gentle Ben said.
Fred Couples says it’s, “Spectacular.”
Billy Horschel calls it, “The greatest par 5 in the world.”
Tiger Woods once putted into the tributary of Rae's Creek that fronts the green. Woods still won the 2005 tournament.
In 1978, Japan’s Tommy Nakajima carded a 13 there, the highest single-hole score in the history of the event. After playing his fourth into the water, Tommy trudged to the bank and struck his ball, which soared into the Georgia air and landed square on his right foot. Two-stroke penalty. While returning his wedge to his looper, Nakajima’s club slipped and nose-dived in the water. Another two-stroke addition.
Tommy was escorted to the press room after the round, where a reporter asked, “Did you lose your concentration?”
“No,” Nakajima said through an interpreter. “I lost count.”
The 13th hole has witnessed triumph and catastrophe, risk and reward, heartbreak and heroics.
In 1937, Byron Nelson, a deeply religious man, found the fairway with his drive and contemplated clearing the water with his second shot.
Nelson told his caddie, “The Lord hates a coward,” and pulled a 3-wood from his bag. The shot landed safely and Nelson chipped in for eagle. Twenty-one years later, Byron had a bridge named after him for his efforts.
Playing in front of Nelson in 1937, leader Ralph Guldahl found the water on Nos. 12 and 13 to clear the way. When pressed about his Amen Corner miscues, the lanky Guldahl admitted, “I can’t swim. Never could.”
Perhaps no year saw more drama at No. 13 than 1954.
In the final round, Billy Joe Patton’s second shot found Rae’s Creek, prompting the amateur to remove his shoes and climb in, before reconsidering. After a penalty stroke, the North Carolina lumberman played his next barefoot, fluffed the chip, and took seven shots to finish the hole.
Ben Hogan and Sam Snead had returned from the dead.
The following day, Hogan faced Snead in the tournament’s first 18-hole playoff since Ben lost to Byron Nelson in 1942. Twelve years later, the margin — one stroke — was identical.
With Billy Joe watching from the gallery, the match was all square before the tournament-changing 13th. On the fateful par 5, Snead went for the green in two, while Ben, hitting from the right fairway, played safe.
At the awards presentation, Hogan praised his opponent, even admitting that he was glad that baseball, the Slammer’s original love, hadn’t stolen Snead decades earlier.
Bobby Jones quipped, “Sam would have failed at baseball. He’d only hit fly balls to centerfield.”
In April 1977, Nicklaus birdied the 13th hole and waved to the gallery. A group behind, Tom Watson stood in the fairway, witnessing the gesture.
“I thought, ‘Nicklaus, how can you do that?’” Watson explained later.
Watson had interpreted Jack’s hand as a form of taunting — a ‘Come get me, kid,’ beckon, as if to dare Watson.
Watson equalled Jack on No. 13 en route to his first of two Masters triumphs.
“I told him that I wouldn't do that,” Jack said in the aftermath. “I was just waving at the gallery. And when we were on television in the trophy room, he told me he owed me an apology.”
Watson apologized. Water under the Nelson Bridge.
It’s possible that Phil Mickelson would only have two jackets had it not been for his daring shot at No. 13 in 2010.
With 207 yards to the flag, 187 to carry the tributary, Phil blasted a 6-iron from pine straw between a pair of trees.
The ball landed four feet from the pin, where Lefty two-putted.
“The best shot I've ever seen him hit,” said Phil’s caddie, Jim “Bones” Mackay.
Moments earlier, Mackay witnessed K.J. Choi bogey No. 13, which upped Mickelson’s advantage to two.
Bones shared the information with his player, who shot back.
“Listen,” Mickelson said. “If I'm going to win this tournament, I'm going to have to hit a really good shot under a lot of pressure.”
Phil went for it.
Phil made birdie.
On Saturday in 2017, Jordan Spieth had 228 to the pin with a pine impeding. Already three under on the day, Michael Greller pleaded with his player to lay up.
Jordan asked his caddie, “What would Arnie do?”
Spieth went for it.
Spieth made birdie.
