Do lefties at the Masters actually have an edge? Here's what the data says
Left-handed players have won six Masters since 2003.
From left: Akshay Bhatia, Bubba Watson and Robert MacIntyre are among the few lefties in the Masters field this year. getty images For right-handed players who favor a fade, Augusta National presents several uncomfortable tee shots. That means the opposite is true for left-handed players, seemingly baking in an inherent advantage for those able to deliver the shot shape that’s most frequently asked of them every other week on Tour.
Start with the first nine, where holes 2, 5 and 9 each move significantly right to left. On the second nine, 10 and 13 move in the same direction. Both par-3s on that side — 12 and 16 — also lend themselves to a left-handed fade.
All of this, one might presume, would help explain why, since 2003, left-handed players have won the Masters six times (Mike Weir, 2003; Phil Mickelson , 2004, ’06 and ’10; Bubba Watson, 2012 and ’14). In that same period, lefties have combined for only four wins at the other three men’s majors. But what does a deeper data dive say?
On what parts of the course are the advantages most significant for left-handers? Or, conversely, does the math not back up the long-standing theory? We analyzed shot-by-shot strokes-gained data from every Masters from 2015 to present — including more than 3,200 rounds and 234,000 strokes — in search of meaningful answers to our question.
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