The Masters - Augusta, GA

                       CURRENT LEADERBOARD          FRIDAY TEE TIMES

                                                    INTERVIEWS

"It's a shame. They are missing the point really. Surely what we shoot should not matter. The original point of the Masters was that it should be fun to play and fun to watch." – Geoff Ogilvy

- You Can’t Win It On Thursday, But…:  Apparently, unless you’re Gary Player, Fuzzy Zoeller or one or two others, you can’t really lose it either.  As hard as the golf course may be playing, there isn’t a whole lot of separation between the haves and the have nots after Thursday’s opening round.  In fact, if you believe that there might be a 66 out there somewhere, and that even-par on Friday night could still have a chance to win, then anybody currently sitting at +6 is potentially still viable – which means that exactly nine golfers played themselves out of it after one round.
 
- “We Are Quite Willing To Have Low Scores…”:  So Bobby Jones once wrote, but it’s a different game at Augusta National now.  No less than Tiger Woods referred to yesterday’s round as “plodding” and drew comparisons with the U.S. Open – hardly surprising since he opened with 12 straight pars.  But perhaps the most damning thing Woods noted was the lack of noise on the golf course.  With rough, extreme length and intrusively planted trees adding up to a marked shortage of birdies and eagles, Masters “patrons” don’t have a whole lot to cheer about these days.  Is this a good thing?  I guess that depends who you talk to.  For both players and fans, the drudging succession of pars posted by the leaders cannot reasonably be seen as even approaching the dramatic excitement of yesteryear – though it does amaze me how many apologists still exist, largely arguing that since “it’s not that bad,” that somehow means it’s all still good.  The club, on the other hand, seems perfectly happy with things (at least outwardly), which suggests to me that they somehow value not suffering the “embarrassment” of low scores (St. Andrews seems to survive okay) ahead of running the sort of thrilling event that made the Masters famous.  One thing I know for certain: If this version of the Masters had debuted in 1934, the tournament would enjoy about one-tenth the prestige that its legendarily dramatic finishes have since bequeathed it.  Indeed, given its relatively humble beginnings as “The Augusta National Invitational,” I wonder if it would even be viewed as a Major championship...
 
- And Yet…:  Despite such tricked-up conditions,Thursday’s leaderboard actually was not a bomber’s paradise, with most of the lowest scores being posted by players not known for hitting wedges into par fives.  Certainly an interesting trend if it keeps up...but lets see how things look on Sunday night before drawing any conclusions.
 
- The Big (Par) Three:  Okay, so the new, made-for-television, “spending-time-with-my-family” Par Three Tournament did seem a bit over the top, what with four-year-olds running wild, caddies hitting shots, slow play rampant and both the late Clifford Roberts and the present greenkeeping staff surely cringing (albeit in utterly different places) as they watched.  But...  The opportunity to see Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Arnold Palmer play together remains…priceless.  Am I overly sentimental?  Perhaps, but even as someone who never particularly rooted for two of the three, I find the chance to see history parading vibrantly before us far too engaging to ignore.  Of course, much of this may be due to the present state of Augusta National; by turning the main course into a plodding sort of monster, club officials have (among other things) made it nearly impossible for the legendary past champions to break 80 on Thursday or Friday.  Thus while it would still be neat to see, say, Nicklaus and Palmer start things off with a Thursday morning 18, watching them on the par three course (where their games are not beaten bloody by 505-yard par 4s) now takes on a particular sort of charm.  That’s not to say that things weren’t a bit over the top on Wednesday, however.  All that was missing was a seven-foot NBA star carrying the bag for Corey Pavin…but we’ve seen that already.