The 13th hole, the shortest of Augusta’s par 5s, has historically played as the easiest hole at the Masters Tournament. But despite its lifetime 4.77 average, there’s been only one albatross.
Jeff Maggert finished above par in every round at the 1994 Masters.
He carded the day’s high score (82) on Saturday, and was 19 over for the week as he walked toward Sunday’s 13th hole.
“I remember it well,” said Maggert, 30 years after the achievement. “I had 222 yards to the pin and thought, ‘I’m not playing this safe. I’m going right at it with a 3-iron.’”
Then, magic happened.
With the flag tucked in its traditional Sunday front-right corner, Maggert’s ball hopped once, bounced twice, hit the pin and vanished.
“I looked at my caddie (Brian Sullivan) and said, ‘Sully, holy cow, that went in,’” Maggert recalled.
As the first pairing off on Sunday, Maggert estimates that “less than 100 people” witnessed the shot.
There’s no video of the hole-out, but one onlooker was John Cherwa, a reporter with the Los Angeles Times, who wrote: “Maggert stared in disbelief for a second, then raised his arms. He gave his caddie, Brian Sullivan, a high-five and strode up the fairway to several standing ovations from the early arriving crowd.”
Fifty-seven Masters Tournaments were played prior to 1994, and 31 have been conducted since. No one has duplicated Maggert’s albatross on No. 13.
Following the tournament, media members peppered Maggert about what he planned to do with the ball.
“I’ll probably put it on a shelf, so I can keep the kids and dog from it. Maybe it’ll last a while,” he said.
It didn’t.
Maggert was given a crystal bowl and placed the ball inside. Eventually, the pellet was removed.
“You know, when you have kids,” said Maggert, before pausing. “It was probably hacked into the woods.”
Perhaps nobody will repeat Maggert’s accomplishment. It’s also likely that no one will share what the late Maurice Bembridge experienced.
It was April 14, 1974, the final round of the 38th Masters, when the Englishman encountered a water moccasin behind his ball in the 13th fairway.
Bembridge’s caddie, Pappy Stokes, the Godfather of Augusta bag men, had fled the scene, 50 yards into the woods, and shouted at his player to not test the reptile.
“He’s going to get you. He’s going to kill you,” Pappy yelped from the pines.
Bembridge pulled a 2-iron from his bag, drilled the snake head-on and flicked it into Rae’s Creek.
The next shot required a 2-iron, so the Brit held tight and played his second near the green to make birdie. Bembridge carded a then-record 64 that Sunday.
At the inception of the Masters, the hole played 480 yards, and no change of significance occurred until 2002 when the tees were moved back, stretching Azalea to 510.
In 2018, Chairman Fred Ridley stated, “There’s a great quote from Bobby Jones dealing specifically with the 13th hole. He said that the decision to go for the green in two should be a momentous one.”
Like Nelson in ’37. Or when Arnold roped a wood to make eagle in 1958 en route to his first green jacket.
Yet by Sunday of 2014, winner Bubba Watson needed only a 56-degree sand wedge to reach the green in two.
“I would have to say,” Ridley said. “That our observations of these great players hitting middle and even short irons into that hole is not a momentous decision.”
Ahead of the 2023 Masters, the club increased the hole by 35 yards with hopes of reshaping decisions to challenge 13.
“The days of me hitting a 3-wood, 8-iron there are long gone,” Tiger said of the now 545-yard hole.
Last April, Scottie Scheffler went for the green in two on Saturday, drained a 30-foot putt and released a roar.
“C'mon, baby!” the eventual winner screamed as the eagle dropped.
“That's why you saw a bit of emotion there from me on 13,” Scottie said after the round. “It was an important time in the tournament. It (turned) my Saturday around.”
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: 13th hole at Augusta National still providing thrills at the Masters
Continue reading...
“I’m going to adopt that 13th hole and take it home with me,” Augusta’s first three-time champ said.
Crooner Jim had played the 13th in 6 under that week to fend off Australia’s Jim Ferrier.
Two eagles.
Two birdies.
Three jackets.
