Could You Win The Masters If You Started Every Hole On The Green?

I was perusing YouTube earlier this week when I came across this hilarious video with Grant Horvat and Robby Berger.

In the nine-hole challenge, Horvat (a very good golfer) plays the forward tees while Berger (a mediocre golfer) gets to start on the green as far away from the hole as possible. Horvat even went to the course a few days earlier to set up hole locations that would make it harder for Berger.

I won’t spoil the video but it’s an absolute doozy. It’s already well over one million views as I’m typing this.

Aside from the entertainment value, the video delivered an interesting scenario: What if Bobby Fairways was doing this in the Masters?

Could the everyday hacker win the Masters if they got to start every hole on the green?

A harder challenge than it seems

I’m going to set some conditions here.

Let’s say that it’s tournament-setup, traditional Masters hole locations and you are putting in front of the patrons. You also get multiple practice rounds and access to whatever equipment you want.

Every hole starts just inside the fringe as far away from the cup as possible.

You won’t know the winning score before you start, but we can take an educated guess at what it will be. The last five Masters champions have been either 10-under, 11-under or 12-under. Let’s take the average and say the score to match is 11-under.

That would be 277 strokes over the course of 72 holes. That averages out to 3.84 putts per hole.

If you just three-putted every hole, you would shoot 54 every round and win the Masters by 61 shots (what a legend).

But Augusta isn’t your typical course (bring a wedge)

Playing in the Masters, you’ll be confronted with some of the fastest greens on the planet.

The slopes are severe and the possibility of putting off the green—into the water, a bunker or down a steep bank—is more a matter of when than a matter of if.

Imagine if you putt it off the green at No. 3 and have to take out your wedge. You might do well to make a double bogey from there.

The biggest advantage would be on the par-5s where even a four-putt will net a birdie.

Conversely, making a par on any of the par-3s would be a huge ask. Those tough slopes on those big greens are a challenge, to say the least.

I’m confident that a scratch golfer could easily pull this off with at least a couple of dozen strokes to spare.

Someone like me who is a 9-handicap? I think I could do it, but it’s not as straightforward as it seems.

The average guy like me is somewhere around 31 putts per round—but that is starting from way closer to the hole, playing on much easier greens.

And someone who is an 18-handicap? I don’t think they have much of a chance.

My arbitrary cut-off is somewhere around a 13-handicap.

Is that off base or do you think I’m right? Could you win the Masters starting on the green?

Let me know below in the comments.

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