Masters: What’s different about Augusta National? To know everything up front

From changes in courses and significant absences from the return of the Masters tradition, we see what makes Augusta National different for this year’s competition.

Augusta National is longer than ever

The course will measure a total of 7,510 yards for the 2022 competition, 35 yards longer than 12 months ago, meaning Georgia’s format will be longer than at any point in tournament history.

In the 11th par-four, TT – the start of the infamous Amen Corner – has been moved an additional 15 yards back, the hole has been made 520 yards, the fairway has been re-preserved with changes, and several trees have been removed to the right of the fairway. .

Please use the Chrome browser for more accessible video players

Sky Sports Reporter Dharmesh Seth gives an update on the possibility of Tiger Woods returning to Masters

The added length means that the 11th par-five will play 10 yards longer than the 13th, while the 15th par-five has been pushed back 20 yards and the ‘firethorn’ gives a maximum length of 550 yards.

Par-3 competition is back!

The annual Par-3 competition will return this year, having been canceled the previous two years due to the Covid-19 protocol, and all tournament participants and non-competing past champions have been invited to compete.

Please use the Chrome browser for more accessible video players

Matt Wallace and Shane Lori were among the four players who made the hole-in-one at the Masters Par-3 competition at the Augusta National in 2019

The event is played on the Augusta National’s Nine-Hole Par-3 course, which measures 1,060 yards, where no player has ever won a tournament and is about to claim a green jacket over the weekend.

There have been nearly 100 hole-in-one records in the history of the tournament, including a record nine records in 2016, when the event created a lot of illuminating moments before The Masters officially started the next day.

Get the best price on one of 1,700 courses across the UK and Ireland and book a round

A new honorary starter

Jack Nichols and Gary Player have been honorary starters since 2010 and 2012, respectively, with two-time Masters champion Tom Watson joining them for the first time for this year’s official T-shots.

Watson, a green jacket winner in 1977 and 1981 and a two-time Par-3 champion, became the 11th honorary starter since his first appearance at The Masters in 1963.

Arnold Palmer held the position from 2007 to 2016, the year of his death, when Lee Elder – who died last November – became the first black player to become an honorary starter before the 2021 competition.

Please use the Chrome browser for more accessible video players

Lee Elder, the first black golfer to play in The Masters, was warmly welcomed when he joined Jack Nicholas and Gary Player as the new Honorary Starter.

Mickelson is not in The Masters

For the first time since 1994, the Masters Field is without three-time Green Jacket winner and PGA Championship winner Phil Mickelson.

Please use the Chrome browser for more accessible video players

Golf Channel contributor Emon Lynch reflects on Phil Mickelson’s absence from The Masters and discusses how players reacted to his recent critical comments about the PGA Tour.

The 51-year-old is taking a break from golf after falling from his comments about the PGA Tour and a potential Saudi-backed rival circuit, and he has not been able to sustain it since the Saudi international tournament in February.

Mickelson made his Masters debut in 1991 and has made 27 consecutive appearances since 1995, winning the event in 2004, 2006 and 2010. Left-handed Augusta patrons will be noticeably missed.

Patron fully back

For the first time since the success of Tiger Woods in 2019, sponsors will be allowed to appear in maximum numbers at Augusta National.

No sponsors were on the site when the 84th Masters was held in November due to the coronavirus epidemic, removed from its traditional date due to the coronavirus epidemic, all three major games were played behind closed doors that year.

Hideki Matsuyama was able to make a big history by appearing in a “limited number” last April, although the Covid-19 protocol prevented patrons from coming to full power. Although Augusta National never releases official attendance figures, it is widely expected that they will return to pre-epidemic levels.

Watch the Masters live on Sky Sports exclusively throughout the week. Live coverage with featured groups begins at 2pm on Thursday at Sky Sports Golf.