Best Masters Moments for Every Hole: Tiger's Chip on 16 Tops Memories from Augusta National

Azaleas, patrons, green jackets. Hello, friends, it's time for the 2024 Masters.

Well past the kerfuffle of the Super Bowl and in the immediate aftermath of March Madness, the second weekend of April has all but once been reserved for the Masters.

Ahead of the NBA and NHL playoffs, and before the casual sports fan starts to care about baseball, all eyes turn to Augusta National Golf Course for the unofficial but widely accepted first weekend of spring.

The first of four golf majors every year (again, all but once), the Masters is the most cherished of golf's biggest individual events. Few of golf's greats have been truly recognized as such without claiming a green jacket. And the vast majority of those greats have at least one iconic moment on the grounds of Augusta National that can be forever tied to their enshrinement in golf history.

After you've studied the Masters odds and made your Masters picks, grab yourself a pimento cheese - or egg salad - sandwich, set up your lawn chair, and come with us for a tour of Augusta National with a look at the best moment(s) for every hole in Masters history.

Best shots in Masters history

Hole 1 - Tea Olive

• Par: 4
• Length: 445
• Scoring average: 4.238
• Scoring rank: 6

Arnold Palmer - 2004

A four-time Masters champion, Arnold Palmer played in 50 consecutive editions of the Masters from 1955 through 2004. Though he missed the cut in each of those final 21 trips to Augusta National, he made par on the first hole in the opening round of his final go-around at age 74.

It was one of just eight pars on the day, which he finished at plus-12 84. He matched that score in Round 2 after opening with a bogey.

Hole 2 - Pink Dogwood

• Par: 5
• Length: 585
• Scoring average: 4.775
• Scoring rank: 17

Louis Oosthuizen - 2012

Pink Dogwood is one of the most famous holes at Augusta National. The second hole has regularly helped make or break Sunday rounds, as golfers need to post a low score on what is historically the second-easiest hole on the course. So this list wouldn't be complete without the first (and still only) double eagle ever recorded on No. 2.

Luis Oosthuizen provided hope for all golfers (and those with bets on them) to come after him when he landed his second shot on the front of the green and sat back to watch it navigate the undulating slope to the pin, and then the hole.

Oosthuizen and Bubba Watson were in the second-last pairing. Oosty parred the first while Bubba bogeyed. Oosthuizen's double eagle then provided another two-stroke swing against Watson's pedestrian birdie on the second. The majority of scoring opportunities at ANGC are on the back nine, but this eternally emphasized the importance of the first par 5.

Read on to see how Louis Oosthuizen's 2012 Masters ride concluded.

Hole 3 - Flowering Peach

• Par: 4
• Length: 350
• Scoring average: 4.076
• Scoring rank: 14

Charl Schwartzel - 2011

South African Charl Schwartzel began the final round of the 2011 Masters four shots off the lead held by Rory McIlroy. Though McIlroy collapsed into an eventual tie for 15th and Schwartzel birdied his final four holes to win the green jacket by two strokes over Adam Scott and Jason Day, it was the eagle on No. 3 that was the first major turning point.

The win came on the 50th anniversary of fellow South African Gary Player's first Masters win, to boot.

Hole 4 - Flowering Crab Apple

• Par: 3
• Length: 240
• Scoring average: 3.284
• Scoring rank: 3

Jeff Sluman - 1992

Of the 34 holes-in-one hit at the Masters to date, Jeff Sluman in 1992 stands as the only one of those to come on the then-213-yard 4th. Sluman finished T-4 that year, with Fred Couples winning by two strokes.

Hole 5 - Magnolia

• Par: 4
• Length: 495
• Scoring average: 4.266
• Scoring rank: 5

Jack Nicklaus - 1995

The 1995 Masters - a mundane T-35 finish with a T-6 to come just three years later - was far from the most memorable for The Golden Bear, but he still managed to etch his name into history once again at Augusta National GC.

Jack Nicklaus holed out for eagle twice in three days at the lengthy par-4 5th hole, first from 180 yards and then from 163. Those stood as two of the four eagles ever hit on the hole at the time.

