No. 12 is perhaps the most popular par-three in golf, and one of the most scenic. It is also capable of giving even the best players fits, especially with its swirling wind, and today was no exception.

In fact, there was a stretch of time today when it seemed the gremlins were really out. So much so that players were taking regular treks through the azaleas and pine straw behind the green to look for balls, three-putting for bogeys and throwing so much grass in the air from the tee to gauge the breeze that the Augusta National grounds crew may have to lay a little extra sod there tonight.

Start with the 12:24 p.m. group, in which Richard Sterne managed a double after hitting his tee shot halfway up the hill behind the green. Right after that, Andres Romero three-jacked after blasting from the front bunker, for a five. Two groups later, Wen Tang Lin from Taiwan ended up in the ivy by the back right bunker, and struggled to his double. No one in Jose Maria Olazabal’s threesome was able to hit the green, though he was able to get up and down from the bowl back left for par.

It looked and felt like the scariest 155-yard hole in golf. Which it is.

Even Tiger Woods struggled with 12 today, backing off on his tee shot several times, throwing grass in the air on at least six occasions and even switching clubs. It seemed as if he was trying to solve a complex math problem, a la Matt Damon in “Good Will Hunting.”

But once he felt he had his answer, he hit his tee shot tight.

He just missed his birdie putt. But on this day, or more accurately any day, par at No. 12 feels pretty good.