The hole at Augusta which Jack Nicklaus claims was the most vital to three of his Masters titles, he never went in the water on it

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Jack Nicklaus is arguably the greatest golfer of all time and definitely the best at the Masters Tournament.

Nicklaus won the Green Jacket a record six times and finished in the top 10 on another 19 occasions.

He made an outstanding 45 appearances at the event throughout his career and will forever be associated with Augusta National.

The Golden Bear once explained which hole at the iconic course was key to half of his Masters victories.

• READ MORE: The ‘unfair’ problem Jack Nicklaus had to deal with throughout his career which would have destroyed most other golfers

Jack Nicklaus said one hole at Augusta was key to three of his Masters wins

There are so many amazing holes at Augusta, not least the three at Amen Corner (11, 12 and 13), and Nicklaus loved one in particular.

He once described the 16th hole as the “centerpiece” of his Masters wins in 1963, 1975 and 1986, adding that the water never bothered him.

Nicklaus explained: “A very pretty hole. In a tournament, I don’t think I have ever hit the ball in the water there, so it’s never really been a factor for me.

“Basically, I see the middle of the green and a ridge, which is going to direct the ball to one side of the green or another. It doesn’t look that much from the tee, but once you get on to the green and throw a ball on it and watch it roll back – it rolls to a consistent shot.

“When the pin is on the left side, it is more about making sure you have the right distance than it is about accuracy.

“It was the centerpiece of several of my wins: in ’63 I holed about a 12 footer which put me ahead, in ’75 I hit a 38 foot putt up the hill and, of course, in ’86 I almost made a one. If you took all my 16s, I am probably more under par here than any of Augusta’s other par threes.”

The number of hole in ones on the 16th in Masters Tournament history

The 16th hole is the best ace opportunity at Augusta National. There have been 24 holes in one there in the history of the Masters Tournament.

There were no aces at the 16th in 2024 or 2023, so the most recent was Stewart Cink’s in 2022.

Tommy Fleetwood (2021), Bryson DeChambeau (2019) and Justin Thomas (2019) are some of the other current stars who have made one in recent times.

Neither Jack Nicklaus nor Tiger Woods ever made a hole in one at the Masters despite winning the tournament 11 times between them.