The Masters
Masters 2025: Staple Sunday pin location shockingly switched for final round. Here's why
Al Tielemans
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Perhaps the most famous final-round pin location in golf is no more. Well, for 2025, at least.
Just before 8:15 a.m. ET the official Masters X/Twitter account unveiled the Sunday hole locations and there was an absolute stunner: the classic funnel pin at the par-3 16th was nowhere to be found:
The location that produced arguably the greatest highlight in Masters history, Tiger Woods' iconic chip-in in 2005, not to mention innumerable holes-in-one that send roars through the pines, has been changed for what promises to be an all-time great final round. If you've been paying attention this week, you could almost feel this coming, as both Thursday and Saturday's hole locations at the 16th were tucked on the left side of the green. Thursday's was back left while Saturday's was middle left.
But for this final round the 16th hole location is in the back right, five paces from the right edge of the green and 36 paces on. If it looks or sounds familiar, that's because it is a similar location to the one at the 1975 Masters, Jack Nicklaus' fifth green jacket. This year is the 50th anniversary of that epic Sunday clash, where Nicklaus held off Johnny Miller and Tom Weiskopf in a battle of heavyweights not that dissimilar to the Rory vs. Bryson clash that awaits this Sunday:
That year, Nicklaus sat at 11 under facing a long, uphill birdie putt to this location on the 16th green. Back at the 15th, Weiskopf holed a birdie putt that yielded a massive roar. "Oh, what a tremendous putt by Tom Weiskopf!" said commentator Ben Wright in the 15th hole tower. "And that is going to be evil music ringing in Nicklaus' ear, as Tom Weiskopf grabs the lead once again at 12 under par."
Nicklaus answered as only he could, holeing his birdie putt and running with his left arm, putter in hand, pointed to the sky:
While birdies, and aces, will be much harder to come by on 16 this year, if that highlight is any indication, this hole should still produce the same drama as it so often does.
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