AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Go back through 89 previous editions of the Masters, every shot on every hole, and no one will ever match what Byron Nelson did on the par-4 seventh hole at Augusta National. Nelson drove the green and two-putted for birdie in 1937 on his way to his first Masters victory.
Share that with any of the 91 players in the field, and some explaining is required.
The hole was 340 yards and had no bunkers, only a gully in front of the green.
Alister MacKenzie wanted it be similar to the “Valley of Sin” on the 18th hole at St. Andrews, so the best approach would be to run shots up to the green.
That shot by Nelson changed everything.
Horton Smith, who won two of the first three Masters, suggested the green be elevated and moved some 20 yards back and to the right, with several deep bunkers guarding the front. Augusta National's co-founders, Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts, agreed. They hired Perry Maxwell, renowned for his work at Southern Hills and Prairie Dunes, to do the work at a cost of $2,500.
Trees were planted on the left side to along along with those on the right, creating a tight drive. And then in a span of five Masters from 2002 to 2006, the tees twice were moved back some 40 yards. That puts it at 450 yards on the scorecard now.
Nelson wouldn't recognize it.
“You have to hit it in the fairway,” two-time Masters champion Scottie Scheffler said. When it was suggested that such strategy would hold true on many holes at Augusta National, he stopped walking to emphasize his point.
“No,” he said. “There's certain holes you don't have to be in the fairway. If you hit a really good tee shot (on No. 7), it's not a difficult hole. But if you miss the fairway, you can't hit it on the green.”
The par-4 seventh is called “Pampas" for the grass bush native to Argentina that grows just left of the members' tee box. No. 7 was never a favorite of Roberts and Jones. Roberts once referred to it as “the only weak hole of the 18."
It was inspired by the 18th on the Old Course, a short hole with a boomerang-shaped green that gave players the option to run the ball through the gully in front. Nelson drove the seventh at Augusta in 1937. Players still drive onto the 18th at St. Andrews, most recently Cameron Young.
With the first change, it became a tight drive that was typically a 2-iron and a wedge. That led Jack Nicklaus to once call the seventh "a beautiful little hole — a little, short par 4. You got to be pretty precise with your tee shot. Then it’s a very demanding little second shot. It’s very difficult to recover from if you get off track.”
Throw in an additional 100 yards, and it's no longer a hole where players can build some scoring momentum. Par is more than acceptable. The all-time scoring average is 4.156, the 10th-toughest hole at Augusta National.
“You're not licking your chops unless you're in the fairway,” Xander Schauffele said. “Even then, you're conceding a 20-foot putt as a really good golf shot. Maybe even before I was on tour, you could think, ‘If I birdie this, I get some momentum.’ Now it's, ‘Oh boy, I need to hit a good drive or I’m going to have to make a tough par.'”
It's not as simple as hitting a straight drive on a straight hole. The fairway cants to the right. And the trees have grown, so a tee shot too far to the right means the approach is blocked by trees.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, only 20% of players have hit the seventh green after missing the green the last five years. Only No. 5 and No. 11 have a lower percentage. It can be done.
There have been some remarkable recoveries from the trees. Jon Rahm once holed out after chipping out from the trees. Joaquin Niemann once threaded a running shot through two bunkers. Those shots are rare.
“If you get out of position, it's like No. 10 at Riviera — you're trying to put it in a spot to get the next one on the green,” Harris English said. “You can get in some bad spots. But if you hit a good tee shot, it could be a birdie hole.”
Still fresh was Rory McIlroy in the left trees last year, hitting a 9-iron because of a tiny gap he saw.
His caddie, Harry Diamond, wasn't seeing it.
“He wasn't for it at all, but I just kept seeing this gap up in the trees,” McIlroy said, referring to the shot as “achievable.”
“That's when Harry does a great job and says, ‘Look, if you feel like you can see it, go ahead and hit it,’” McIlroy said. “My mindset was this is the final round of the Masters, and I have a chance to win the only tournament that ... I've wanted to win for such a long time. If that isn't the time to take a risk, I don't know when the time is.”
It doesn't decide the tournament being on the front nine. But it's no longer the “beautiful little hole” Nicklaus once described.
“Missing it left is no good. Missing it right is no good,” Brooks Koepka said. “If you get slightly out of position, it becomes a scramble for par. If I hit the fairway, I’m pretty excited about it.”
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