One of the great examples of how the par-3 12th at Augusta National can define the destiny of the Green Jacket came in 2019.
Tiger Woods saw his playing partners Francesco Molinari and Tony Finau get suckered into that famous Sunday right pin and come up short. Moments earlier, Brooks Koepka and Ian Poulter suffered the same fate. Their hopes sunk in Rae’s Creek and Woods hammered the nail in their coffins with a measured approach to the heart of the green.
The 12th really does cripple more people than polio and I ventured out early on a scorching hot afternoon to catch a glimpse of this heartbreaking and dream-making hole measuring only 155 yards long.
In Augusta language the grandstands are called observation stands and there is no better place to be than the one which sits adjacent to the 11th green and just behind the 12th tee. America is a country where I am sure you could live your entire life without ever having to get out of your car or walk for a meaningful amount of time and I must say sitting in the observation stand on Friday I could buy into it alright. The scoreboard overlooks the 11th green as the morning starters jostle for position but are unable to overtake Rory McIlroy.
It’s swelteringly hot, even the Yanks are struggling in this heat and the empty seats as I arrive sting at the touch. It’s an interesting atmosphere, at regular events you are hushed to be quiet and stand still by marshals, but here you can get away with sipping on a a few Crows Nest beers and a natter to whoever will listen. Even when there is no action around 11 and 12 there is always a hum to keep you alert.
The par-3 16th is an amphitheatre while the 12th is a cathedral – no pictures please. Once the players leave the tee box, they walk onto the altar green to an almost eery silence. Depending on the group, the crowd behind the tee won’t even bother watching you putt out, the unheralded three-ball of Harry Hall, Corey Conners and Michael Brennan got that treatment.
The grandstand begins to fill up and floor space below is condensed as star turns like Rahm, Åberg, Scheffler, Rose, Koepka, Spieth, Hatton and Thomas are in the next five groups to pass.
The wind has caught out so many and as the yellow flag on 11 flutters gently in the breeze, the flag on 12 stays perfectly still. Then as the flag on 11 sits still, the flag on 12 begins to move. It’s not been Scheffler’s day so far and he bails out with a cut shot into the left portion of the green – Augusta won’t bully him into forcing anything just yet…
Of the six groups I watched play the 12th there were five birdies from Hall, Hatton, Gotterup, MacIntyre and Koepka which received no adulating cheer, you are simply too far away to see and probably too early in the week to care. Birdies greeted by silence is an anomaly. Bogeys of which I saw just two of, in the same group from Rose and Spieth were from both players missing long and left, which was where most players bailed to avoid taking on a still generous enough pin tucked over the right side of the bunker. The kindest of the pins this week with the creek short of the green not in play.
The walk from the 12th tee, over the bridge, to the green must seem like entering an otherworldly oasis of tranquility. A stunning silence which continues as the players meander around and left to the 13th tee on land which Augusta bought to lengthen a couple of years ago and where patrons can’t access.
Any roar comes for a birdie on the 11th and even they are muted. Yes, Amen Corner is packed but quiet for now, surely any birdies on 12 come Saturday or Sunday will get the delayed roar which reverberates around the course. As the big names flocked to the tee, the crowd got busier and we were eventually at near capacity. As soon as Scheffler’s group passed through there was a mass exodus, clearly Harris English, Si Woo Kim and Marco Penge don’t cut the mustard. For many it was time to take in some shade, refresh and refill at the concession stand or walk with purpose towards the first tee to catch the early knockings of McIlroy.
The American’s behind me ask what I am doing and if I am scouting for a player. That is surely illegal but I tell them I am doing a piece on the 12th. They didn’t even need to hear my accent to know that I was Irish and they ensure that I have an adequate amount of sunscreen on but question why I’m not multitasking with a beer in my hand.
The Golden Bell 12th at Augusta National yielded plenty of birdies with a pin that didn’t threaten disaster. It’s teasing the players at the moment before it decides to take on the Wolverhampton Wanderers approach to the season and just ruin everybody else’s day on Sunday.
Jordan Spieth in 2016 will always come to mind in that regard.
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