Phil Mickelson isn’t competing in the Masters this week, but he’s pitching in with commentary. As the second round of the tournament unfolded Friday at Augusta National Golf Club, the three-time Masters champion took to X to weigh in on the action.
Phil the Thrill was not the least bit thrilled.
The source of his displeasure? The par-5 13th and 15th holes, which Mickelson said have been lengthened to the point that they’ve lost their drama.
“Watching @TheMasters and seeing so few players long enough to go for 13&15 has taken away so much excitement and intrigue to the back nine,” wrote Mickelson, who is sitting out the tournament due to a family matter. “Another example of how longer isn’t always better.”
One of his points is indisputable. Both holes are longer than they once were, part of an evolution of a course that tipped out at its birth in 1933 at 6,800 yards and now stretches more than 7,500 yards from the championship tees. Some of the most striking changes have taken place during Mickelson’s career, prompted in part by the runaway win of his rival, Tiger Woods, in the 1997 Masters — a dominating showing in which Woods reduced the 13th and 15th to little more than driver-wedge. The age of Tiger-proofing had begun.
More recently, as the power game has only gained in prominence, Augusta National’s main defense has been to tighten and lengthen. In 2023, to cite one of several 21st-century tweaks, a new back tee stretched the 13th from 510 yards to 545 yards. The year before, the 15th was pulled 30 yards back and 20 yards to the left, requiring a longer and more precise drive to reach the go zone.
Those are facts.
Whether the holes are less exciting now is a matter of opinion. Those who defend the changes would argue that watching the world’s best players hit lofted irons into par-5s isn’t exactly scintillating, and that adding length was central to restoring the kind of do-or-die decisions that have long injected drama into the back nine.
Mickelson himself has authored some of that drama, including a 6-iron from the pine straw between the trees on 13 in 2010 that ranks among the most fabled shots in Masters history
Mickelson also is right that the eagles have not exactly been landing in bunches this week. On Thursday, four were made on 13 and one on 15. On Friday, those tallies fell to just one on each hole. But distance is only one of the factors that shape a player’s decision-making. Weather and course conditions also are crucial factors. So far this week, swirling winds and firm conditions have made going for the 13th and 15th in two especially daring. Hole locations also matter. Traditionally at the Masters, weekend pins on the par-5s are often meant to be temptations. If historical patterns hold, the eagle roars should increase on Saturday and Sunday.
Whatever happens, continued change is inevitable in years to come at a tournament whose organizers are intent on defending the course. At his annual pre-Masters address, Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley spoke of the urgent need to roll back the golf ball. That’s going to happen. In his past remarks, Mickelson has not sounded pleased about that prospect either.
