History is against Bryson DeChambeau and the other Masters rookies this year

Post by Golf Writer, Kieran Clark

It has now been 37 years since Indiana’s Fuzzy Zoeller overcame Tom Watson and Ed Sneed to win the Masters in a memorable playoff. As the decades have passed, that victory has only become more significant to the history of Augusta National. Serving to add just a little further mystique to the tournament. It remains the last time a first-time participant claimed the Green Jacket on debut.

Apart from Gene Sarazen and Horton Smith in the first two editions – who can’t reasonably be counted - Zoeller is the one player in 80 years who defied the odds of tradition and inexperience to join the legends in Georgia. Rookies have found the famous course a difficult nut to crack on first viewing, with the aura of the surroundings and experience often proving to be overwhelming.

Possessing the most fearsome and uncooperative of greens, it can take time for a player to fully understand the breaks on those surfaces, and the spots of the course that must be avoided. It needs to be absorbed, and consider that Jack Nicklaus, arguably golf’s greatest on-course strategist, missed the cut in his first appearance at Augusta in 1959.

He would ultimately go on to win six times, but it didn’t come easy at the start. “Well, the first time, I found out what I mostly didn't know and that was that I didn't know how to putt these greens. So that was the first thing that I had to learn,” said the 76-year-old, who is celebrating the 30th anniversary of his sixth victory.

It wasn’t until his fifth Masters, in 1963, that Nicklaus felt comfortable with the layout. “I knew that you had to play some right-to-left shots, but I still didn't have the nerve to let them go because I didn't have the confidence in my own game to be able to do that because I was pretty confident playing left-to-right. It wasn't until '63 that I got that.  And I think certainly after a couple of years, I pretty well figured the greens and what I had to do,” added the 18-time major winner.

There are some fast learners, as Jordan Spieth has proven in recent times. The young Texan came agonisingly close to winning at Augusta on his debut two years ago, ultimately finishing runner-up to Bubba Watson. That was the closest any rookie has come to winning the Masters since Zoeller, and he went one step better 12 months later, completing a stunning wire-to-wire triumph.

The 22-year-old – who chose the menu at Tuesday’s Champions Dinner – has somehow managed to unlock the secrets of Augusta more quickly than most, which is testament to both his cerebral nature as a golfer and dedication spent on his preparation. Seeking out two-time winner Ben Crenshaw as a mentor, playing practice rounds together, the former world number one was able to tap into the unrivalled knowledge of someone who had played in 44 Masters Tournaments.

The 64-year-old, who bowed out of the event last year, has become a man in demand, with Bryson DeChambeau, the enigmatic U.S. Amateur champion, spending time with the Austin golfing legend ahead of his own debut this week. The 22-year-old from California, who has become noted for a unique approach of playing a set of irons and wedges that are all cut to the same length, has prepared more studiously than perhaps anyone else in this year’s field of 89 players.

Turning professional on Monday, the intellectually minded former physics major, who became the fifth player to win the NCAA Championship and U.S. Amateur in the same year, played ten rounds at Augusta before tournament week. Studying the history of Augusta National, and particularly its founder Bobby Jones, DeChambeau has left no stone unturned ahead of Thursday’s opening round.

“We're in a completely different place now than we were before I played with Mr. Crenshaw and had the chance to walk around with Carl,” the amateur reflected on his time spent with the former champion and his long-time Masters caddie Carl Jackson. “His knowledge and wisdom is immense. Like Jordan did last year, he gained a lot of knowledge from him, as well, and I hope to do the same and kind of go down the same tracks as Jordan did this year.”

Playing with a former winner has become a popular strategy for first-time competitors going back to when Tiger Woods experienced Augusta National with Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer in 1995.

DeChambeau has also played with Phil Mickelson this week, who was impressed by the young man. “I really enjoy spending time with Bryson because he comes at the game from such a different point of view and has such well thought?out opinions as to why and how it should be played a certain way, a different way, the way that he plays it. He's a terrific player,” said the three-time champion.

Having spent more than a week on the property, DeChambeau has been able to ingest the surrounds and iconic images that have been engrained in the minds of every golfer. Sir Nick Faldo believes that is key for any new player on their first visit to Augusta. “The best advice for first-timers is to get in early, really early. You’ve just got to come and get over the aura of it. Drive down Magnolia Lane and do all of the sight-seeing. Get comfortable, because when I came here for the first time I was way too much in awe of the place, and couldn’t play. I really couldn’t. It was too much.”

That sense of awe has certainly been present in the mind of DeChambeau, who has been struck by the history of the legendary amateur Jones, who famously won all four major championships of his era in 1930, using a set of irons that had been modified with a number of them at the same length.

“I saw this set of golf clubs and I knew that they were Mr. Jones’ because they all looked relatively the same length, and it was a pretty special moment. Because we'd always heard that story, never verified it,” reflected the player who has names for all of his own clubs. “But when I actually got to go up to that case and I looked in. It inspired me even more.”

For Jose Maria Olazabal, last European winner of the Masters, the experience of playing for the first time is one that should be relished above all else. “I advise them to enjoy it as much as possible, and pay attention to every little detail,” said the two-time champion, who is sadly absent this year.

In addition to the U.S. Amateur, 19 other players are making their debut this week, with that weighty baggage of history on their shoulders. It’s a typically cosmopolitan group, headed by talented American Justin Thomas, and in-form Spaniard Rafael Cabrera-Bello. Scotland’s Russell Knox has naturally sought the knowledge of compatriot Sandy Lyle, who is playing for the 35^th time.

They have all driven down Magnolia Lane with high expectations and dreams, none more so than Bryson DeChambeau, but it will take someone special to finally break one of Augusta National’s most impenetrable traditions. Just ask Fuzzy Zoeller, the sole member of a lonely club.