At long last, we have our first look at the new 13th tee at Augusta National ahead of the 2023 Masters.
We first got a glimpse at the backed-up tee last November, when Eureka Earth, the heroes they are, posted aerial photos showing it’d be a much longer walk back to the teeing ground of “Azalea”. A few months later, the club released in the Masters media the changes to the iconic par 5, noting it had been lengthened by 35 yards – from 510 yards to 545 yards (466 metres to 498 metres).
Then, the players started talking. Rory McIlroy said he was hitting 5-iron into the green during practice rounds, as opposed to an 8-iron like in year’s past. Patrick Reed said he saw Dustin Johnson lay up on the 13th during a two-day recon trip the pair took last week with fellow LIV player Harold Varner III.
Now, finally, thanks to Masters.com, the fans get to actually see the (tight) view player’s will face on 13 tee this week:
Boy, that is one narrow chute. Then again, McIlroy claimed the tee shot is actually easier now, so what do we know? All we’ll say is we wouldn’t want to be holding on to a two-shot lead on the final afternoon coming off the 12th green with this view awaiting.
Masters.com also posted photos of the re-done Par 3 course, and, to the surprise of absolutely no one, it still looks spectacular with the new changes:
First look at the renovated Par 3 course. #themasters pic.twitter.com/H8YyPCrOfX
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 1, 2023
That ticking you hear is all of us counting the minutes until play begins.
FULL MASTERS COVERAGE:
https://www.australiangolfdigest.com.au/tournaments/themasters/