Matt Fitzpatrick still has a pile of notebooks at home from his first Masters Tournament in 2014. During a practice round that year, Justin Rose gave him a little advice. “Never flag hunt on the first hole.” “Hit it to the center of the green and 20 feet away every time. You can never go wrong,” Fitzpatrick reflected in a speech in Augusta this week. “It’s still in my books.”
Fitzpatrick missed out on that slot at age 19 and has been on a journey to understand Augusta’s quirks ever since. Experience is the key to unlocking the doors to Augusta National. Players begin to appreciate the intricacies of each green, the knuckles, wrinkles, and innocent craters that carry the ball into impossible valleys. There’s a reason why no debutant has won since Fuzzy Zoller in 1979, almost half a century ago.
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What does it take to win the Masters? The first hurdle to overcome is the unique psychology of just playing golf at Augusta. It has been said that hitting a drive down a sacred fairway feels almost blasphemous, like beating a drum in an ancient cathedral. Strict rules and strict traditions all add to the tension. Robert McIntyre said he was still “nervous” as he walked around the grounds. guardian: “When you walk through the grass, you think, ‘Is it okay to do this?!'”
Azaleas in full bloom and crabapples in full bloom paint a picture of serenity that belies the pressure within the rope. There is little respite to observe the patrons, except for a small section in Amen Corner.
“You’ll be playing the green at No. 12 and teeing off at No. 13 with almost no one around,” says Jon Rahm. “It’s weird because it’s so quiet. You’re going to make a putt on the 12th and you hear the cheers from the grandstands at the 12th, two seconds behind, and you don’t know if it’s someone doing something on the 11th, the scoreboard changing, or your shot. It’s such a great moment of peace on a Sunday afternoon in the madness of such a big tournament.”
Jon Rahm practices at Augusta National for the 2026 Masters (Getty)
It presents a unique test of strategy and technique, along with a psychological struggle. At Augusta, both approach plays and shots around the greens are much more impressive than the average PGA Tour course. Long drives are effective, and the cost of a missed putt is huge, but the real challenge at Augusta lies in what is required of the irons and short game, often from sloping fairways where the ball is 6 inches above the foot. Can you hit a 6-iron onto a plateau the size of a dining table? Can you skip a wedge to a dinner plate?
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There are certain parts of the course that the outside world underestimates. “I could make that case for every shot on this golf course,” Rahm says. “Honestly, I don’t think the wedge shot on the 13th and 15th (two par 5s) is talked about enough if you lay up. It’s likely to be quite downhill and it’s very difficult to hit a pin towards the back of the green.”
“Those are the two shots that I always tell people. Especially the 15 shot where you have the threat of water… it’s much harder than anyone thinks. I can make that case for a lot of shots. I think a lot of people have this idea that Augusta National is wide. And when you get here for the first time, you start to realize how narrow it is, how narrow 1, 2, 5 is. 7 is much narrower than people think, even 8.”
Learning Augusta’s secrets means knowing what you can and cannot miss. “There are places you should avoid at all costs,” says Scotty Scheffler. “If you get out of position on this golf course, one of the biggest challenges is getting the ball back in place and hitting par.”
Rory McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick walk along the Nelson Bridge on the 13th hole during practice (Getty)
This is a test of execution, and there are few players who can hit the ball cleaner than Fitzpatrick right now. His recent progress with the irons is why he came so close to winning The Players Championship last month, and the following weekend at Valspar. “I’m definitely the most confident I’ve ever been,” Fitzpatrick said. “That doesn’t mean I’m going to go out there and play well, (but) this is the best form I’ve been in going into this tournament.”
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But Fitzpatrick also acknowledges there are limits to his game, which may be part of the reason why his best golf at the Masters is so hard to find. This is a course that requires you to control not only where the ball will land on each green, but also how the ball will land, including speed, trajectory, and spin. High balls with soft landings were a key part of Rory McIlroy’s winning arsenal last year, most notably his famous hooked 7-iron to Ikegami to the 15th green. But when Fitzpatrick’s low ball sailed into Augusta’s firm, fast green, he lost control.
“That’s a little bit of a hindrance…obviously, especially with the irons, you (lack) the stopping power on the greens. But over the last nine months, I think I’ve been able to shape the irons a little bit more and hit them with a little more cut spin. That should make them softer despite the lower distance.”
In wide open fields, neither McIlroy nor Scheffler have yet found top gear this year, but Tommy Fleetwood is another contender, and his solution to a series of 200+ yard approach shots around Augusta is relatively novel. Fleetwood bags a rarely seen 9-wood to create the height needed to allow control from a distance.
“This is a perfect 9-wood golf course,” Fleetwood said. “I’ve had that in mind for a few years now. If I can position myself on a par 5 or a long par 3 (the fourth hole), the 9-wood is really helpful for me because I can’t really hit a high-flying 4-iron.”
Tommy Fleetwood hits a shot from the 12th tee during a practice round at Augusta National (Getty)
Although this is the only major that returns to the same golf course every year, each edition of the Masters is different. Every day is new. “Augusta always makes some changes, but they don’t tell us what they’re doing, they just do it,” Scheffler says. “So there’s always little things that you’re trying to figure out.
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“A lot of it is green speed. It also depends on the hardness, but once the greens start changing, a lot of strategies can change. Each one has its own challenges, so I think a lot of it is preparation for how the golf course is going to play, because even if you show up there on Wednesday, it’s going to be different when you show up on Thursday.”
Nearly a century after the first Masters, the tournament remains a unique sports spectacle and a springtime staple. And despite the advent of supersonic ball speeds and monstrous long drives, even though the scores are slowly dropping, it remains a true test of skill and nerve, and one that players never stop accumulating knowledge over the years.
“My first Masters, I made a lot of mistakes in the first round and I remember it was a big learning curve,” Fleetwood added. “I think you’re always learning, you really are. No matter how many times you’ve played this golf course, no matter how many tournaments you’ve played, I think you’re always learning something new when you’re playing. You start to understand that a golf course can give you a little, but it can also take a lot away from you.”
