Masters weekend is upon us, and with brighter days ahead in the UK (well, longer at least), plenty will be dusting the cobwebs off their golf bags and polishing those clubs – all in the name of shooting three-digit scores and shouting obscenities.
It’s a fabulous way to ruin four hours on a free day, but there’s always that one shot or five to reel you back in, while there’s also nothing quite like the Masters to whet this appetite for destruction as the pros show you how it’s done – most of the time.
It rarely disappoints, with the pines, doglegs and dastardly creeks making Augusta a love-hate relationship for many.
But, if you do fancy your chances of one day conquering the sport’s most famous course, here’s a simple how-to guide based on recent trends and advice from past winners… You just have to get there, first.
Quick trends for Masters champions
Be American
Check your passport, as a total of 39 Americans have won the Masters a combined 63 times, including 14 of the 24 editions since 2000. A distant second are the Spaniards – the quartet of Seve Ballesteros (1980, 1983), Jose Maria Olazabal (1994, 1999), Sergio Garcia (2017) and Jon Rahm (2023) combining for six.
There have only been two English winners (Nick Faldo 1989, 1990, 1996 and Danny Willett 2016), plus one Scot (Sandy Lyle in 1988) and a Welshman – Ian Woosnam in 1991.
Shoot -12
The winner has carded 12-under on average the past 10 editions. That was the exact score from 2023 champion Rahm, while Dustin Johnson posted an all-time record 20-under in 2020.
Garcia’s 2017 triumph was the last time a winner didn’t require double-digits under – his nine-under helped him beat Justin Rose in a play-off.
Past Masters top-fives
Seven of the past 10 winners had placed in the top five previously before winning the Masters. Tiger Woods’ 2019 win was his fifth overall, while Bubba Watson’s in 2014 was his second after winning in 2012.
Beyond the experience of already winning, placing high evidently allows a player to believe they can go back and scale August. Rahm, for example, was a hot tip for 2023 having placed fourth and T5 in previous years.
Go steady around Amen Corner
Say your prayers and ask for favourable conditions around Amen Corner, the most notorious three-hole stretch in golf.
“God help you if you ever have a little wind blowing through there. Anything can happen,” says Tiger Woods, a five-time winner of the Masters.
“There are times I’ve thought I’ve hit perfect shots but got the wrong gust. Then there are times you can go birdie, birdie, eagle and it changes the whole tournament. There’s no other place in golf that’s like it for us players.”
It all starts on the back nine at Hole 11, a four-par beast at 520 yards. Light work for the modern-day golfer driving 300-plus yards? Not quite, as finding the fairway is just the start given the green has a pond to its left and a bunker on the right.
It therefore ranks among the hardest holes at Augusta. In 2023 it was the third toughest, with just 15 birdies made overall at an average of 4.271 – above par thanks to the 15 double bogeys or worse, which was more than any other hole.
The strategy, then, is to approach Amen Corner steadily. The past five winners, including Woods in 2019, all parred the 11th on the final day, knowing full well there were opportunities on the horizon – holes 12 and 13 ranked among the top-six most birdied.
The par-three Hole 12 can therefore often make for a game of cat-and-mouse with your nearest rival. Last year it was parred by Rahm as Koepka slipped up with a bogey on the final day, while in the last round of the previous six editions, the eventual top two mirrored one another’s score on this hole – thus proving you must play what’s around you while also focusing on your own game.
The slightly easier par-five Hole 13 has been birdied on the final day by seven of the past 10 champions, but the trees and creek on this dogleg left are there to make you rethink your strategy more than twice.
“I’ve seen guys bomb it over the top [of the trees] but it’s a risky tee shot because if you don’t hit it right, it’s not carrying,” said Woods. “You’ve got to try and play to get there [to the green] in two, but I might lay up based on the hole location. Throughout my career I’ve been very religious about where I put that golf ball.”
Eight times out of 10 – based on the past 10 editions – you are wining the Masters if you lead after Hole 13. Make that nine based on 2019 champion Woods sharing the lead with Francesco Molinari before the latter collapsed, while the anomaly is Sergio Garcia’s scrap with Justin Rose in 2017. The Spaniard was two behind after hole 13 on the Sunday, but won in the play-off after an eagle on the 15th and a bogey from Rose on the 17th.
Overall, the past 10 champions have averaged -0.5 around Amen Corner on the final day. There have been just four bogeys overall, with the most common sequence of par-par-birdie achieved by five of those 10.
Score around Amen Corner on final day
- 2014: Bubba Watson – Par, par, birdie: -1
- 2015: Jordan Spieth – Par, bogey, birdie: 0
- 2016: Danny Willett – Par, par, birdie: -1
- 2017: Sergio Garcia – Bogey, par, par: +1
- 2018: Patrick Reed – Bogey, birdie, par: 0
- 2019: Tiger Woods – Par, par, birdie: -1
- 2020: Dustin Johnson – Par, par, birdie: -1
- 2021: Hideki Matsuyama – Par, bogey, birdie: 0
- 2022: Scottie Scheffler – Par, par, par: 0
- 2023: Jon Rahm – Par, par, birdie: -1
Be the hunted, not the hunter
This one’s easy. Just take the lead after day three, then on Sunday simply hold your nerve on golf’s biggest stage with just the green jacket, winner’s cheque and a place in history to think about – on top of all those rivals breathing down your neck.
Yeah, not so easy, but since 2014 a leader (either joint or outright) after three rounds is winning the Masters seven times out of 10. Only Rahm, Woods and Danny Willett go down as the comeback kings, with all three benefitting from nervous leaders carding over-par rounds.
Champions and where they were after third round
- 2014: Bubba Watson T1
- 2015: Jordan Spieth 1st – four-shot lead
- 2016: Danny Willett T5 – three shots behind
- 2017: Sergio Garcia T1
- 2018: Patrick Reed 1st – three-shot lead
- 2019: Tiger Woods T2 – two shots behind
- 2020: Dustin Johnson 1st – four-shot lead
- 2021: Hideki Matsuyama 1st – four-shot lead
- 2022: Scottie Scheffler 1st – three-shot lead
- 2023: Jon Rahm 2nd – two shots behind
Last year, Rahm was more the benefactor of a Koepka collapse – the American bogeying six holes for a three-over on the final day – while Woods’ miraculous 2019 triumph was thanks in part to Molinari carding two-over after holding a two-shot lead going into the Sunday.
It also proved to be the first major Woods has won when not leading after 54 holes, making this feat a rarity for even the legendary 15-time major champion.
The win was not through sheer luck of a rival fading, however, for like Rahm he played the role of the hunter perfectly, shooting four-under on day two and five-under on day three to maintain the pressure on the leader before holding his nerve on day four.
So, leading or not going into the final round, recent history suggests the winner needs to card at least five-under (67) on one of the opening three days.
That has been the case since 2018, while for good measure, it is best not to mount your comeback too late. Phil Mickelson’s 65 on the final day last year defied the 75 he shot on Saturday, leaving him four shots behind Rahm, while in 2022 a stunning eight-under from McIlroy was too little too late to stop Scheffler. Heading into the final day one-over ultimately cost McIlroy that elusive Masters title.
In short, then: shoot the lowest score over four rounds. And all that takes is consistency, nerve, good fortune, a clued-up caddie, some clubs, and years and years and years and years of practice. Sorry, even if you do get there, the Masters hasn’t had a debut winner since 1979.