For all of the lengthening of courses and increase in the long ball over the last few decades, the shortest hole at Augusta National did it again. The 155-yard par-3 “Golden Bell” is the 12th hole that has changed Masters history on more than a few occasions. That happened once again on Sunday, when four of the six golfers in the final two groupings found Rae’s Creek, including leader Francesco Molinari, allowing some guy named Tiger Woods to eventually win his 15th major (and the first in 11 years) and fifth green jacket.
It’s not the first, nor will it be the last time that the 12th hole brings some of the game’s greatest to their knees. The list of folks whose late-charging Sunday runs were stopped is too long for one story. Instead, here is a brief history of Sunday leaders at Augusta who wound up on the losing end of things thanks to the Golden Bell:
2018 – Francesco Molinari:
The Italian already went toe-to-toe with Tiger once, in last year’s Open Championship at Carnoustie. Up by two strokes heading to the 12th on Sunday it looked like Molinari would hold on again, draining par putt after par putt. But at the 12th, he put his 8-iron off the bank in front of the green and into Rae’s Creek, winding up with a double bogey. Woods, meanwhile, stuck his tee shot in the center of the green, two-putted for par, birdied 13 and 15 and wound up winning by one. Molinari, meanwhile, found the water again later in the round and finished tied for fifth.
2016 – Jordan Spieth:
Leading from the first round all the way through the front nine on Sunday, Spieth went to the 10th hole with a five-stroke lead. Back-to-back bogeys trimmed that, but he was still comfortably ahead. Then he went to the 12th, where he put his first shot into the water. His second shot, the same result, winding up with a quadruple bogey, dropping him from first to fourth. He would finish tied for second, three strokes behind Danny Willett.
1996 – Greg Norman:
The Shark opened the tournament with a record-tying 63 and led the entire way thereafter, heading into Sunday with a six-stroke lead on Nick Faldo. A difficult stretch for Norman saw him go five-over on holes eight through 12, capped by a double-bogey on 12 that saw his tee shot land in Rae’s Creek. His lead disappeared after the 12th, he found water again on 16 and wound up with a final round 78, five shots behind the winner Faldo.
1980 – Tom Weiskopf:
He wasn’t leading when he had a nightmare at the 12th, but his performance was so legendary that it garners an honor here. Weiskopf had a nice career, with 16 career PGA Tour wins and an Open Championship in 1973. A four-time Masters runner-up, Weiskopf was nowhere near the leaderboard in 1980 after he carded a record 13 at the 12th, putting five balls in the water. The good news? He nearly cut his score in half the next day, finishing with a seven at the par-3. He didn’t make the cut, in case you were wondering.
1973 – JC Snead:
The nephew of the legendary Sam never won a major, at points finishing as a runner-up at the Masters and U.S. Open, while placing third at the PGA Championship. The most painstaking of those finishes came at Augusta in 1973, when he walked to the 12th hole with a two-stroke lead on Tommy Aaron and Peter Oosterhuis. A double bogey later he fell into a tie for first and ultimately lost to Aaron by a stroke.
1962 – Gary Player:
1959 – Arnold Palmer:
One of the co-leaders through three rounds, Palmer took a three-stroke lead to the 12th hole and saw it evaporate. His tee shot went into the water, pitched his drop over the green, chipped again and wound up with a triple-bogey six. He fell into a tie for the lead and lost by two to Art Wall, Jr.