Masters golf

[Quickenthetempo]

This year -11 won and only 8 people came in under par compared to -12 winning last year and 25 players breaking par. Checked 5 years ago and -13 won it with 45 players under par

Even going back 20 years in 2004 -9 won it with 12 players breaking par so im not sure that your idea it was a lot tougher in previous years is correct.

I'm not a massive golf fan but must have started watching it in a difficult year for the players.

And got sucked in by the commentators nonsense about the course being the toughest about. That they put the flags in the most difficult places if the players have decent rounds.

[Devils_Advocate]

I'm not a massive golf fan but must have started watching it in a difficult year for the players.

And got sucked in by the commentators nonsense about the course being the toughest about. That they put the flags in the most difficult places if the players have decent rounds.

In recent years they've started to allow TV to cover all the holes where I think it used to be pretty much just the back 9. This means TV can have more coverage of the players at the top of the leaderboard who are playing well and cover some of the slightly easier holes.

In the past they had to spread the coverage out and you therefore saw a lot of the field coming through amen corner and probably struggling a bit more then the top 6. Maybe this is what makes it appear a bit easier than it used to when they've actually done quite a bit of work to extend the course to keep it equally difficult as the technology and driving power of the modern golfers increases.

[Big Vinny K]

Seemed a little bit too easy for the players this year.

This stood out as the best tournament for how tough it was, but I'm not sure it gripped me this year.

Maybe the players have played it so much, they can easily avoid the hazards?

Quite the opposite of what you are saying to be honest.
Friday was the highest scoring average in the history of the event.
Across the 4 days that’s some of the highest scores I can remember in a long time - with the exception of Scheffler and a couple of others.

The wind was tough this week - on the first 2 days especially. Tommy Fleetwood plays this conditions really well. Problem is for a lot of the field they are used to playing on flat courses with wide fairways in warm and calm conditions every week. The courses are very long but that suits the new generation of players many of which are driving the ball more than 300 or 350 yards.

Augusta is not set up like that. Yes there’s some long par 4s but you cannot appreciate from the TV how hilly the course is. Plus many fairways are narrow and you cannot just boom it down there from the tee. On top of this you have some of the most difficult greens in world golf - again difficult to appreciate from TV but basically if you are the wrong side of the pin on many holes you have very little or no chance of holing it and you are staring at 3 or even 4 putts.

Knowing how to play the course and which holes you can go for and which you need to be cautious or take your medicine is the reason why historically most of the winners have been in the event a few times already before they win or do well.

But even if you have experience if your game is off a little and you come to the event out of form Augusta is a nightmare. Look at the scores the likes of Spieth, Thomas and many others were racking up. Quadruple bogeys or even worse.