Throughout Masters week you will have a number of familiar facts thrown at you. The most obvious (and probably tedious) being the inexplicable failure of someone claiming the Green Jacket after having earlier won the Par 3 Contest in the same week. But Augusta National has also been historically unkind to rookies, with just three winning the Tournament in their debut appearance. Of course, that becomes an even more startling fact when you consider that Horton Smith and Gene Sarazen both won the first two respective Masters Tournaments.
A then 27 year old Indiana native by the name of Frank Urban “Fuzzy” Zoeller remains the only first-timer to win the Masters in the last 79 years. 35 years after his triumph in 1979, his somewhat exclusive status may very well be threatened by one of the most impressive group of debutants assembled at Augusta in recent memory.
A record total of 24 first-time invitees will compete at the 78th Masters, and there are a few standouts among them. Harris English, Jordan Spieth, Jimmy Walker and Patrick Reed have combined for nine PGA Tour wins in the past ten months. Throw into the mix gifted Europeans Victor Dubuisson and Joost Luiten, in addition to back-to-back winner in Dubai, Stephen Gallacher, and you have a number of potential contenders.
But of course, there has to be a reason why Zoeller remains the only rookie to have won in almost 80 years. And the obvious explanation is the iconic venue itself.
When tournament co-founder Bobby Jones enlisted Dr Alistair Mackenzie to help him design the course, a focus was to be placed upon strategy. Having been significantly influenced by the Old Course at St. Andrews, Augusta National has retained much of its emphasis on the cerebral challenge of the game, despite the numerous alterations that have been made to it throughout the years.
It is a course that needs to be learned perhaps more than any other, and consider that Jack Nicklaus, arguably golf’s greatest on-course strategist, missed the cut in his first appearance at Augusta in 1959. He would of course go on to win six times, but he reflected on that first appearance as a 19-year-old: “Well, the first time, I found out what I mostly didn't know and that was that I didn't know how to putt these greens. So that was the first thing that I had to learn.”
It wasn’t until his fifth appearance, in 1963 that Nicklaus would feel comfortable with the layout: “I knew that you had to play some right-to-left shots, but I still didn't have the nerve to let them go because I didn't have the confidence in my own game to be able to do that because I was pretty confident playing left-to-right. It wasn't until '63 that I got that. And I think certainly after a couple of years, I pretty well figured the greens and what I had to do.”
With the venue’s iconic status and images engrained in the minds of every golfer, stepping onto the grounds of the National can be overwhelming for spectators, let alone actual competitors in the field. As 1976 Masters champion Raymond Floyd describes: “There is an aura. An ambience. There is an aura unlike any other place”.
Sir Nick Faldo, the man who defeated Floyd for a second of three Masters victories in 1990, has advice for young players trying to overcome the mystique of the property: “The best advice for first-timers is to get in early, really early. You’ve just got to come and get over the aura of it. Drive down Magnolia Lane and do all of the sight-seeing. Get comfortable, because when I came here for the first time I was way too much in awe of the place, and couldn’t play. I really couldn’t. It was too much”.
But despite the battle of trying to control your emotions, the experience of playing in the Masters Tournament should be enjoyed. It’s a rare privilege to receive a coveted invitation, and there is no guarantee that you’ll return in future. When asked, two-time winner Jose Maria Olazabal has a simple message for players who ask for advice: “I advise them to enjoy it as much as possible, and pay attention to every little detail. Also try to play with players who have played here before and know the course well.”
A number of players are adopting that method of seeking an experienced playing partner earlier in the week. Last year, Russell Henley played 18-holes with Tom Watson, 14-year-old Guan Tianlang spent valuable time on the course with two-time Masters Champion Ben Crenshaw. This week, Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher will play a practice round alongside Sandy Lyle, while Kevin Stadler is in the unique position of having a Masters winner as a father.
Augusta National’s greens have become a subject of legend, with the ambiguous ‘tournament speed’ offering no definitive reading as to how quick they are. But they are fast. Lightning quick. Couple in undulations that are visually intimidating, and you almost require a road map to navigate them. 1991 Masters Champion Ian Woosnam has a simple mantra for when it comes to dealing with the devilish surfaces: “Leave the ball below the cup. If you are above the cup, you will be in trouble every single time.”
In terms of talent and capability, the class of 2014 are more than able to be in the mix on Sunday. But will they have the knowledge and judgement required to successfully navigate Augusta’s iconic back-nine and claim a Green Jacket?
Just ask Fuzzy, he would tell you that it’s a very lonely club.