Masters short chips - Friday

Masters champions and the Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament Fred S. Ridley at the 2025 Masters Club Dinner prior to the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club, Tuesday, April 08, 2025.

Chips all round

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Tiger Woods' iconic chip-in birdie at the par-three 16th when the swoosh on his Nike ball was centre screen for a couple of tantalising seconds before it toppled into the hole

"Oh wow," Verne Lundquist roared in the TV coverage. "In your life have you ever seen anything like that!"
Even though he should have been studying, Shane Lowry remembers the moment clearly.

"I was 18; I was in the middle of my exams back home," he recalled this week. "Can't imagine I was studying anyway (laughing).

"But I'm sure I was out on the golf course the following day trying to do the same thing."

Red-blooded champions

Tuesday's Champions Dinner gathered all living Masters champions, bar the injured Tiger Woods, and produced its share of juicy anecdotes.

Scottie Scheffler's menu had a heavy Texas flavour with the enormous Cowboy Ribeye just the kind of fare required to man up at Augusta National.

"It must have been half a cow," said 1979 champion Fuzzy Zoeller. "They just chopped off the front legs and served me the full quarter."

Shane Lowry said he planned to grab "the bull by the horns" this week, and when asked what makes Augusta National unique, two-time champion Scheffler said the same thing in a different way.

"It makes you play bold," Scheffler told the champions on Tuesday.

"You have to play bold here to win," Ben Crenshaw agreed.

Two pounds of red meat 48 hours before the off appears to be the magic recipe.

More trees

Augusta National pulled off a miracle following September's hurricane to get the course in order for the 89th Masters.

They haven't revealed how many trees were blown over by the storm, but those capable of making an educated guess on such matters reckon that some 2,000 trees were lost.

The club is well prepared for such setbacks and the 2014 removal following ice-storm damage of the loblolly pine on the 17th, known as the Eisenhower Tree, has not resulted in that hole proving any less fascinating.

The Big Oak Tree behind the clubhouse, which has its own lightning conductor and steel cable support, is arguably now the club's most precious tree.

But should it succumb to damage or disease, we understand a replacement has already been sourced should disaster strike.

Lefty paradise

Three lefties have won the Masters and a record eight left-handers teed it up in the 89th edition of the tournament at Augusta National this week.

Mike Weir won in 2003 before Phil Mickelson claimed green jackets in 2004, 2006 and 2010 and Bubba Watson followed in their footsteps in 2012 and 2014.

Brian Harman, Matt McCarty, Joe Highsmith, Robert MacIntyre and Akshay Bhatia join the trio of champions this week.