Azalea is the 3rd leg of Amen Corner, and it is one of the most highly regarded holes in all of golf. The hole plays as a short par 5, dogleg left. The fairway follows a creek and most of the fairway slopes down toward the creek. With a good drive, players here should be able to reach the green in two, but both shots have extremely high risk-reward payoffs.
The standard tee shot is a draw into the sloping fairway. Professionals will almost always try to round the corner to get a straight shot at the green. Anything short of perfection on either shot will likely lead to serious trouble. The difficulty in reaching the green in two is that the slope of the fairway moves the ball right-to-left into, across the narrowest section of the green, which leaves little room to miss. However, there is a generous layup area short left of the green, which leaves plenty of room to get close.
In recent years, a few professional players have been able to cut the corner by driving the ball up over the trees on the left, effectively cutting the corner, and the tees have since been moved back to prevent this going forward.
The lowest full tournament score for this hole is 6 under par through all four rounds. This has been achieved 10 times in tournament history, with Phil Mickelson as the only player to shoot 6 under two separate times in 1995 and 2010.
The bridge left of the tee is Nelson bridge. The bridge commemorates Byron Nelson’s 1937 win.
“13, man, it’s a good par 5, but it’s, it’s the length of a par 4 in the modern game now. It just happens to turn a little bit much, I think, for a par 4. 3 wood, driver, to the corner or around the corner. I’ve seen guys just pull out driver, tee it up a little higher and bomb it over the top. It can be done, but it’s a risky tee shot, because if you don’t quite hit it or you happen to hit it a spot low on the club, it’s not going to carry.”
“In 2014, I hit my tee shot over the trees. It left me with a sand wedge into the green. I’ll always remember going driver, sand wedge and making birdie. When you combine the beauty and history, I’d say it’s my favorite hole on the course. We’ve seen it all on 13. On Sunday at Augusta National, this is where you start hearing the roars.”
“First, you cannot hit it left in the water. Then you cannot hit it right, into the trees. After that, you cannot leave it short [of the green] in the water. You have to find the fairway. The winds and the pins decide if it’s a really getable birdie hole or you’re just hitting a wedge in there [on your third shot] and have a chance to make birdie.”
In 2023 the hole was extended from 510 yards to 545 yards.