2017 Masters: The hardest and easiest holes at Augusta National

If you're looking where to make hay at the Masters, look no further than the two back nine par 5s

Most of us who care about the Masters have every hole memorized. We can tell you where to hit tee shots and where not to hit them. It is one of the few PGA Tour courses that is like that. But what you might not know is which holes have historically been the hardest and easiest to play.

Three hardest

No. 11 -- 4.35 scoring average

No. 10 -- 4.30 scoring average

No. 7 -- 4.25 scoring average

All of these are par 4s so you can see that a +.3 average is not ideal.

Nos. 10 and 11 are where Jordan’s Spieth’s stunning three-hole slide started. He bogeyed both of those before the meltdown at No. 12. No. 11 is the real soul-crusher. Its easiest year was 1995 when the scoring average was still over par at 4.06. In its hardest year (1956), the scoring average here swelled to nearly 5.

With Spieth’s struggles to open the back nine last year and Rory McIlroy’s troubles in 2011 on No. 10, it will be interesting to see how this year’s leader opens the final stretch towards home. Once you get past those two (and the tee shot at No. 12), you can cruise home a little bit with some scoring opportunities.

Three easiest 

No. 15 -- 4.78

No. 8 -- 4.80

No. 2 -- 4.82

It’s not shocking that the four easiest holes on the course are all par 5s (No. 13 is the fourth-easiest and not listed). What is surprising is which order they go. I would have thought Nos. 2 and 13 would be the two easiest with Nos. 8 and 15 behind them, but instead it is the other way around.

The tournament always seems to flip on the 13th or 15th. How many times do we see a winner make eagle or birdie at one of those (or both) in the final round? How many times do we see the eventual loser go into the drink on one or the other?

You can win the golf tournament (going away) by making birdie at each par 5 every day and playing the rest of the event at level par. That is actually a good strategy for guys like Dustin Johnson and McIlroy. As long as you don’t get caught on one of the three hardest holes I noted above.

What’s crazy is that one of the few winners in recent memory who has not dominated the par 5s was Danny Willett last season. He played them in even par the first two rounds, 2 over the third round and 2 under the final round for a total of even par. It was a non-traditional win that happened in a non-traditional manner.

I expect tradition to take center stage once again this time around.