Cutmakers, 2025 Masters
More superlatives--with quibbles--from this year's tournament unlike any other.
More 2025 Masters places, people, and partners who had a better-than-most week, with caveats.
Course Setup. Probably the best setup of the last decade, it’s no coincidence we got a thrilling weekend of play with a nice variety of contenders. The first two rounds were especially good with a nice mix of hole locations. Perhaps worried about pace of play due to the huge field size, or simply realizing that a hybrid blend of hole locations makes for a better setup, the Cup and Tee Marker Placement Committee did a fantastic job presenting the course while working in a few fresh looks. Better weather helped. But huge swings in humidity and temperature from morning to evening must have made finding the green speed and firmness sweet spot the ultimate first-world battle. This year, the increasingly excessive 18th hole seemed to play better thanks to the markers going down in the 440-450 range instead of going back to 465. The 72.807 scoring average was the lowest since 2020 (71.752). For the fourth year in a row, the second nine (36.899) played almost a stroke harder than the front nine (35.909). The course played surprisingly tough on Sunday when the greens veered close to the speed limit and McIlroy mentioned it played more like a U.S. Open. The sense of defensiveness might have been a product of the pressure he faced more than setup, since there were 12 rounds in the 60s led by Rose and Hideki Matsuyama posting final round 66s.
Tribute Pins. The Lords should never be discouraged from celebrating history. They do it so well and with a level of authenticity that only adds to the accomplishment of winning the Masters. But taking it onto the course for the final round and losing the iconic 16th hole pin placement to celebrate Jack Nicklaus’ winning putt from 1975? To coincide with elaborately planned social and CBS rollouts? It was a bit like putting pickles on the Masters Pimento Cheese sandwich. I love pickles. Who doesn’t love pickles? But you don’t mess with a proven recipe. Especially since the 16th’s upper left shelf offers the least interesting pin on the green. There’s good reason it’s no longer used on Sundays: even if a player hits a great shot, the green’s steep pitch leads to few made putts. The green contours are more pronounced than in Nicklaus’s day, making a repeat of his putt unlikely. The 16th played to a 3.019 average Sunday and saw 10 birdies despite 83% of the field hitting the green. The players took more putts per GIR there on Sunday than any day of the week. In the name of watching balls feed dramatically to the hole and players doing amazing things (it’s harder than it looks), let’s hope they go back to the normal Sunday pin. After all, it pays tribute to all of the amazing moments at No. 16.
Butler Cabin. This year’s surprising explosion of white orchids and stockpiling of firewood added to an aesthetic rollercoaster ride that has featured ferns, flowers, unusual table pieces, five-alarm scarring above the fireplace, and the annual school detention center body language. Without an amateur making the cut, this year’s ceremony moved briskly. Since the telecast ran long and everyone just wanted to hear from McIlroy, the whole thing was shaping up to be the least-awkward Butler ceremony on record. But in a tradition unlike any other, Scottie Scheffler kept the weirdness streak alive despite doing his third straight year in the Cabin. After putting the jacket on McIlroy and shaking the new champion’s hand, he rapidly exited stage left. It wasn’t quite a full “Bennett,” named after low amateur Sam’s abrupt mid-ceremony departure in 2023. Nonetheless, the tradition continues.
Champions Dinner. “It was a quiet dinner—quieter than normal,” Tommy Aaron told the Augusta Chronicle. Quiet isn’t the worst thing. Certainly better than food fights or manspats. Perhaps having the same Champion as two years ago with a similar menu made everyone less chatty. Or perhaps Tiger’s absence deprived the room of some gravitas. Either way, it’s still one of the best and most beautifully cultivated traditions in sport and we’re all just living vicariously through those who earned their invites.
Tiger. His foundation and design firm will be part of The Patch upgrade project, but all the love in the air was not enough to carry him to Augusta for the rollout. “The guys said that Tiger still can’t put weight on his foot,” said Charles Coody. “His weight tolerance just isn’t there to climb those stairs.” I’m fairly sure the Lords would have found a way. But from a pure vanity perspective, it’s hard to blame the old warhorse for not wanting to be seen motorscootering into the clubhouse.
5th Hole. Welcome back…at least visually. Thanks to tree losses last fall, new openings in the woods reminded everyone that you, No. 5, are still part of the course. The vistas and views down into the 6th, 15th and 16th holes are quite lovely. Architecturally? The latest iteration played as the toughest hole again. It may also be the least interesting by miles. The original reverse Road hole strategy remains out of reach since 2019’s repair work and road-re-routing extension. The latest version was meant to repair much worse Fazio attempts at, well, only he and Hootie know. The original design concept is not complicated and spelled out by Bobby Jones: a player can risk carrying the left side bunker with a chance to shorten the hole. The reward they receive is a better angle and shorter shot to the complicated green. Yet the latest iteration offers more trouble over the bunkers and zero reward for the few who might be able to carry them. So everyone plays to the right off the tee and they are forced into the less attractive angle to attack the still-marvelous green. At least run-up approaches that Jones wanted are still possible. I happened upon an amazing run-up from the left rough and subsequent birdie by Matt Fitzpatrick during Saturday’s third round. Jones would have been giddy.
Amateurs. Two invite-eligible members of the non-purse money professional community passed up the week, none made the cut, and Jose Ballester dropped trow at the 13th hole 300 yards after passing by a restroom. But at least Justin Hastings and Hiroshi Tai made strong impressions in their press conference, and U.S. Mid-Amateur Evan Beck talked about having the week of his life. So we’ll thank them for spirited efforts and also continue to wonder about the future of amateurism.
Scoreboards. Patrons leaving early on Sunday remained a thing. But it appears one of their complaints was addressed with much faster score posting on the iconic Masters boards. So much so that CBS showed several exciting moments when the lead changed hands. The replays were nearly always within a minute or two of the key lead change, suggesting a long overdue improvement in on-course posting that is also vital for players (who have quietly noted the inability to get the latest changes). One request I heard from Patron-Americans: putting a full-field scoreboard on the southern side of the property, offering scores similar to what patrons can access at the main entrance to and from the grounds. It makes sense given the increased popularity of the 15/16 arena with its nearby entrance gate that features everything else a spectator needs.