Finding key to Augusta’s mystery:
For Immelman, it was the par-4s
AUGUSTA, Ga. – April has come and the Masters along with it, and Augusta National is draped in green and dogwood and azaleas. But for all of the fabled beauty, the storied course is relentlessly no less an enigma than a Renaissance painting of a woman with a hint of a smile on her face. Is she smiling? If so, why is she smiling? Suitors to the Masters find Augusta National the pinnacle of intoxicating charm and madness, much as students of the fine arts find the Mona Lisa. Playing Augusta National is much like dancing with a bear. Rhythm is critical. Do not create disturbances. You must know where your feet are at all times, lest you offend. For those who find the key, Augusta National might well roll over for a nice belly scratch. The problem with this elegant beauty is, what is the key?
Most believe the secret of Augusta National lies in the par-5s. Play them properly and – in forgivable hyperbole -- she will roll over and purr like a kitten. Gene Sarazen, and the world, discovered this on just one of them, the 15th, in 1935, when he holed out his celebrated 4-wood approach from 235 yards for a double eagle-3 to tie Craig Wood, whom he beat the next day.
Raymond Floyd did it in 1976 on a week-long romance. He reduced the par-5s to putty with his 5-wood
.. Of all of Augusta’s 18 holes, the par-5s remain the most tempting to golfers, and the most interesting – collectively – to the fans. They are classic risk-reward holes. Under most conditions, they are reachable in two shots, and so under the most agreeable circumstances, they can be plundered for birdies and even an occasional eagle. It’s at the par-5s that an adventurer can take huge gulps out of the field. Floyd played them in a record 14 under par and won by eight strokes.
Among other famous shots was Arnold Palmer’s 3-wood into the 13th, setting up the eagle that fueled the first of his four Masters titles. But it isn’t just pure strength that can subdue the par-5s. Sometimes it can be cunning, as in the case of Zach Johnson, the 2007 champion, whose idea of pure strength still left him a layup shot short of trouble. Knowing his own weakness, he was never tempted to go for the greens in two, and instead finessed the 5s with gentle wedge shots. This was Augusta National at her finest. All the world knew that you had to beat the par-5s into submission, until Zach Johnson came along and all but serenaded them, playing them in 11 under.
The par-5s are the romantic holes, and the par-3s are a stubborn and often intractable group. Especially the 12th, at 155 yards across the pond to shallow green bordered by trees, where the winds, changing their mind l
ike a 2-year-old, can dictate a 5-iron one instant, an 8-iron the next, then a 6-iron, as Tiger Woods described one instance.
While possibly everyone was watching the par-5s and par-3s last year, Trevor Immelman was taking on the par-4s like a heavy bag in a Southside gym. Who could ever suspect that anyone could find a soft spot – comparatively speaking – in Augusta’s par-4s? They mostly serve as tests for the pretenders waiting to get at the 5s and 3s. Immelman was a surprise. As with Zach Johnson, when it came to power, he was at best a middleweight. And Augusta’s par-4s, especially in their post-Hootie Johnson beef, call for muscle. There was a time to smell the many flowers at Augusta, but no more. Even the par-4s have become brutes.
And Immelman played them in 10 under, with 11 birdies and only one bogey.
Four of them – Nos. 5, 7, 11 and 18 – emerged as grudge matches in 2008, and Immelman played them, collectively, better than anyone in the field. He played them in 7 under par, and more to the point, he did not bogey any of them.
No. 5 is a stepchild of a hole. Unstoried and almost anonymous, is best known to golf historians as Jack Nicklaus’ patsy in 1995. He eagled it twice from the fairway. Immelman made great hay there quietly. He played it 3-3-4-3. In the first round, he hit a 7-iron to 6 feet. In the second, an 8
-iron to 10, and in the fourth, an 8-iron to 3 feet for the critical birdie that restored his lead to two shots over Brandt Snedeker.
The new and tougher No. 7, once a drive and a pitch, gave up only 24 birdies. Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Padraig Harrington did their best and came away with four pars each. Immelman birdied it in the second round.
Immelman played the fierce 11th, the toughest hole on the course, in 3-3-4-4. He hit a 6-iron to two feet in the first round, and a 7-iron to 5 in the second. It gave up only 23 birdies in the four rounds.
And he touched the longer, meaner 18th for 4-3-3-4. And for his closing par, he had to pass one final test if he was to take his first major. The pressure was crushing down on him. Even so, he hit a superb drive into the fairway. But the ball ended up in a divot hole. Now he needed a shot that required one-third power, one-third finesse and one-third prayer. Who knew where it might go.
And he put it on the green and got his par and his Masters championship.
Raymond Floyd’s 5-wood – one of them, at least – remains enshrined in the Augusta National clubhouse. They’ll have to be content with Trevor Immelman’s picture. His Mona Lisa was the par-4s. You can’t get them under glass.
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