Living on a PRAYER

Many a prayer has been left unanswered on Amen Corner.

This treacherous stretch of three holes across the lowest points of the famed Augusta National is where the dreams of aspiring Masters Champions are fulfilled or can quickly turn into a horrible nightmare.

Each year, the major championships showcase formidable, often brutal, holes that ultimately define its champion. But Amen Corner has to be played, and survived, annually. The challenge of Amen Corner as we know it today begins at the long par-4 11th and concludes only when you turn to walk onto the 14th tee.

The significance of this iconic golfing real estate was first recognised by legendary sportswriter and broadcaster Herbert Warren Wind after watching Arnold Palmer win the 1958 Masters. He coined the term ‘Amen Corner’, specifically covering the approach shot into the 11th, the 12th hole and the tee shot on the par-5 13th hole. In writing for Sports Illustrated, Wind noted these three holes were often, year-in-year-out, decisive in the final result.

In his article, called The Fateful Corner, who drew on an old jazz song in calling it Amen Corner … where “many Masters have been won and lost.”

In an interview nearly