BY BRENDAN JAMES at Augusta National GC

There is an old adage that the race to win a Green Jacket really only starts on the back nine of Augusta National on Sunday afternoon.

But when you break it down, the player that survives the treacherous Amen Corner is likely to go on and win the Masters. There will be several players that will feel the sting of its tail and in the space of 30 minutes through Amen Corner they will fall from contention.

Patrons line up chairs on Amen Corner, looking left to 12 and right down to the 13th green. PHOTO: Getty Images

With 17 players within six shots of the lead heading into the final round, Amen Corner will play its role again on Sunday as a career-maker or, perhaps, breaker.

Amen Corner – as named by noted writer Herbert Warren Wind in a 1958 article reviewing the Masters Tournament – is the stretch of play on Augusta National's back nine that starts with the second shot on the par-4 11th hole and continues through the par-3 12th hole and onto the tee shot at the par-5 13th hole.

Gary Woodland takes a drop by Hogan's Bridge on the 12th hole during the third round. PHOTO: Getty Images

This stretch of holes rarely fails to deliver a wide range of emotional moments – like the heartbreak for Greg Norman of Larry Mize’s chip-in back in 1987, and, conversely Mize’s jubilation at having won.

Then, in 1992, Fred Couples had his tee shot defy gravity and stick on the bank of Rae's Creek at the 12th hole. The ball should have trickled back into the creek and sent him toppling from the leaderboard with a double bogey or worse

“The biggest break, probably, of my life,” Couples said moments after slipping into a Green Jacket. “I’m not so sure what would have happened if it would have went in the water like everybody else’s.”

Couples got up and down for par on the 12th that Sunday, en route to winning by two shots.

The tee shot at the 13th hole is technically the end of Amen Corner but it is how the rest of the hole is played that often determines the winner on Sunday.

The first of two reachable par-5s on the back nine, the 13th is arguably one of golf’s great risk-and-reward holes. Golf Australia contributing Tour pro Geoff Ogilvy rates the 13th as his favourite hole in the world.

It is here where players have to decide whether to go for the green in two shots, flying their approach over the snaking tail of Rae's Creek, or take the Zach Johnson approach and lay-up all four days and rely on your wedge to grab a birdie.

The important thing here is to commit to the decision and then execute the shot. Indecision here can be the difference between hitting in the hazard and adding two strokes to your score with only a few holes left to make up for the mistake. Get it right here and the Green Jacket beckons.

In 2010, Phil Mickelson hit his tee shot right, coming to rest in the pine needles under the trees lining the right edge of the fairway. At the time, he was leading the Masters by two strokes. Despite the lie and the trees in front of him, Mickelson loaded up to go for the green. What followed will be forever remembered as one of the great shots in Masters history as his ball landed softly on the putting surface and rolled to within four feet of the cup. Although he missed the eagle putt, he tapped in for birdie and it would help him complete is third Masters win by three strokes.

Phil Mickelson hits from the pine needles on the 13th on his way to winning in 2010. PHOTO: Getty Images

This week, Amen Corner has been at its best in terms of difficulty. The warm, dry days combined with gusty winds, especially for the first two rounds, have made hitting precision golf shots tough, while the slick greens have been baking to a firmness that many of the less experienced players in the field have not seen before.

While the 10th hole has historically been Augusta’s toughest, the 11th hole is the second hardest with a 4.29 stroke average.

Over rounds one and two this week, the 12th hole took over as the toughest hole with player after player unable to hit the green on the 155-yard par-3.

On Thursday, Adam Scott was four under through 11 holes and leading the tournament. He dunked his tee shot and carded a double bogey, which was a real momentum killer.

Mickelson made a triple bogey six on Friday and missed the cut, for the first time in 16 years, by one shot. 2012 Masters Champion Charl Schwartzel bogied the 12th hole both days and, like Mickelson, missed the cut by one.

The list of victims on the 12th grew during the third round as the scoring average for the day settled at 3.137. Only five players made birdie on the shortest hole on the course.

Gary Woodland was on track for a course record when he stood on the 11th tee. He was seven under through 10 holes, before three putting from the fringe at 11, then dropping his tee shot into the water on 12 to card a double bogey. It put the anchors on a flying high round that could have seen him within two shots of the lead through 54 holes, instead he’ll start the final round five shots back.

Among the leaders into the back nine Sunday, the one player who steps up to the challenge Amen Corner presents and survives, will go a long way to slipping the Green Jacket over their shoulders on Sunday night.

VICTIMS OF AMEN CORNER

GREG NORMAN (1996 & 1999)

Greg Norman is told by the rules official on the 12th hole the path his ball took across the water. PHOTO: Getty Images

Greg Norman’s heartbreaking collapse at Augusta after holding a six-shot began at the 9th hole but gained momentum through Amen Corner, particularly on the short 12th hole.

The Shark’s tee shot came up short and trickled back into Rae’s Creek. His ball sunk to the bottom along with his chances of winning. The two-time Open Champion had walked into Amen Corner with a two stroke lead, which turned into a two-shot deficit by the 14th tee.

Three years later, he would contend again but would rue a double bogey at 12 in the second round when he lost a ball in the azaleas.

JOHNNY MILLER (1982)

A year after finishing two shots behind Tom Watson in the Masters, Miller was expected to be a chance in 1982. He had two rounds in the 80s and missed the cut. The three-time Masters runner-up was five over par on Amen Corner alone.

JACK NICKLAUS (1981)

Nicklaus was at 10 under par in the third round and seemingly cruising to another Masters victory.

But a double bogey at 12 and a bogey at 13 killed his round and he finished with a 75 and was not a factor in the rest of the tournament.

PHIL MICKELSON (2009)

Mickelson’s mis-cued tee-shot on the 12th led to a double-bogey, and ultimately cost him a place in the playoff with Kenny Perry, Chad Campbell and Angel Cabrera.

ERNIE ELS (2003)

Ernie Els plays out of Rae's Creek on the 13th hole. PHOTO: Getty Images

Els was lurking behind leader Tiger Woods and pressed to keep the pressure on at the 13th hole. His second shot clipped a pine tree and dropped into the creek. He carded an eight, finished with 73 and it was another Masters that slipped away.

"I blew it on 13," Els said. "I scrambled for pars on 10, 11 and 12 to set me up for a good drive on 13, and I blew it. That's the only way I can describe it."

FRED COUPLES (1998)

Fred Couples was aiming to win his second Green Jacket and was locked in a battle with David Duval, Mark O’Meara and Jim Furyk.

Couples was nine under and one stroke ahead of Duval on 13 when he wracked up a double bogey seven, which paved the way for O’Meara, who birdied the 71st and 72nd holes to win.

TOM WEISKOPF (1980)

Tom Weiskopf, a four-time runner-up at the Masters, had his 1980 campaign cut short but the 12th hole. In the opening round, Weiskopf set a record 13 on this hole.

His tee shot found Rae’s Creek but another four attempts also finished in the water.

TOMMY NAKAJIMA (1978)

Nakajima found trees, water and sand on his way to making a 13 on the 13th hole.

Three months later, he was in contention at the Open Championship when he took a nine on St Andrews’ 17th hole, after putting into the Road Hole bunker.