The Masters: A history of Augusta National's Amen Corner

The Masters at Augusta National is one of the biggest sporting spectacles in the world, and there is no more sacred part of the course than Amen Corner. Loved by fans, loathed by the pros — Amen Corner can be the difference between spending your round fishing balls out of Rae’s Creek and donning the green jacket.

Compromising the 11th, 12th and 13th, fans wait all year to see the best players in the world tackle the most infamous trio of holes in golf.

Hole 11: White Dogwood, par 4, 505 Yards

Historically, the 11th hole has been the second toughest at Augusta, but in recent years, it has been the toughest, as it was extended in distance. A menacing pond to the left of the green adds all kinds of danger, so expect to see players heading right to avoid getting wet.

Coming out of the 11th with a par is a good result, as you need to hit the fairway off the tee, have a red-hot iron shot on approach, and then make a solid two-putt to get out alive.

Or you can do what Larry Mize did in 1987. In a playoff for the green jacket with Greg Norman, Mize did the unthinkable. He chipped in for a remarkable birdie in one of the most incredible finales ever to the Masters.

Incredibly there have only been six eagles on No. 11 in Masters history.

Hole 12: Golden Bell, par 3, 155 Yards

The 12th is the shortest hole on the course, but lack of distance doesn’t make it any easier. Rae’s Creek runs right across the front of it, and there are bunkers long and short of the green. There is more trouble lurking here than a night out in Vegas with Charlie Sheen and Paris Hilton.

To make matters worse, the wind tends to pick up around the 12th hole, which makes even the best pros look silly. It has played mind games with more than one Masters leader and has ended plenty of green-jacket dreams.

Seve Ballesteros in 1980 and Sandy Lyle in 1988 both hit double-bogeys on the 12th in the final round but went on to win — although it was a different story for Rory McIlroy in 2011 and Jordan Spieth in 2016.

McIlroy found the green off the tee but four-putted to card a double-bogey as he collapsed. It was worse for Spieth four years later. In the space of three minutes, he found Rae’s Creek twice and went from a one-shot lead to three shots behind Danny Willett, after a quadruple-bogey.

There have only been three holes-in-one at the 12th, but we haven’t seen one since Curtis Strange hit a perfect 7-iron in 1988.

Hole 13: Azalea, par 5, 510 Yards

If you are near the top of the leaderboard approaching the 13th hole, you’re going to have birdie on your mind, but your tee shot must be perfect.

Head left and Rae’s Creek comes into play. If you go right, you’re in the trees. Hit it short of the green on your second shot, and you’ll be wet, as well. With a good drive, though, this green is gettable in two — the perfect reward, after the treacherous two holes before it.

Four champions have eagled this hole on the final round — Byron Nelson (1937), Ralph Guldahl (1939), Arnold Palmer (1958), and Bernhard Langer (1993).

It is also the hole where we saw Phil Mickelson’s incredible shot in 2010. After he went right into those trees off the tee, Lefty ignored advice from his caddy, picked up a 6-iron, and pinged the ball through the trees to within three feet of the hole. "Phil the Thrill" went on to win another green jacket.

It doesn’t always go so well, though. Just ask Tommy Nakajima, who carded a 13 in 1978, the highest one-hole score in Masters history.

As we get ready to tee off for the Masters, fans will eagerly be waiting to see which players can conquer Amen Corner, but often it is more a case of surviving it. Escape at 1-under across the three holes and you are doing well. Any better and you may just be one your way to a green jacket.

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