Arnold Palmer’s Masters success was built on par-5s (Photo)
By John Buhler
The late Arnold Palmer won four Green Jackets at Augusta National in the Masters Tournament. His key to Masters success was apparently dominating par-5s.
It’s Masters week at Augusta National, but it’s not the same without Arnold Palmer. The four-time Masters Champion passed in Sep. 25 at the age of 87. His success at Augusta National in the late 1950s to mid-1960s it part of what made The Masters so special.
Palmer was immensely popular long after his golfing prime as an ambassador for the sport. He won seven majors, including four Masters Tournaments. IBM put together an interesting graph to illustrate how Palmer went about winning four Masters in his prime.
Apparently, Palmer dominated on the course’s four par-5s. In his four Masters victories (1958, 1960, 1962, 1964), Palmer was a ridiculous -30 on par-5 holes.
Interestingly, he was nowhere near as dominant on the par-4s or the par-3s. He only shot a combined two under par on par-3s during his four Masters Tournament victories. Palmer was actually two over par on par-4s in those iconic tournaments.
Where Palmer really did his damage was on one hole in particular: Hole 15. This is the one known as “Firethorn”. Augusta National names its holes after a type of tree planted around said hole. This is a tribute to the golf course formerly being a tree nursery before Bobby Jones decided to make it his own private golf course.
At ‘Firethorn”, Palmer shot 12 under par in those four tournaments combined. This hole first came to not from Gene Sarazen’s famous ‘shot heard ’round the world’ back in the 1935 Masters. Sarazen was able to overcome a three-stroke deficit on that par-5 thanks to an albatross. He would win the second-ever Masters in the ensuing playoff round.
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The Masters is picking up steam heading into Round 3. However, it’s just not the same without Palmer around to form the Big Three with Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus. Hopefully somebody dominates on 15 this weekend in Palmers’ honor.