Jack Nicklaus' Six Shots You Need To Win Around Augusta National

Jack Nicklaus has pinpointed the six shots players need to get right to win The Masters at Augusta National

Jack Nicklaus at the Masters
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Paul Higham
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For anyone wanting to know the key to success at The Masters, the great Jack Nicklaus has broken it down into six crucial shots you need to play well to win around Augusta National.

Nobody knows about fighting for that coveted Green Jacket more than Nicklaus, a six-time winner of The Masters from 46 years of battling Augusta National and all its nuance.

Augusta is definitely a place that takes some getting used to, and there are various theories on the best way to play it, where and when to attack and where not to miss if you want to challenge for the Masters title.

If anyone holds the key to success around the most iconic venue in golf, then it’s Nicklaus, who can boil everything down to just six shots that you have to get right if you want to be in with a chance of picking up the first Major of the year.

Jack Nicklaus tries on the Green Jacket after winning his last Major, the 1986 Masters

(Image credit: Getty Images)

“Everybody knows Augusta pretty much, there’s about six shots at Augusta that you better pay attention to,” Nicklaus told Sir Nick Faldo’s podcast Sir Nick’s Round Table Chats.

“Your tee shot at two, your second shot at 11, tee shot at 12, your tee shot at 13 and the second shot at 13, and the second shot at 15.

“I don’t think 16 – that doesn’t bother me, I don’t think I’ve ever hit it in the water there.

“So those six shots, if you play those shots smart, play them intelligently, and put them in the conservative side of the ledger, the rest of the golf course is not very hard.”

Amen corner is crammed with patrons watching

The tee shot on 12 is one of Nicklaus' six shots to Masters glory

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Nicklaus also said that although conventional wisdom says you need to draw the ball to win around Augusta, a fade is the shot you need to play going into most greens, with only a few draws needed off a few tees.

“Augusta has shots that you need to play right to left, but most shots are fades,” Nicklaus added. “You look at two, three, five, right through the golf course, you’ve got a couple of right to lefts there, six is a little right to left and one is a little right to left.

“But for the most part coming into the greens a fade will do you fine, but off the tee you’ve got to occasionally hit it right to left.”

Paul Higham
Paul Higham
Contributor

Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website.  Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush. 

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