The 87th Masters Tournament: Hole-by-Hole Notes, part 1

Fore Majors Golf has endured the painstaking task of breaking down the 87th Masters Tournament hole-by-hole for each player. The effort has taken two weeks, with many lessons learned that will make the process more efficient for the next major (which is another way of saying we've recognized many errors in our process that can be streamlined moving forward). 

Charl Schwartzel won the 2011 Masters Tournament with birdies on the final four holes. In 2024, that was not happening. 

Scottie Scheffler won the Masters by four shots, but looking at the 18 holes individually Scheffler's name topped only one hole in performance - No. 16 where he was a tournament-best, 2-under for the week. 

Where he dusted the field came in the way he finished (stay tuned) in the Masters that may have been the hardest to finish of all-time.  Scottie playing the final 11 holes in 5-under-par with six birdies defies every statistical analysis of scoring. 

Can We Play Only Nine?

Jon Rahm, Neal Shipley and Thorbjorn Oleson each played the front nine in even-par during the 87th Masters Tournament over Augusta National, but then combined to play the back nine 33-over-par (Rahm +9, Shipley, +12, Oleson +14). 

Nobody dreaded heading to the 10th tee more than Denny McCarthy McCarthy and Ryan Fox, who each played the two nines over the four days in a 19-stroke difference. McCarthy was 5-under on the front for the tournament, but 14-over on the back. Fox was 7-under on the front for the tournament, but 12-over on the back. 

In fact, the 60 players who made the cut combined to play the front nine in 1-over-par, only to play the back in 288-over par. 

Only eight players played the back nine in fewer strokes than the front, with Scheffler obviously the most important, playing the back nine 7-under-par after playing the front nine 4-under en route to capturing his second Green Jacket. 

That said, the outlier by an overwhelming margin, was Grayson Murray, who played the back nine better than the front by an incredible 12-shot margin. Murray was +11 on the front, but 1-under on the back. 

Others playing the back nine better than the front:

 4 shots better: 

Min Woo Lee (4-over on the front, even on the back), 

Shane Lowry (+6, +2)

3 shots better: 

Lucas Glover (Even, +3)

2 shots better:

Tiger Woods (+9, +7)

1 shot better:

Jose Maria Olazabal (+5, +4)

Danny Willett (+5, +4)

Did Augusta National Simply Wear Some Guys Out?

Tyrrell Hatton finished T9 at even-par, but Augusta National wore him down. For the week, Hatton played the first 13 holes in 10-under-par, and then finished the last five holes in 10-over, playing Nos. 15 & 18 both 4-over. He did not make a birdie after the 13th hole. For the week. 

Patrick Reed finished T12 at 1-over, but faded just like Hatton. Reed played the first 13 holes in 7-under-par for the week, then finished up the last five in 8-over. He too did not make a birdie after stepping off the 13th green. 

Matt Fitzpatrick finished T22 at 4-over-par but was 5-under-par for the first 13 holes during Masters week, then played the last five in 9-over with nine bogeys spread over 14, 15, 17 & 18. He too went without a birdie after 13. 

How Hard Was It To Finish?

The 17th and 18th holes in the 87th Masters proved to be a challenging end to the day, combining to yield just 41 birdies for the week, just 16 on the weekend. The 60 players who made the cut combined to play the two holes a combined 144-over-par for the week, half the back nine's total for the week. 

Only two players played 17 & 18 under-par for the week: Joaquin Niemann (-2) and Mathieu Pavon (-1). Only another seven, including Scheffler, played the par-4s in 32 strokes over the four days. Twenty-six of the 60 players who made the cut played 17 & 18 3-over-par or worse. 

17&18 Leaderboard: 

-2 - Joaquin Niemann.

-1 - Mathieu Pavon. 

Even - Byeong Hun An, Bryson DeChambeau, Russell Henley, Chris Kirk, Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler, Adam Schenk.

+1 - Ludvig Aberg, Max Homa, Brooks Koepka, Min Woo Lee, Taylor Moore, J.T. Poston, Adam Scott, Cam Smith, Camilo Villegas, Cam Young. 

+2 - Akshay Bhatia, Eric Cole, Cam Davis, Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Tiger Woods. 

+3 - Keegan Bradley, Patrick Cantlay, Harris English, Rickie Fowler, Nicolai Hojgaard, Tom Kim, Luke List, Phil Mickelson, Sepp Straka, Sahith Theegala, Will Zalatoris. 

+4 - Kirk Kitayama, Grayson Murray, Thorbjorn Oleson, Danny Willett. 

+5 - Jason Day, Tony Finau, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tyrrell Hatton, Si Woo Kim, Jake Knapp, Hideki Matsuyama, Patrick Reed, Neal Shipley, Erik Van Rooyen.

+6 - Denny McCarthy.

Was 17 & 18 the hardest two-hole stretch of the 2024 Masters Tournament? 

Depends on how you want to look at it. Holes 4 & 5 combined to yield fewer birdies - 31 to 17 & 18's 41. However, the field that played all four rounds played those two holes a combined 123-over-par, 21 strokes fewer than 17 and 18. 

For Comparison: 

4&5 Leaderboard: 

-2 - Max Homa, 

-1 - Bryson DeChambeau, Tommy Fleetwood, Ryan Fox, Russell Henry, Brooks Koepka,    

O - Ludvig Aberg, Patrick Cantlay, Tom Kim, Adam Scott, Sahith Theegala, Erik Van Rooyen, Camilo Villegas, Will Zalatoris.  

+1 - Corey Conners, Cam Davis, Lucas Glover, Tyrrell Hatton, Hideki Matsuyama, Denny McCarthy, Collin Morikawa, Jon Rahm, Patrick Reed, Adam Schenk,  

+2 - Akshay Bhatia, Eric Cole, Rickie Fowler, Adam Hadwin, Nicolai Hojgaard, Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, Matthieu Pavon, Xander Schauffele,  Cam Smith, Sepp Straka, 

+3 - Byeong Hun An, Jason Day, Kurt Kitayama, Min Woo Lee, Luke List, Shane Lowry, Thorbjorn Oleson, J.T. Poston, Scottie Scheffler, Cam Young.  

+4 - Keegan Bradley, Harris English, Tony Finau, Matt Fitzpatrick, Si Woo Kim, Taylor Moore, Joaquin Niemann, Jose Maria Olazabal.  

+5 - Jake Knapp, Grayson Murray. 

+6 - Chris Kirk, Vijay Singh, Danny Willett, Tiger Woods. 

Only five players in the field played 4, 5, 17 & 18 under par. 

That said, the leaderboard for the four hardest holes played during the 2024 Masters (4 & 5 with 17 & 18) reads as follows: 

Bryson DeChambeau (-1)

Russell Henley (-1)

Max Homa (-1)

Min Woo Lee (-1)

Brooks Koepka (Even)

Ludvig Aberg (+1)

Tommy Fleetwood (+1)

Collin Morikawa (+1)

Adam Schenk (+1)

Adam Scott (+1)

Lucas Glover (+2)

Xander Schauffele (+2)

Scottie Scheffler was +3 over 4, 5, 17 & 18 for the week, but this year's Green Jacket will always belong to him.