New bark causes little bite at revamped 11th hole
Web posted
Friday, April 9, 2004
The 11th hole tripped up two of the leaders Thursday in the opening round of the Masters Tournament.
But it wasn't because of the 36 pine trees that were added to the right side of the landing area.
Justin Rose (Stats | Bio) three-putted the 11th green for his only bogey of the day, and Darren Clarke (Stats | Bio) pulled his tee shot into the left trees on the hole for one of his two bogeys.
Rose sits atop the leaderboard at 5-under-par 67, and Clarke is three strokes back after shooting 70.
No. 11, which played the hardest in 2003 with a stroke average of 4.412, was relatively tame Thursday.
The hole was ranked 10th in difficulty with a stroke average of 4.2043.
The 490-yard par-4 yielded just one double bogey.
Davis Love III (Stats | Bio) received the dubious honor when he pulled his second shot into the greenside pond.
When he announced the change last summer, Augusta National Golf Club and Masters Chairman Hootie Johnson said it was because of the club's ongoing commitment to putting a premium on accuracy.
In years past, golfers could bail out on the right side with little fear of penalty.
Now, the fairway is just more than 30 yards wide in the landing area and brings the pond guarding the hole more into play.
For Rose and Clarke, though, the trouble was elsewhere.
"The only one I could really sort of complain about was the fact that I three-putted from a pretty good birdie chance at 11,'' Rose said.
"I had about 12 feet down the hill there and possibly was getting a little too confident and didn't give that green enough respect.
"It's really, really quick from the right side. That was the only thing that I was probably disappointed with today.''
Historically, the 11th hole has been the fifth-toughest hole.
Before the 2002 Masters, the tee was moved back 35 yards and shifted five yards to the golfer's right.
The fairway was regraded as well, making it difficult for players to launch long drives and have a short iron into the green.
Reach John Boyette at (706) 823-3337 or john.boyette@augustachronicle.com.
