If you look back over the history of The Masters in search of a recipe for success, one key ingredient that would be foolish to omit is strong par-5 scoring. There are many incredible things about Augusta National, but one of my favourite aspects has to be the risk-reward nature of the par-5 holes. Plenty of drama is often created here over the weekend, but their impact on determining the winner goes beyond the theatre they create.
In any walk of life there are exceptions to the rule, however, and the apparent necessity to go low on the par-5s at The Masters is no different. In 2024, I began looking at every winner’s scorecard since 1974 – when Gary Player won his second Green Jacket – and of the players to have reigned supreme in that 50 year spell, 49 of them were under-par for the week on the par 5s... meaning one solitary figure bucked the trend.
