No. 7 maintains difficult trend with tough round

Combine brutal winds with firmer greens and Au­gus­ta National Golf Club lives up to its reputation as a major challenge.

It also opens up the possibility for new or unique numbers on the course, such as what happened at No. 7 this week.

The par-4 seventh hole has trended toward being more difficult in recent years. It ranks 11th all-time at 4.15 but reached third toughest last year at 4.24. The trend continued this year at 4.243 to rank fifth toughest.

A hole revamp in 2006 moved the tees back 35-40 yards and added trees to both sides of the fairway to create one of the narrowest fairways on the course. Combine that with a small, elevated green guarded by five bunkers, and the hole has played more difficult.

Add strong winds in this year’s Masters Tournament and a green that firmed up for the weekend, and No. 7 became the most difficult hole on the course in relation to par Saturday at 4.579. It’s the first time the hole was ranked first in a round since the fourth round in 1995 at 4.404.

The seventh took a step back in the fourth round Sunday at 4.07 with a pin placement to the right of the green’s ridge. The Saturday pin closer to the ridge made it difficult to stop an approach shot near the hole.

“No. 7 is straight downwind,” said Bill Haas, who had three pars and a bogey for the week. “I don’t think you can hit it within five feet with a lob wedge. You can hit it 20 feet long.

“There’s a hole you just can’t get it close to. But I think that’s part of the tournament is when you can’t get it close, you’ve got to hit it to that spot and then you have a tough two-putt.”

Only seven players hit to within 20 feet Saturday, and there were just three birdies compared with 24 bogeys. It slightly favored the players Sun­day with 10 birdies to 14 bogeys.

Henrik Stenson hit the closest approach Saturday at 12 feet and birdied. Danny Wil­lett sank a 19-foot birdie putt, while Anirban Lahiri rolled in a 40-foot putt for birdie.

The hole’s difficulty created a turning point for Rory McIlroy on Saturday, who was 2-under and within striking distance of leader Jordan Spieth before his bogey at No. 7 caused frustration.

“I hit two great shots in there, just above the pin, thought I holed my putt for birdie, it goes six feet by and I miss the one coming back,” McIlroy said.

McIlroy’s three-putt from 23 feet showed how slick the green became, combined with a difficult Saturday pin position to make it one of the toughest greens on the course.

“I had two of the fastest putts I’ve ever had on Au­gus­ta on 7 and 15,” said Lee West­wood, who hit it to 17 feet Saturday but lagged his birdie putt downhill to four feet for par. “Just when you hit a couple of good shots like I did on 7 and you’re just trying to two-putt it, lag it down there, you know they’re getting shiny.”