Three-time Masters winner Phil Mickelson didn't hold back when offering his opinion on this year's major championship.
On Thursday afternoon, perhaps the biggest competition on the golf calendar teed off as The Masters got underway at the iconic Augusta National golf club in Georgia.
Following a dramatic opening two days that has seen some of the biggest names both at the top of the leaderboard, with Rory McIlroy boasting a six shot lead, and at the bottom, with Bryson DeChambeau crashing out and missing the cut.
Unfortunately, in the days leading up to the event there were also several major withdrawals from the competition, including six-time major champion Mickelson, who pulled out due to an ongoing “family health matter”.
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But, although he's not been competing in The Masters this year, that doesn't mean that Mickelson hasn't been enjoying the drama from home like the rest of us.
However, there is one key detail about this year's Masters that he's admitted he isn't fond of, as he took to social media to criticise recent changes that has seen several of the holes on the back nine made longer to increase their difficulty.
Posting on X, he wrote: "Watching The Masters and seeing so few players long enough to go for 13 &15 now has taken away so much excitement and intrigue to the back nine. Another example of how longer isn’t always better."
Later, he added: "Not a single eagle putt on 13. Crazy."
Although it was later pointed out that several players had actually putted for eagle on the 13th hole, including Jake Knapp who made the putt, Mickelson's point still stands as many fans agreed with his observation when replying to the post.
What changes have been made to the Augusta National course?
The most recent changes Augusta National’s tournament course came earlier this year as the par-4 17th hole was lengthened by 10 yards, bringing its total distance to 450 yards.
Before them, in 2023 the par-5 hole 13, known to be one of the easiest on the course, was stretched by 35 yards, bringing its total length from 510 yards to 545 yards.
A year prior, Augusta also changed holes No. 11 and No.15, increasing the former, a par-four to 520 yards and the par-five 15th to 550 yards from 505 and 530 yards respectively.
Like the change to hole 13 in 2023, the change to hole 15 the year before was done to make one of the easiest holes of The Masters just a bit more challenging, something that Mickelson clearly isn't pleased about.
However, ahead of the change hole 11 was already seen as arguably the hardest hole on the course, as seen by the historical scoring average of roughly 4.30 strokes.
Topics: Golf
Ben McCrum