AUGUSTA, Ga. — Like a temptress, the par-5 15th hole awaits in the heart of the second nine at Augusta National Golf Club, presenting the last realistic reward for Masters competitors who are willing to take the risk.
The 91 participants in the 86th Masters will encounter a beefed-up Firethorn, stretched 20 yards to 550 since last spring that now forces them to weigh wind direction, yardage, hole location, and situation to make a decision that on Sunday could determine whether they win or lose.
A pond guards the front of the green and swallows a poorly struck or misclubbed shot. Balls trundling through the green leave their owners with a difficult pitch, sometimes 15-20 yards to a slippery surface sloping away from them toward the pond. In extreme cases, a ball bouncing over the green reaches another pond. Golfers opting to lay up their second shot short of the pond play their third from a severe downhill lie.
Despite those obstacles, the 15th has been the second-easiest hole on the course over its history, playing to a 4.77 stroke average since the tournament has full statistics, beginning in 1942.
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Tiger Woods is 53-under on the hole in his career, better than any player in the 2022 field. And 60 of the 70 players in this year’s field who have completed at least two rounds in the Masters are under par on the hole. They’ve combined to make 76 eagles.
Brooks Koepka is 17-under in 22 rounds, Corey Conners is 12-under through 14. Will Zalatoris made an eagle, two birdies, and a par en route to a runner-up finish in his Masters debut last year. Only four players in this year’s field are over par on 15 in their career.
The additional length is nothing new at Augusta National, or any other course that regularly plays host to the best golfers in the world.
There are 90 players averaging at least 300 yards driving distance on the PGA Tour this season, compared to 21 only 10 years ago. Iron shots fly farther than they did a decade ago, too. The degrees of loft on a modern 7-iron is similar to a 5-iron 20 years ago.
Sergio Garcia used an 8-iron from 192 yards out to set up the clinching eagle in the final round of the 2017 Masters, then gave the club to Augusta National afterward, keeping with tradition.
In 1935, Gene Sarazen used a 4-wood to make an albatross in the final round. Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson launched long irons into the green on their way to victory in the 1970s and 1980s.
In an effort to restore shot quality and increase the risk, Augusta National lowered the tee box and extended it 20 yards back, while also reconfiguring the contours on the right side of the fairway. It’s the first significant change on the hole since 2006, when the tee box was moved back 25-30 yards and shifted 20 yards to the left.
“If it’s straight in the wind, instead of 220, I might have 240, and if you’re 240 with a hard, firm green, you’re going to think about it,” Collin Morikawa said. “You are 100 percent going to think about it. It’s not like the layup is easy. The second shot to lay up is easy because you have a wide fairway, but it’s not like the wedge shot is easy, either.”
Augusta National co-founder Bobby Jones described the 15th like this in a 1949 edition of the patron spectator guide: “Under ordinary conditions, this hole may be reached in two shots by the majority of these Masters golfers yet the risk of a half-hit effort fetching up in the pond will keep any competitor on edge as an anticipated birdie can turn into a disastrous 6.”
A pre-round game plan has limited value at Augusta National because of everchanging wind speed and direction combined with evolving course conditions during the round.
“It makes you think now even if you hit a good drive,” said Lee Westwood, a two-time Masters runner-up competing in his 21st tournament here. “It’s really a juggling act and evaluation of whether it’s easier to hit a 100-yard pitch shot into a green that’s sloping slightly against you than a 20-yard pitch from the back running away from you toward the water. It certainly makes you think.”
Marc Leishman has three top-10s in nine Masters yet, despite ranking 44th in driving distance on the PGA Tour (305.3 yards), is only 2-under in 30 career rounds on the 15th. Still, he’s pleased to see a longer 15th this year.
“We were getting to a point where we were hitting 7- and 8-irons and 9-irons in there, especially in these firmer years,” Leishman said. “You don’t want to be doing that on a par 5. You want to be for your score but if everyone’s doing it, hit a really good drive still have a 5- or 6-iron in maybe a 7. Something they needed to do and good everyone is not going to be coming in with short irons.”
The shorter hitters in the Masters field said the added length makes the 15th a three-shot hole, unless there happens to be a strong tailwind.
Scottish pro Robert MacIntyre, who tied for 12th in his debut last year, said if he faces more than 215 yards on his second shot, he’ll lay up. Kevin Kisner described the holes as an “auto lay-up” now, while Brian Harman, who attempted to hit the green on his second shot in all four rounds of the 2021 Masters, expects to play his second shots short of the pond this year.
Ultimately, the expanded 15th should remain a pivotal point on the tournament’s second nine. The most powerful players will still approach it as an opportunity for birdie or eagle. Sound strategy and solid execution are rewarded but disaster lurks.
“Yeah, it’s going to make guys think,” the two-time major champion Morikawa said. “I’m right in the middle of distance, I think. And if guys were hitting 6-irons before and now they might have a 5- or 4-iron into the wind, it’s going to make you think.”