Ah, the 13th hole. Azalea. The culmination of Amen Corner. The third of four par 5s at Augusta National Golf Club. And perhaps the most photographed hole in golf.
Ben Crenshaw was once asked to name his favorite hole at Augusta. “Tell you what, 13 is just completely natural,” Gentle Ben said.
Fred Couples says it’s, “Spectacular.”
Billy Horschel calls it, “The greatest par 5 in the world.”
Tiger Woods once putted into the tributary of Rae's Creek that fronts the green. Woods still won the 2005 tournament.
In 1978, Japan’s Tommy Nakajima carded a 13 there, the highest single-hole score in the history of the event. After playing his fourth into the water, Tommy trudged to the bank and struck his ball, which soared into the Georgia air and landed square on his right foot. Two-stroke penalty. While returning his wedge to his looper, Nakajima’s club slipped and nose-dived in the water. Another two-stroke addition.
Tommy was escorted to the press room after the round, where a reporter asked, “Did you lose your concentration?”
“No,” Nakajima said through an interpreter. “I lost count.”
Sunday Sorrows
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The 13th hole has witnessed triumph and catastrophe, risk and reward, heartbreak and heroics.
In 1937, Byron Nelson, a deeply religious man, found the fairway with his drive and contemplated clearing the water with his second shot.
Nelson told his caddie, “The Lord hates a coward,” and pulled a 3-wood from his bag. The shot landed safely and Nelson chipped in for eagle. Twenty-one years later, Byron had a bridge named after him for his efforts.
Playing in front of Nelson in 1937, leader Ralph Guldahl found the water on Nos. 12 and 13 to clear the way. When pressed about his Amen Corner miscues, the lanky Guldahl admitted, “I can’t swim. Never could.”
Perhaps no year saw more drama at No. 13 than 1954.
In the final round, Billy Joe Patton’s second shot found Rae’s Creek, prompting the amateur to remove his shoes and climb in, before reconsidering. After a penalty stroke, the North Carolina lumberman played his next barefoot, fluffed the chip, and took seven shots to finish the hole.
Ben Hogan and Sam Snead had returned from the dead.
The following day, Hogan faced Snead in the tournament’s first 18-hole playoff since Ben lost to Byron Nelson in 1942. Twelve years later, the margin — one stroke — was identical.
With Billy Joe watching from the gallery, the match was all square before the tournament-changing 13th. On the fateful par 5, Snead went for the green in two, while Ben, hitting from the right fairway, played safe.
At the awards presentation, Hogan praised his opponent, even admitting that he was glad that baseball, the Slammer’s original love, hadn’t stolen Snead decades earlier.
Bobby Jones quipped, “Sam would have failed at baseball. He’d only hit fly balls to centerfield.”
Sunday charges
In April 1977, Nicklaus birdied the 13th hole and waved to the gallery. A group behind, Tom Watson stood in the fairway, witnessing the gesture.
“I thought, ‘Nicklaus, how can you do that?’” Watson explained later.
Watson had interpreted Jack’s hand as a form of taunting — a ‘Come get me, kid,’ beckon, as if to dare Watson.
Watson equalled Jack on No. 13 en route to his first of two Masters triumphs.
“I told him that I wouldn't do that,” Jack said in the aftermath. “I was just waving at the gallery. And when we were on television in the trophy room, he told me he owed me an apology.”
Watson apologized. Water under the Nelson Bridge.
It’s possible that Phil Mickelson would only have two jackets had it not been for his daring shot at No. 13 in 2010.
With 207 yards to the flag, 187 to carry the tributary, Phil blasted a 6-iron from pine straw between a pair of trees.
The ball landed four feet from the pin, where Lefty two-putted.
“The best shot I've ever seen him hit,” said Phil’s caddie, Jim “Bones” Mackay.
Moments earlier, Mackay witnessed K.J. Choi bogey No. 13, which upped Mickelson’s advantage to two.
Bones shared the information with his player, who shot back.
“Listen,” Mickelson said. “If I'm going to win this tournament, I'm going to have to hit a really good shot under a lot of pressure.”
Phil went for it.
Phil made birdie.
