The shots that make or break every hole at Augusta National

Fresh from walking the famous course, Maurice Brosnan assesses the key shots at the Masters.

KEY SHOT: Rory McIlroy walks to green on the sixth hole during a practice round ahead of the Masters. Pic: AP Photo/David J. Phillip.

Tea Olive, Tee shot

The par-4, 445-yard opening hole is a beast. It starts beside the old oak tree and plays uphill. That first swing at Augusta brings its own baggage, the weight of history and the raw nerves, even though the only ask initially is to get it in play. The second shot to an undulating green has to be precise.

Drives to the left can catch the trees, as Tiger Woods found out on his first time playing it. Rory McIlroy was content he hit a good drive in the final round last year and it still punched the face of the bunker. If it had carried another yard or two, he would have been holding a sand wedge in search of birdie. Those are the maddening margins. Instead, he began with a double-bogey.

Pink Dogwood, Approach shot

A Par 5, 585 yard that ranks as the least difficult hole, based on the cumulative scoring average from 1942-2025. It’s the location of a contender for greatest shot in Masters history. In 2012, Louis Oosthuizen made the longest holed shot ever in the tournament when he took a 4-iron from 253 yards to hit an albatross. Increasingly, it is about being aggressive on the par 5s and surviving the other 14.

Flowering Peach, Second shot

The best short Par 4 in the world. A classic. The green is elevated 30 feet, and the Sunday pin last year was tucked on a small shelf to the left. Every golfer will ask themselves here should they push and potentially need to produce a beyond-tricky speciality shot to get onto the green or lay back?

“One of the most important ones for me was the second shot on 3,” said McIlroy after his triumph in 2025. He hit driver that day. Bryson DeChambeau laid back. Interestingly, Shane Lowry said this week that the third is key for him, having played it so badly last year.

Flowering Crab Apple, Tee Shot

Yes, we know, there are some things said about Augusta that have long since reached cliché. It is true that television broadcasts don’t do the slopes justice, but it is obvious too. If they tried to capture every one of the undulations, the view of the action would be terrible. We’ve all heard about the deceptively large greens too, but the fourth embodies it.

Magnolia, Putt

A truly diabolical green. It slopes down the front, and a back bunker will catch anything long. You have to be very precise here to ensure an uphill putt. Jack Nicklaus famously eagled the 435-yard par 4 twice in 1995.

Juniper, Tee Shot

Walking the course this week, it was difficult to identify the precise location where the crowd sit on the slopes as players hit over their heads. Who can forget Tiger’s approach here in 2011? A slinging draw that rode along the slope towards the pin. His call as it dropped proved prophetic: “Be perfect!”

Pampas, Rory shot

We’re not saying it was the defining moment, it wasn’t even a flawless one, given he left the subsequent putt short, but the sight of Rory McIlroy doubled over in laughter after that sensational shot through the trees here was telling. For a man who readily acknowledges how body language impacts his game, the physiology and psychology and all that good stuff, it said so much. Once more, the camera angle does not do justice to the steep face of the green.

Rory McIlroy looks on while playing the seventh hole during a practice round prior to the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National. Pic: Hector Vivas/Getty Images.

Yellow Jasmine, Blind shot

A par-5, 570-yard minimalist brute. Back to our earlier point about how the television broadcast would be overwhelmed if it tried to capture every one of the rolling hills, standing on this fairway is a mind-bender. It’s a blind shot. Australian Bruce Devlin had some fun with that fact when he made an albatross on the hill in 1967: “I knew it was in when I hit it.” Tiger Woods’ 3-wood to set up an eagle in 2011 was also iconic.

Carolina Cherry, Wedge shot

The approach into the ninth hole is one of the most exacting short approaches in the sport. A downhill lie to a multi-tiered green. This is a hole that is so severe that it occasionally touches on silliness. Greg Norman’s failed approach here in 1996 was the cardinal sin of leaving it short. He later said that was the moment it all started to go downhill (sorry).

Camellia, Tee shot

Par 4 and 495 yards. One of the most thrilling drives on the course. Players have to shape the tee ball right to left. The image that sums up the nightmare endured by a 21-year-old Rory McIlroy in 2011 is him standing between the white cabins after his tee shot rifled into the trees. That spiralled into a triple-bogey.

White Dogwood, Approach shot

This is a true test of nerve. Challenge the water with your second shot or face a testing chip from below the green. Those that can pull it off go down in history, like Larry Mize’s 140 foot chip in on the second playoff hole in 1987. This hole is a perfect example of why those with outstanding short games excel in the Masters.

Golden Bell, Wind shot

The focal point of Amen Corner is a par 3 at 155 yards. A mantra here is the centre of the green, given the notoriously tricky wind. The pull of Rae’s Creek is the game’s Davy Jones’s locker. Jordan Spieth’s quadruple-bogey 7 in 2016 lives in infamy. Tiger Woods recorded a septuple-bogey on the same hole in 2020, having “committed to the wrong wind.”

Azalea, The Safe Shot

“I turned to Harry and said, I think I want to play this hole as a three-shot hole. What do you think of that? He said, I love it. So, we already made our decision to hit 3-wood off the tee and play 13 as a three shot.

“The layup got a little further left than I anticipated it would, it just took that slope. There is a little collection area there. The ball settled on the upslope of the collection area. Look, 86 yards, it wasn’t an overly difficult shot. The circumstances maybe made it a little more difficult but usually every time I have a partial wedge shot from an uphill lie, the ball comes out a little left on me. I played for that. I didn’t play for as much as I missed it to the right.” Rory McIlroy speaking on Every Hole of the 2025 Final Round of his inexplicable plunge into the water.

“I went from being in control of the golf tournament to all of a sudden blowing the thing wide open.”

Chinese Fir, Putt

One of the larger greens on the course which means officials are spoiled for choice when it comes to pin position. The greens slope from left to right and front to back like a deflating bouncy castle. It is the only bunkerless hole.

Firethorn, The Shot of a Lifetime

It’s all about avoiding that nerve-wracking third shot from a downhill lie to a tilted green perched between two ponds. Yikes.

Remember how McIlroy first took out an 8-iron? Remember when DeChambeau hit that club and landed in the water? Remember how McIlroy changed tack? Remember how he whipped it around the trees and walked purposely after it?

How could you forget.

Redbud, The Ace Shot

A par 3 at 170 yards. Look, Tiger’s chip-in here is the shot. But the Irish history on this hole is rich as well. In 2016, Shane Lowry was part of a historic trio of holes-in-one on that hole in one day. It was an effort with striking similarities to Pádraig Harrington’s ace in 2002, the same trajectory, the same roll-up, the same “PleasePleasePlease” internal pleas before the drop.

Nandina, Putt

Free tee to green, this is a relatively straightforward hole. The problem comes with the hellish putting surface that falls away almost all the way around.

Holly, The Closing Shot

Par 4 465 yards. One of the most famous finishing holes in golf. A tight target demands a straight ball from the tee. Rory McIlroy played it twice last year.

"I just told myself when I put the tee in the ground and stepped back, just make the same swing you made 10 minutes ago, that's all you need to do. I stepped up there and honestly it was like a carbon copy of the drive in regulation."

He found himself forced into a corner, caught between fight or flight. He fought.

“I thought Justin’s ball was closer than it ended up being. From my vantage point when it hit, there was big reaction on the green. It looked and sounded like it was maybe six feet away. That made my shot easier. I had no option. I had to go for it. I had to be aggressive.”