News and notes: Key stats from 77th Masters

Poring over Masters statistics – it’s a tradition unlike any other.

Here are some key stats and figures from the 77^th Masters:

Hole rankings, in terms of difficulty (listed hardest to easiest):

240-yard, par-3 fourth: 3.3896 stroke average

445-yard, par-4 first: 4.2922

505-yard, par-4 11^th: 4.2760

450-yard, par-4 seventh: 4.2403

455-yard, par-4 fifth: 4.2273

440-yard, par-4 17^th: 4.2208

155-yard, par-3 12^th: 3.2175

495-yard, par-4 10^th: 4.2013

465-yard, par-4 18^th: 4.1818

180-yard, par-3 sixth: 3.1071

460-yard, par-4 ninth: 4.1071

440-yard, par-4 14^th: 4.1006

170-yard, par-3 16^th: 3.0552

350-yard, par-4 third: 4.0097

510-yard, par-5 13^th: 4.7532

575-yard, par-5 second: 4.7143

570-yard, par-5 eighth: 4.6786

530-yard, par-5 15^th: 4.6396

Some takeaways:

• The scoring average for the week was 73.4122. The winning score was 9-under 279.

• The par-3 fourth, once again, was a brute of a hole. Only 10 birdies were recorded there all week, along with 103 bogeys.

• The par-5 15^th played as the easiest hole during the tournament, and the only “other” recorded (triple bogey or worse) was Tiger Woods’ penalty-aided, triple-bogey 8 in the second round.

• No hole epitomizes the risk/reward nature of Augusta National quite like the par-5 13^th. The reward wasn’t all that great this year, however – only two eagles were recorded. There were five double bogeys or worse.

• Four of the dreaded “others” were recorded on the par-3 12^th, including two in the final round. Both Kevin Na and defending champion Bubba Watson carded a 10 on the shortest hole on the course.

• The par-4 opening hole doesn’t allow for many to get off to a hot start. Only 25 birdies were recorded there last week, with 104 bogeys or worse.

• Ernie Els and Robert Garrigus each collected three pieces of crystal for their multiple eagles at Augusta last week.

• No player made as many birdies as Thorbjorn Olesen, who was making his Masters debut. The promising Dane recorded 21 birdies, one more than defending champion Bubba Watson and Tim Clark. Adam Scott, Phil Mickelson and Woods each had 15 birdies.

• Scott hit more greens than any other player in the field – 55 of 72, or more than 76 percent. Runner-up Angel Cabrera was T-3 in this category, hitting 52 greens, while Woods hit 47.

• Garrigus led the field in driving distance, averaging 304.38 yards per tee shot

• Clark led the field in driving accuracy, missing only nine fairways (83.93 percent) the entire week. Five players hit more than 80 percent of the fairways. Scott hit 32 of 56 fairways, only one more than Woods.

• Woods had the best save percentage from the sand, getting up-and-down more than 85 percent (6 of 7) of the time.

• Rickie Fowler and 14-year-old amateur Tianlang Guan led the field in putting (1.50), using the Masters’ average-putts-per-hole statistic. Woods had 1.61 putts per hole, while Scott posted 1.67.