Hole 6 - Juniper

• Par: 3
• Length: 180
• Scoring average: 3.137
• Scoring rank: 13

Billy Joe Patton - 1954

Canadian Corey Conners is the most recent golfer to hit a hole-in-one on the 180-yard 6th hole at Augusta National, but amateur Billy Joe Patton was one of two competitors to do it during the 1954 tournament. Patton held the 36-hole lead and also sat atop the leaderboard during the fourth round before a third-place finish, narrowly missing out on a playoff with legends Sam Snead and Ben Hogan.

Hole 7 - Pampas

• Par: 4
• Length: 450
• Scoring average: 4.157
• Scoring rank: 10

Byron Nelson - 1937

En route to a come-from-behind two-stroke victory over Ralph Guldahl for his first of two Masters titles, Nelson became the first to drive the 7th green. Of course, it played much shorter at the time, but Nelson's lengthy tee shot to set up an easy birdie sparked a couple of the first major changes to the hole, well before the "Tiger-proofing" era.

The following year, the 7th played 20 yards longer and was surrounded by bunkers as a means of preventing Nelson from reaching the putting surface from the tee blocks. It didn't prevent him from further success at Augusta National, however, as he'd win his second green jacket in 1942.

Hole 8 - Yellow Jasmine

• Par: 5
• Length: 570
• Scoring average: 4.819
• Scoring rank: 15

Bruce Devlin - 1967

There have been only four double eagles in the history of the Masters, with one on each par 5. We already discussed Oosthuizen's on No. 2, and we will discuss Gene Sarazen's on No. 15. Jeff Maggert's on No. 13 in 1994 sadly was beaten out in our rankings, but Bruce Devlin's albatross in 1967 fits in perfectly for No. 8.

Devlin would tie for 10th in the 1967 Masters, a distant 10 shots back of Gay Brewer Jr., but he got off to a hot start. Devlin hit a 248-yard 4-wood for what still stands as the best score ever carded on this hole, which has played as the toughest of the par 5s at ANGC.

Hole 9 - Carolina Cherry

• Par: 4
• Length: 460
• Scoring average: 4.138
• Scoring rank: 12

Tiger Woods - 2019

It took us nine holes, but we have our first Tiger sighting. We also have our first putt, and it didn't even drop.

Sitting at 1-under through his first eight holes of the final round, Tiger saved par on the ninth with this lengthy, triple-breaking lag putt. That kept Woods one stroke better than Dustin Johnson on the front nine before the tournament was truly set to begin.

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• Best Masters moments for every hole

Hole 10 - Camellia

• Par: 4
• Length: 495
• Scoring average: 4.299
• Scoring rank: 2

Bubba Watson - 2012 (Playoff)

This selection is as much about the good shot that set up Bubba Watson's first Masters victory in 2012 as it was the bad one that forced this shot to be made.

Known for his creative shot shapes, Watson appeared to gift Oosthuizen the green jacket by airmailing his drive into the woods on the second playoff hole when it failed to cut right to left. Watson wound up fortunate with a shot from the middle of the pine straw. A miraculous hooking wedge shot through and over the trees set up a simple two-putt victory to win in a playoff as Oosthuizen navigated his own mess on the right side.

Watson's miraculous save seemed to deflate Oosthuizen, as he missed his par putt to hand Watson the green jacket.

Hole 11 - White Dogwood

• Par: 4
• Length: 520
• Scoring average: 4.303
• Scoring rank: 1

Larry Mize - 1987 (Playoff)

Augusta native Larry Mize pitched in from 140 feet for birdie to beat Greg Norman and Seve Ballesteros on the second playoff hole of the 1987 Masters. Ballesteros had already won the Masters twice and Norman was the reigning Champion Golfer of the Year. This stands as Mize's lone major win.

Hole 12 - Golden Bell

• Par: 3
• Length: 155
• Scoring average: 3.27
• Scoring rank: 4

Jordan Spieth - 2016

Sorry, Jordan Spieth, but a collection of the best Masters moments wouldn't be complete without one of the greatest meltdowns in tournament history.

