Butch Harmon once identified the most difficult shot at Augusta National which even Tiger Woods struggled with

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There is a reason why no golfer has won The Masters on their first visit to Augusta National since 1979, with the Georgia pines asking such a wide variety of questions of those who get the chance to tee it up.

Rory McIlroy seemed to win and lose The Masters about five times on Sunday alone before finally getting across the line earlier this year.

Obviously, the pressure of completing the career grand slam was a key reason behind McIlroy’s turbulent final day at the first major of the year, but Augusta National played its part. It is a golf course which seems to have a nasty way of tripping up the world’s best just when they think that they have worked it out.

Few will ever forget Jordan Spieth finding the water on 12 in 2016 when he seemed to have one arm in the green jacket he had won one year earlier. Spieth has now missed the cut in two of the last four events.

Butch Harmon named the most difficult shot at Augusta National

Of course, many know of the most challenging shots on the course. The tee shot on 12 which made Spieth look foolish is iconic. Meanwhile, holes such as the fifth, the 11th and 18th are among those which can be fraught with danger.

Butch Harmon has a remarkable relationship with Augusta National. His father won The Masters in 1948, while he coached Tiger Woods to his 12-shot victory nearly five decades later.

And speaking on Son of a Butch in 2023, Harmon picked out the shot which he would consider to be surprisingly difficult.

“Without a shot, the drive off the first tee. The anxiety that’s going through these guys. Think about the great Tiger Woods, some of the worst drives he’s ever hit at Augusta are on the first tee. It’s not because he’s nervous, it’s just he’s so amped up. He’s like a horse in the starting gate at the Kentucky Derby, he’s ready to go, and that drive, you watch some of the best players in the world hit some of the worst drives you’ve ever seen in your life,” he said.

“It’s amazing how many times they’re playing out of the left trees or even the ninth fairway sometimes, because that bunker on the right is very deep and if you hit it in that bunker, it’s hard to get it to the green. And I think that’s the shot that I know would surprise your viewer who asked the question. I think the hardest shot is the one you hit off the first tee, which sounds ridiculous for the best players in the world but look at how many bad drives we see.”

What Rory McIlroy said after his double bogey on the first hole during the final round at the 2025 Masters

The drama of the first hole was on full display during McIlroy’s run to The Masters title this year. The Northern Irishman saw his overnight lead evaporate after he made a double bogey on the first at the start of his final round.

McIlroy noted after his victory that the nerves definitely got to him. And it was actually making that six which allowed him to settle down.

“Today was difficult. I was unbelievably nervous this morning. Really nervous on the first hole, as you witnessed with the double, but as I said, that sort of calmed me down and I was able to bounce back and show that resilience that I’ve talked about a lot,” he said.

“Yeah, look, it was a heavy weight to carry, and thankfully now I don’t have to carry it and it frees me up and I know I’m coming back here every year, which is lovely.”

Augusta is one of those courses which offers scoring opportunities for the best players. However, it is unique, in that those very same opportunities can cause all sorts of problems with the margins so small.