Perhaps no shot was more pivotal in Rory McIlroy’s march to a second green jacket than his tee shot on the par-3 12th.
The devilish short par-3 — known as Golden Bell — has dashed many a Masters hopeful’s dreams. Jordan Spieth in 2016. Seve Ballesteros in 1982. Gary Player in 1962. Heck, just last week, amateur Asterisk Talley saw her own ANWA dreams unravel with a 7 on the hole. Jack Nicklaus once called it the “hardest hole in tournament golf.”
Despite measuring just 155 yards, the 12th is one of the most treacherous tests in the game.
That’s why, even with McIlroy firmly in the driver’s seat Sunday afternoon at Augusta, a palpable tension hung over Amen Corner as he stepped onto the 12th tee. And it’s what made what came next so remarkable.
Conventional wisdom says the play at the 12th on Masters Sunday is simple: aim for the centerline bunker, take your two-putt from 25 feet, and run to the 13th tee. McIlroy had other ideas. He sent his tee shot over the right side of the bunker with cut spin toward the pin.
“Probably didn’t anticipate it to drift as far right as it did,” McIlroy admitted. “But that was a really good golf shot at the right time.”
His ball settled 7 feet from the cup. Moments later, he poured in the putt to reach 12-under — the number he would ultimately post to secure the green jacket.
As it turns out, the seed for that shot was planted all the way back in 2009, during McIlroy’s first Masters. Standing on the tee, he recalled advice he received all those years ago from two-time Masters champion Tom Watson.
“I played a practice round with Tom Watson in 2009, and he told me that on the 12th tee, he always waited until he felt the wind, then just hit it — as soon as he could,” McIlroy said. “That’s what I did. The wind was all over the place. When I first stood up, it felt like it was off the right, but then I looked at the 11th flag and it was blowing right to left. I stayed patient, waited until I felt it settle, and knew it was a perfect three-quarter 9-iron.”
Augusta National has long rewarded experience as much as execution, and Sunday offered yet another example. A less seasoned player might have rushed the moment or second-guessed the conditions. McIlroy did neither. He trusted his feel and waited for the right moment to pull the trigger. The result was the shot of a lifetime.
“Absolutely huge, huge shot in the tournament,” he said.
Some might go so far as to say it was the shot that won him another green jacket.