On Saturday in 2017, Jordan Spieth had 228 to the pin with a pine impeding. Already three under on the day, Michael Greller pleaded with his player to lay up.
Jordan asked his caddie, “What would Arnie do?”
Spieth went for it.
Spieth made birdie.
You'll never see that again
The 13th hole, the shortest of Augusta’s par 5s, has historically played as the easiest hole at the Masters Tournament. But despite its lifetime 4.77 average, there’s been only one albatross.
Jeff Maggert finished above par in every round at the 1994 Masters.
He carded the day’s high score (82) on Saturday, and was 19 over for the week as he walked toward Sunday’s 13th hole.
“I remember it well,” said Maggert, 30 years after the achievement. “I had 222 yards to the pin and thought, ‘I’m not playing this safe. I’m going right at it with a 3-iron.’”
Then, magic happened.
With the flag tucked in its traditional Sunday front-right corner, Maggert’s ball hopped once, bounced twice, hit the pin and vanished.
“I looked at my caddie (Brian Sullivan) and said, ‘Sully, holy cow, that went in,’” Maggert recalled.
As the first pairing off on Sunday, Maggert estimates that “less than 100 people” witnessed the shot.
There’s no video of the hole-out, but one onlooker was John Cherwa, a reporter with the Los Angeles Times, who wrote: “Maggert stared in disbelief for a second, then raised his arms. He gave his caddie, Brian Sullivan, a high-five and strode up the fairway to several standing ovations from the early arriving crowd.”
Fifty-seven Masters Tournaments were played prior to 1994, and 31 have been conducted since. No one has duplicated Maggert’s albatross on No. 13.
Following the tournament, media members peppered Maggert about what he planned to do with the ball.
“I’ll probably put it on a shelf, so I can keep the kids and dog from it. Maybe it’ll last a while,” he said.
It didn’t.
Maggert was given a crystal bowl and placed the ball inside. Eventually, the pellet was removed.
“You know, when you have kids,” said Maggert, before pausing. “It was probably hacked into the woods.”
Perhaps nobody will repeat Maggert’s accomplishment. It’s also likely that no one will share what the late Maurice Bembridge experienced.
It was April 14, 1974, the final round of the 38th Masters, when the Englishman encountered a water moccasin behind his ball in the 13th fairway.
Bembridge’s caddie, Pappy Stokes, the Godfather of Augusta bag men, had fled the scene, 50 yards into the woods, and shouted at his player to not test the reptile.
“He’s going to get you. He’s going to kill you,” Pappy yelped from the pines.
Bembridge pulled a 2-iron from his bag, drilled the snake head-on and flicked it into Rae’s Creek.
The next shot required a 2-iron, so the Brit held tight and played his second near the green to make birdie. Bembridge carded a then-record 64 that Sunday.
'The decision ... should be a momentous one'
At the inception of the Masters, the hole played 480 yards, and no change of significance occurred until 2002 when the tees were moved back, stretching Azalea to 510.
In 2018, Chairman Fred Ridley stated, “There’s a great quote from Bobby Jones dealing specifically with the 13th hole. He said that the decision to go for the green in two should be a momentous one.”
Like Nelson in ’37. Or when Arnold roped a wood to make eagle in 1958 en route to his first green jacket.
Yet by Sunday of 2014, winner Bubba Watson needed only a 56-degree sand wedge to reach the green in two.
“I would have to say,” Ridley said. “That our observations of these great players hitting middle and even short irons into that hole is not a momentous decision.”
Ahead of the 2023 Masters, the club increased the hole by 35 yards with hopes of reshaping decisions to challenge 13.
“The days of me hitting a 3-wood, 8-iron there are long gone,” Tiger said of the now 545-yard hole.
Last April, Scottie Scheffler went for the green in two on Saturday, drained a 30-foot putt and released a roar.
“C'mon, baby!” the eventual winner screamed as the eagle dropped.
“That's why you saw a bit of emotion there from me on 13,” Scottie said after the round. “It was an important time in the tournament. It (turned) my Saturday around.”
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: 13th hole at Augusta National still providing thrills at the Masters
Continue reading...
