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Holly

Hole #8

A birdie hole for long hitters who drive the ball past or over the fairway bunker on the right side. This uphill hole features trouble left of the green. Bruce Devlin scored the second double eagle in Masters history here in 1967.

Uphill drive must avoid bunker in right portions of fairway. Can be reached in two. Green nestled between high mounds.

Uphill drive must avoid bunker in right portion of fairway. Can be reached in two, but massive mound left of the green makes for a difficult shot if the approach is missed to the left.

Like all the par 5 holes at the National, this one can be reached in two but the fairway bunker must be avoided. The new green, which nearly duplicates the original one, which was changed in 1956, puts some spice into the hole.

Jack Nicklaus says: If you're playing downwind, you can hit it over the bunker; it widens the fairway and is the best angle into the green. If you can't get to the green, you're better off to the right, to be able to pitch down the length of the green. A real decision shot. It doesn't look like a hard shot, but if you go for it, you're going to have to get it there. If you're not going to go for it, you have to make sure you play it out to the right and get a decent pitch.

In the final round of 1986, my tee shot found the trees on the right side of the fairway here. I tried to cut my second shot through a six-foot gap in the trees with my 3-wood. Instead, I pushed the shot and it barely made it through a 12-inch gap to the right of where I was aiming. I didn’t make birdie, but I could have made a lot more. In fact, I probably wouldn’t have won the Masters that year if that shot had not gotten through. The lesson: Make sure your tee shot is not in the fairway bunker or in the trees. It’s also important that your second shot gives you the proper angle into the green for the hole location. Big hitters can get home in two quite often, depending on the conditions, but this is not an easy green to hit. If the flagstick is back left, you want to place your second shot to the right side of the fairway for an easy pitch. If the hole is back right, you want to work your shot toward the left side of it. This hole yields a lot of birdies and the occasional eagle, but there has only been one double eagle here, by Bruce Devlin back in 1967. At the other end of the spectrum, the highest score was a 12, way back in 1935.

Fuzzy Zoeller says: Up the right side there's a bunker 280-285 yards away. If you can hit it big over that trap, you have a 1 to 3 iron left to get to the hole. The front of the green rises and falls off to the left bank. It's very difficult to get a wedge close.

Tiger Woods says: You'll see the majority of the guys play left of the bunker that's out there about 260 yards. Some of the longer hitters like myself, Daly and Ernie Els, can carry that right bunker and leave a great angle for going for the green in two. From there, you are left with a long iron to play it way right, leaving yourself a good angle, or you can try and go for it and bend it around the pine trees that guard the left corner. It's a very severe green with a big hump on the left, and you have to be very careful to avoid it. This year they've added a back-right pin location, something we've never seen before.

Fred Couples says: It's long with a fairly wide fairway so just swing as hard as you can. If you hit a bomb, you can reach it in two shots with a 3-wood. And you've got to hook it in there a bit. It's a good 5 where there have been lots of eagles and birdies.

Bernhard Langer says: Years ago, this was more of a two-shot par 5, but they seem to have stretched the tee back a bit. Lately it's been more of a three-shot hole. I think Augusta National makes more course changes than anywhere else, and they are blended extremely well. If you hit the ball long enough, you always want to go for the green because you have the opportunity to make eagle or double eagle. Bruce Devlin, for example, had one double eagle and three birdies in 1967, so he was six under on just this one hole. The first thing to do is place your tee shot on the right side of the fairway, clear of the bunker. If you go for it from that ideal position, you want to favor the right side and run it up to the green with a draw. But you don't want to hook the shot because your ball could wind up in the same area of trouble that comes into play on the left side of the second hole. There are two lay-up options: Hit to where you have a full 90-yard shot, or try to get it as close to the green as you can so you can chip on. I want two or three birdies here during the Masters because I know a large number of the field will get theirs.

Hole #8

Gelsemium sempervirens is a twining vine native to the Southeast. The trumpet-shaped flowers bloom yellow from the first warmth in February into late March.