Par-5s have stopped march to green jacket

Augusta National’s par-5s give up plenty of birdies and eagles.

But they also can take away the opportunity to slip on a green jacket.

Take the case of Billy Joe Patton. Or Cur­tis Strange. Or Seve Balles­teros. All three had moments on the par-5 holes that cost them dearly.

Though heroic shots that produce subpar scores get the most attention at the Masters Tour­nament, the meltdowns also make headlines.

Patton and Strange found the water on both par-5 holes on the second nine in the final round. In 1954, Patton made double bogey at the 13th and bogey at the 15th, ruining his bid to become the first amateur to win the Masters.

Strange made a pair of bogeys on those holes in 1985 and eventually lost to Bernhard Langer.

With enormous pressure in the final round and knowing the history of the tournament’s most famous shots, players sometimes err.

“You know you have to avoid the big mistake,” said Strange, who is working on ESPN’s telecast this week. “You know you can’t afford to really make any mistakes if you’re going to win because somebody is going to shoot 32 or 33 (on the final nine).”

In the final round in 1986, Bal­les­teros made two eagles on the par-5 holes. He pitched in for one at No. 8, then hit a great second shot to set up the other at No. 13.

But those shots are rarely mentioned when discussing Ballesteros in 1986. Instead, his pulled 4-iron into the water on the 15th, which led to a bogey, gets more attention because it opened the door for 46-year-old Jack Nicklaus to win his sixth Masters.

While Nos. 13 and 15 cause more big numbers because of their water hazards near the green, the front-nine par-5s also can wreak havoc.

Nicklaus said the tee shot at the second hole is dangerous because of a small creek hidden on the left. Players often call it the “Delta ticket counter” because if you hit your shot there, you’ll be making a reservation home.

“You don’t want to be down there at the airline booth,” Nick­laus said. “You get down there and sometimes you find a lie down there and you can play. Then you hit another tree and all of a sudden you’re there half a day.”

At No. 8, no water hazards come into play, but that doesn’t mean it can’t cause problems with heavy woods on the left side.

Tiger Woods took a triple bogey there in the first round in 1999 when he pulled his tee shot into the left woods and found his ball next to some pine cones he couldn’t move. He tried to hit out, but the ball hit a tree and wound up in a bed of flowers.

Woods took an unplayable lie, then went back to the original spot and punched out into the fairway with his fourth shot. From there, his 6-iron approach went over the green and he chipped back on and two-putted.

“The blunder came on the tee shot,” said Woods, who shot 72 and tied for 18th.