Greens not easy targets at National

It's one of the most difficult feats to accomplish in a Masters Tournament round: Hit all 18 of the slick and undulating greens at Augusta National Golf Club in regulation.

"It is hard to do," said Jim Furyk, who hit every green in the first round of the 2009 Masters. "That doesn't happen very often here."

Of course, Furyk had 18 birdie putts that day. He made six of them for 66.

No one hit every green in regulation in Thursday's first round of the 75th Masters. Heath Slocum came the closest with 16.

Hitting every green in regulation "is pretty tough to do; Jim Furyk would be the guy to do it," said Matt Kuchar, who thinks his career best at Augusta National is 14 greens. "There are so many slopes. You can hit some good shots where you end up with the ball funneling off the green there."

Said Brandt Snedeker, who tied for third in 2008: "I haven't even come close to that (18 greens). I think 14 is my best. I'd be happy to hit 13 a day and take it.

"When I was playing good there a couple of years ago, I was hitting a lot of greens. You've got to (do that) around that place. You can't put a lot of pressure on your short game. But that being said, it's hard to have one of those rounds where you're hitting a lot of greens."

Lee Westwood, the 2010 Masters runner-up, led the field in greens hit in regulation last year with 58 out of a possible 72, an average of nearly 15 greens a day.

Westwood hit three more greens than Nick Watney, who finished second in greens in regulation. Watney thinks the most greens he ever hit in a round at Augusta National is 15.

How many greens did Nick Price and Greg Norman, the co-holders of the Augusta National course-record with 9-under par-63s, hit on their magical days?

Price, who shot his 63 in the third round of the 1986 Masters, said he hit 15 greens.

Norman, who tied Price's mark in the first round of the 1996 Masters, hit 16 greens that day, he said.

"There are a some holes there that are really hard (to hit in regulation), like 1, 4, 7, 12 and 17," the 54-year-old Price said.

Of the five holes Price mentioned, he missed the green on only one of them (the par-4 first hole, where he drove it into the fairway bunker and didn't hit the green on his second shot) during his 63.

His other "misses" were on the par-3 sixth (he was just off the green) and the par-4 14th (over the back of the green).

Price, who played in 20 Masters, said hitting a large number of greens in regulation doesn't mean you're going to shoot a low number -- especially if you're not a good lag putter.

"If you want to putt from 60 feet all day, you can (hit all 18)," Price said.

Said Furyk: "Sometimes hitting the green isn't as difficult as putting it in a spot you can play from. I'd much rather hit 14 greens and have a lot of opportunities than 18 and not have very many good ones."

Lengthening Augusta National by 450 yards in the past decade (to 7,435 yards) made it harder to hit greens in regulation.

"The course is so long now that you've got a lot of long irons and mid-irons in," Snedeker said. "Even a high quality golf shot is going to bounce off every once in a while and go into a weird place."

Depending on the pin placement, sometimes players don't want to hit the green in regulation.

"Sometimes you're better off missing a green in certain spots than hitting it in other spots," Snedeker said. "Sometimes you might even aim away from the damn green to give yourself a good chance of making par and getting out of there."

Reach David Westin at (706) 823-3224 ordavid.westin@augustachronicle.com.