Left-handers, our quirky cousins, have found a place to do what they do at Augusta National.
Five of the past 10 winners of the Masters have been southpaws, from Mike Weir in 2003, to Phil Mickelson’s three green jackets in 2004, ’06 and ’10 to Bubba Watson’s victory last year.
“Well, I think we are certainly cooler,” Mickelson said.
When it comes to out-of-this-world shots, they certainly are. Mickelson’s 6-iron from the pine needles on No. 13 in 2010 is one of the Masters’ memorable shots. Few observers will forget Watson’s seeing-eye 50-yard hook from the pine needles off No. 10 that he hit to win the green jacket in a playoff last year.
Few golfers, left-handed or right-handed, could purposely pull off either of those pieces of skill.
Cool or just calm, as Weir was when he won, Augusta National has long been considered a right-to-left course. That is, golfers must be able to curve their shots from right to left. For right-handers, it’s called a draw. For left-handers, it’s a fade. Even though today’s technology has helped golfers control the curvature and distance of either shot equally well, it’s generally considered easier to hit, and control, a fade. Hence, left-handers have a perceived advantage on the tee box.
“All those holes, if you can get the ball working right to left, it’s a big advantage,” Weir said.
Watson said Augusta National sets up well for his game and the cut, or fade, shot is preferred on Nos. 2, 5, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14 and 17. Those holes either curve to the left or call for shots that need the left-to-right shape. The former Georgia standout played those holes in 4 under in his four rounds last year.
“So really there’s only three tee shots that really scare me or can get to me on the whole golf course, so when you look at it that way, it sets up really well for my tee shots, and that golf course is all about your tee shots and then your iron play,” Watson said.
The tee shots that Watson said scare him are at the par-4 No. 7, which he says he has to hit straight off the tee — and Watson seldom hits shots straight, playing into the quirky lefty stereotype — and Nos. 11 and 18, par 4s which curve to the right, away from his preferred shot shape.
“For a left-hander at Augusta it’s perfect, you don’t have to hook it,” Atlanta’s Billy Andrade, a four-time winner on the PGA Tour, said. “You can just hit fades out there.”
The fade isn’t just a weapon with a driver or a fairway wood in the hands. Because it is considered a more precise shot in terms of distance control, the fade is a weapon for left-handers attacking the thin green on the par-3 12th, whose shape fits perfectly. A short-left fade will land on the front of the green, and a long-right draw will land on the back.
“(Fade is a) perfect shape for the 12th green,” right-hander Stewart Cink said. “That’s why it’s so hard for right-handers.”
The opposite is true on the par-3 16th, which Mickelson said is the hardest shot for him on the course because of the shape of the green. Short left is in the water, and long right can be in knee-knocking land on the back of downhill green.
It also helps that Mickelson and Watson are imaginative shot makers (Mickelson’s 6-iron out of the pine straw on No. 13 in 2010) and long hitters, capable of bombing tee shots over or around the dangerous areas on the course.
Mickelson finished second, first and tied for ninth in driving distance in his three victories. Plus, he hit at least 34 fairways in each of those victories. Length plus accuracy can overpower many courses.
Watson was fourth in driving distance last year with a 290-yard average. He too was reasonably accurate, hitting 37 of 56 fairways. He took advantage of that length to crush the par 5s last year, playing those four holes — Nos. 2, 8, 13 and 15 — in 8 under.
“If we look back and remember how well he drove the ball the last day, he drove it not only long but down the middle of every fairway until 17 and I believe the playoff hole,” ESPN analyst Curtis Strange said on a teleconference last week. “But when you’re that long and in the middle of the fairway, you’re going to make some birdies. You just can’t help it, and especially there at the par 5s.”
Weir, a short-hitter, flipped the script. He made up for his lack of distance off the tee (271.25 yards per drive) by hitting 42 fairways. When you are that straight, you don’t need to invent shots like Mickelson and Watson.
Can one of the left-handers win again? The numbers aren’t in their favor. There are only three left-handers in this year’s field, but evening the discrepancy of pack numbers, Mickelson, Watson and Weir have the experience of 37 Masters with 33 cuts made.
Mickelson said he is nervous heading into Thursday’s first round because he took last week off, something he normally doesn’t do. He will rely on his experience to try to win his fourth green jacket and give left-handers six victories in the past 11 Masters.
But he’s not buying that the course is any easier for left-handers.
“It seems to me that there are holes that favor one side; there seem to be an equal number of holes that favor the other,” Mickelson said.
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