The Masters lights up the golf world every April, its spiritual setting warming hearts around the globe. Among the awakening are the players who take to the architectural gem framed by an explosion of colors. To the man, they love to talk about the unparalleled tournament between the Georgia Pines at Augusta National Golf Club.
The gathering every spring is matchless, from the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and the Drive, Chip and Putt competition through the ceremony at Butler Cabin.
Ahead of the 86th Masters, Golfweek conducted its annual survey, this year getting takes on many things Masters from 25 players, nine of whom have won a green jacket, 12 major champions in all.
Masters survey: Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV
Should Augusta National introduce a special ball to make the course play longer?
“Definitely not. It’s tough enough. And look at me.” – Abraham Ancer
“No. I like my ball.” – Matt Fitzpatrick
“Hell, no. That golf course is long anyway.” – Justin Rose
“No. I think Augusta National is the only place that could, but I don’t think they should because I think that could draw the ire of the governing bodies of the game of golf and rightly so. The Masters Tournament and Augusta National would never want to put themselves above the game of golf.” – Six-time Masters champion Jack Nicklaus
Jack Nicklaus watches after his shot from number 18 tee during morning play at the Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, Ga., April 9, 1982. (AP Photo)
“That’s above my paygrade. I’m sure they could, but I don’t know if they should. I haven’t really thought about that one. They’re a great kind of engine in our game. They make a lot of decisions for the game and I know that they put a lot of thought into it. So if they were to happen, it’s not like it’s on a whim.” – Max Homa
“Not at all. The problem with that is how are we going to prepare? How are we going to get to know what the golf ball does? If that were the case, you’d hope the golf ball would fit you, and if it didn’t, you’d have no clue.” – 2018 Masters champion Patrick Reed
“Probably not. It would be too big of a change. If they were to introduce a special ball, it should be for the whole platform of the whole game.” – Xander Schauffele
“No. As long as the conditions are appropriate as far as the conditions, there are enough shots that are so difficult and you have to be so precise and you have to position your ball on the correct sides of the fairways to feed it in appropriately, so I don’t think length is an issue there.” – 2015 Masters champion Jordan Spieth
“It’s long enough.” – Will Zalatoris
“They shouldn’t do it for just one week. I’ve said in the past, I’m not a proponent of changing the golf ball. I guess people are blaming the golf ball for how far the ball is going. But it’s really not the golf ball. Guys are just stronger, faster. Technology’s better with TrackMan. But if they do come out with a special ball, it should be played throughout all of golf.” – Billy Horschel
“No. It’s plenty long. Believe me, it’s plenty long.” – Kevin Kisner
“I don’t think so. I think Augusta’s plenty long. They have the ability to tweak and change the course to their liking. I certainly wouldn’t want to play it any longer.” – Graeme McDowell
“We’re so used to playing with our equipment. If we change the golf ball to a limited-flight ball, then you’ve got to change the driver, you’ve got to change everything. So that would take some work. And I think, in theory, it would be good. I would like to see how it went in a normal event first, whether it was an exhibition, PGA Tour event or whatever it was. I don’t know that you could have a trial at the Masters.” – Marc Leishman
“No. The course plays plenty long.” – Brandt Snedeker
“It already plays long enough. They don’t need to make it even longer.” – Harris English
What is the easiest green to four-putt?
“All of them.” – Abraham Ancer
“Five probably. If the pin is on the front and you hit it to the back, you can’t stop it. And there is a little mound in the middle and you can leave it short and then you race your next six feet past and then you give it a go uphill and you miss and it’s three feet past and before you know it it’s four whacks.” – Matt Fitzpatrick
“No. 1. It’s the first hole of the tournament and it’s always a little bit in your head because of the speed of the green. And you don’t quite know what the speed of the green is. And when the pin is front left on the top shelf, and you hit it pin high, it’s in the back of your mind that you can roll it off the green with your first or even second putt.” – Justin Rose
“I don’t know. I haven’t four-putted yet. You can four-putt six. You can four-putt 14. And on 9 and 3 you can putt the ball off the green. And 13 top left. There are a bunch of them.” – 2018 Masters champion Patrick Reed
“A lot of them. Start with the first green. One of those left pins there. You can putt the ball off the green in a heartbeat.” – Graeme McDowell
“The 17th is a really tricky green to the top-right pin. The ball breaks away from where you think it’s supposed to go. Five is the toughest green to putt from the front and up the ridge. Six can really get you.” – Max Homa
“Any green is easy to four-putt depending on where you are.” – Xander Schauffele
“All of them. Probably the 14th if you’re on the wrong side of the pin. Because if you get on the right side to a pin on the top shelf on the left,, you can run your first putt three or four feet by and on then you’re just touching the ball on the next putt and if that misses, you still have to make a 4-footer for your third putt.” – 2015 Masters champion Jordan Spieth
Jordan Spieth of the United States putts on the 17th hole during the final round of the 2018 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 8, 2018 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
“No. 14. I made a 35-footer for par and I hit the green. The pin was up on the far left side and I was hitting out of the trees and the ball run up there and ran to the front right corner. I literally thought about chipping it because I just didn’t think I had enough gas in the putter to get up there. So I made like a 35-footer for par and I was honestly pleased with hitting it up to 35 feet. It’s so slow and if you race the putt by, then you have 8, 10 feet downhill and that can end up where you started.” – Will Zalatoris
“Every one of them. Maybe not No. 12. But ones that stand out would be the front left pin on No. 1 and the front pin on No. 4. You can go crazy with the putter on those two holes.” – Billy Horschel
“A lot of them. Let’s say No. 6 to the back right from the front left. You can hit a decent shot and the ball will roll down to the front and then you can stay there all day trying to get the ball in the hole if you don’t hit the putt hard enough. And if you do blast it by, it’s so fast going downhill you can putt it back to the front.” – Kevin Kisner
“No. 1, to a front-left pin. You’ve got nerves because it’s the first hole and you’re just trying to get into the round and it’s easy on that hole to overthink how fast the greens are and leave it short. And then you can gas the next one. Last year I was kind of in the center of the green and that thing broke seven feet to the left.” – Harris English
“All of them.” – Ryan Palmer
“It’s probably a tossup: Nine or 15. If there’s a front pin location to the left and you’re off the back on 9. You can knock the ball off the green and then putt from there. That’s technically not a four-putt but it is. On 15, if there’s a front pin, especially on the right, there’s potential you can putt the ball into the water. Very scary.” – Jason Day