Spieth was well on his way to back-to-back Masters victories - which would have made him the first consecutive winner at Augusta National since Tiger in 2001-02 - until he took a quadruple-bogey 7 on the par-3 12th. After twice coming up short with tee shots in Rae's Creek, Spieth then put his fifth shot in the back bunker and showed clear frustration.

To make matters worse, Spieth had to be the one to don 28-year-old Englishman Danny Willett with the green jacket as one of the biggest long-shot victors in Masters history.

Hole 13 - Azalea

• Par: 5
• Length: 545
• Scoring average: 4.775
• Scoring rank: 18

Phil Mickelson - 2010

Phil Mickelson won the 2010 Masters by three strokes over Lee Westwood, with Lefty shooting a final-round 67 to surge past Westwood amid a Sunday 71. This save from against a tree to set up a birdie on the par-5 13th stands as the iconic moment of the scrambling artist's third green jacket.

Hole 14 - Chinese Fir

• Par: 4
• Length: 440
• Scoring average: 4.165
• Scoring rank: 8

Felix Serafin - 1946

In all honesty, the 14th hole at Augusta National isn't the most memorable. It follows Amen Corner and precedes the closing four-hole stretch. A par 4 of moderate length (for ANGC) that plays to a scoring average just above par is the perfect time to go to the bathroom or grab a refill on Sunday afternoon.

So, we're defaulting to Felix Serafin's eagle in 1946. Serafin was the first of now 20 golfers to ever record such a score on this hole.

Hole 15 - Firethorn

• Par: 5
• Length: 550
• Scoring average: 4.776
• Scoring rank: 16

Gene Sarazen - 1935

Gene Sarazen holed a 235-yard 4 wood on the par-5 15th en route to forcing - and then winning a 36-hole playoff against Craig Wood in the 1935 Masters.

His second shot on No. 15 has been dubbed "the shot heard around the world" and made up Sarazen's three-stroke deficit in Sunday's final round. He parred his final three holes of Round 4 and defeated Wood in a playoff to capture the career grand slam.

Hole 16 - Redbud

• Par: 3
• Length: 170
• Scoring average: 3.139
• Scoring rank: 11

Tiger Woods - 2005

I apologize for the lack of surprise with this selection. But, I mean, c'mon.

Poor Chris DiMarco. A three-time PGA Tour winner, DiMarco had a front row seat to what is inarguably the single most memorable golf shot ever hit, as he went on to finish as the runner-up to Tiger in the 2005 Masters - the last time he made the cut at ANGC.

This shot had it all. The meticulous mapping by Tiger, the perfect execution, the made-for-TV pause as the ball hung on the lip of the hole, and the iconic call of Verne Lindquist.

"In your life ..." Probably never again, Verne.

Hole 17 - Nandia

• Par: 4
• Length: 440
• Scoring average: 4.161
• Scoring rank: 9

Jack Nicklaus - 1986

The iconic moment of Nicklaus' sixth green jacket victory in 1986 also brought him to the record of 18 major victories that still stand today. The then-46-year-old rolled in an 18-footer for birdie that helped send The Golden Bear on his way to a one-stroke victory over Tom Kite and Greg Norman.

His 30 strokes on the back nine helped coin the phrase "the Masters doesn't start until the back on Sunday."

Hole 18 - Holly

• Par: 4
• Length: 465
• Scoring average: 4.23
• Scoring rank: 7

Tiger Woods - 2019

This short tap-in bogey putt to win the 2019 Masters is only a placeholder to represent Tiger's one-stroke victory over Johnson, Xander Schauffele, and Brooks Koepka. Tiger's fifth green jacket and 15th career major victory came against one of the best finishing leaderboards at the Masters in recent memory.

Though weather forced 2019's final round to start earlier in the morning, viewers everywhere had settled in to witness the punctuation of Woods' return from injuries and personal issues. Five years later, he remains the needle of the golf world, rather than simply moving it.

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