Augusta's wee 12th plays outsized role again

The par-3 proved decisive in the Augusta National Women's Amateur

Asterisk Talley had no idea what was about to hit her in this moment on 12th tee (Courtesy ANWA)

AUGUSTA, Ga. — They say good things come in small packages. Not always.

The 12th hole at Augusta National looks simple enough. It’s among the most photographed and discussed short holes in the game. At only 155 yards, Jack Nicklaus calls it one of the toughest par-3s in the world.

Located in the middle of Amen Corner at the furthest point from the clubhouse, the hole named Golden Bell has less than 30 feet of depth from front to back at its narrowest point. It has one bunker in the front and two in the back.

Most menacingly, it has Rae’s Creek running across the front, swallowing its share of golf balls and dreams through the years.

It found two more on Saturday and passed on another, ultimately determining the outcome of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

Asterisk Talley — the 36-hole leader who seemed so in control through 46 bogey-free holes including the first 10 holes of the final round — had two balls race down the front slope into the gloom of Rae’s Creek from the back bunker. The ensuing quadruple bogey 7 took her from tied for the lead to all but out of it much like Jordan Spieth’s meltdown there in the 2016 Masters.

In the group in front of Talley, María José Marín — whose approach on the 12th hole came up short but somehow did not roll back into Rae’s Creek — managed to get that up and down to save par. She called it a miracle, and 1992 Masters champion Freddie Couples understands how she feels.

The 19-year-old golfer from Colombia who was making her fourth start in the ANWA shot a final-round 68 at Augusta National to eventually claim a four-shot win over Stanford sophomore Andrea Revuelta in the seventh edition of the event that is the kickoff to Masters week.

Korea’s Soomin Oh (68) finished solo third at 9-under. Talley, who began the day with a one-shot lead over Marín and Sweden’s Meja Örtengren, finished in a tie four fourth, six shots back after a 75 that required 42 strokes on the back nine.

Marín, a junior at Arkansas who in 2025 won the NCAA individual title and was coming off a victory Sunday at the Clemson Invitational, missed 11 greens during the tournament (the first two rounds were played at nearby Champions Retreat) and got up and down for par nine times.

None was bigger than the 12th, where the wrong result could have derailed her hopes.

María José Marín got lucky, and up and down, from the front bank on 12 (Courtesy ANWA)

“I think I’ve been kind of a victim of Amen Corner now because definitely gust of wind, it totally tricked me,” said Marín of the moniker for the three-hole stretch that is the 11th, 12 and 13th holes at Augusta National. “It was into the wind; it was not downwind.

“One of the signs was the ball staying on that ridge on 12,” Marín said. “I’ve never seen a ball stay there, and I think it was just God holding the ball there, like, don’t move. This is happening for something.

“When my ball stayed there — I think it’s a miracle that my ball stayed there. I just kind of have to make par and walk away out of here because this just happens once.”

Well, it has happened previously, but usually a ball landing short of the green does not stay. It almost always inevitably trickles back into the water. A notable exception occurred at the 1992 Masters, where Couples’ final-round shot to the green hit on the bank, rolled back, and amazingly stopped. He went on to win his only major title.

“You don’t ever get a break like that,” Couples said at the time. “It was the biggest break probably of my life. I’m sure a million people watching on television were wondering why it didn’t go in. So was I.”

Nicklaus once referred to it as “probably the most dangerous par 3 in the game. You never know what’s going to happen.”

Talley, the 17-year-old phenom who was playing in her third ANWA tournament after two prior top-10s including runner-up last year, had seemingly been so strong through two rounds and was headed to an Augusta National course were she had yet to make a back-nine bogey in her two previous appearances.

Then she opened with birdies on three of her first four holes and was steady at 14-under par through 10. Her first bogey of the day came at the 11th and the tenor of the round changed. She had dropped into a tie with Marín.

Talley had foretold the danger ahead of her a day early after a practioce round at Augusta. “It can tear anyone up in an instant,” she said on Friday. “I mean, we’ve all watched the Masters, right? With all the meltdowns that happen on Amen Corner, and anything can happen …”

A day later, it happened to her.

“I just didn’t think that was going to be my position from the tee box,” Talley said afterward. “I didn’t think I would have to be in that situation at all. It shows how hard that hole is and how much it has messed up other people as well. Obviously it’s tough from any position if you’re not on the green.”

Talley said she felt fortunate her ball didn’t travel farther into the bushes behind the green. From the bunker, she noted there was not much sand and simply was not able to get the ball high enough, as it landed hard and ran across the green and into the water.

Asterisk Talley’s hopes were swallowed up by two balls in the creek from the back bunker on 12 (Courtesy ANWA)

With the option to drop in the bunker or drop on the other side of the creek, Talley played from the same position after being allowed to rank the sand. It was the same result.

After a penalty drop, she decided to play from the other side of the creek, hitting her sixth onto the green and then holing the putt for a quadruple-bogey 7. When Marín birdied the 13th hole ahead of her, Talley was five shots back.

“Didn’t think it was that hard until today,” Talley said. “Yeah, maybe a couple people were in there already and made the bunker a little harder. I don’t know. I just don’t think it was the day for me, I guess. It wasn’t the hole for me.”

Marín wasn’t aware of her lead until she got onto the 15th hole, where she made her own mistake by missing the green long. The bogey briefly dropped her lead to three strokes but she rebounded with a birdie at the 16th and was able to enjoy a nice two-hole stroll to the clubhouse amid one of golf’s greatest settings.

With no rain forecasted for the rest of Masters week, players in the field can expect a firm course in perfect condition for the 90th installment of the season’s first major.

Taking care of the little things, like the 12th hole, will be as big a key as it was for the women last weekend.