AUGUSTA, Ga. — Augusta National is switching things up for the final round of the 89th Masters, though it’s for a good reason.
The course switched the pin placement at the short par-3 16th to the back right corner, the opposite of where it traditionally sits for the final round of the major championship each April. The tournament did so to honor Jack Nicklaus 50 years after he drained a 40-foot birdie putt that eventually set him up for the win.
A historic hole location on No. 16. #themasters pic.twitter.com/K4324Fx4yC
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 13, 2025
Usually, the Sunday pin placement at the hole is on the bottom left portion of the green. The cup was down on that spot on Saturday, though, and is now up in one of the hardest locations possible — which should add to what is already shaping up to be a thrilling battle in the final round between Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau.
Nicklaus, in the last round of the 1975 Masters, sank a deep birdie putt up the hill to the back pin placement — which sparked a massive celebration on the green from him and his caddie. Nicklaus ended up winning the Masters that year by a single stroke.
The win was one of five that Nicklaus had that year on the PGA Tour. It was also his fifth Masters win. Nicklaus, now 85, has 73 PGA Tour wins to his name. That trails only Tiger Woods and Sam Snead, though he has a record 18 major championships. Nicklaus, along with Tom Watson and Gary Player, was an honorary starter for the Masters on Thursday.
McIlroy holds a two-shot lead entering the final round on Sunday after his second-straight 66, which has him in perhaps the best position he's been in to finally win the Masters and complete the career grand slam. If he can pull that off, he'd be just the sixth golfer in history to do so and the first since Woods. Nicklaus has also accomplished that feat.
DeChambeau, however, birdied three of his final four holes on Saturday to climb into the final group with McIlroy. He’s also looking for his first Masters win, and is hoping to spoil McIlroy at a major again after doing so at the U.S. Open last summer.
While it may not come down to the 16th green — there is plenty of time before that for things to shake out — the Masters isn’t going to make things easy on Sunday.
