ESPN.com - Golf Online - Masters 2001 - Officials leave Augusta National alone

Reuters
Tuesday, April 3

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Tinkering with The Masters course is something of a tradition, so the word from officials that no changes have been made this year is news in itself.

After a rash of alterations last year, Tiger Woods and his rivals will find nothing to surprise them at Augusta National, the permanent site of golf's first major of the season.


	Players won't find any changes other than a little tinkering with Augusta National.

The course is an exhilarating challenge for long and short hitters alike, and Woods has a putting touch tailor-made for the fast greens.

Woods, 25, loves a challenge and has even more incentive than usual as winning another Masters title would make him the only player ever to hold all four of golf's current major professional championships at the same time.

Woods overcame some inconsistency off the tee and used his putter to help him post back-to-back wins at Bay Hill and The Players Championship after a six-month stretch without a PGA Tour victory.

Golf at Augusta is all about position, and Woods will need to show his short-game magic and hit some exact distances with his approach shots if he wants to put his name alongside Bobby Jones, who won the four major grand slam tournaments of his day in a single season, 1930.

Last year, Masters officials narrowed some fairways, grew longer rough, moved some tees back and generally placed a premium on precision at the course.

But getting to the proper position on the greens and avoiding three-putts is still the classic formula for Masters success, and Woods feels he is well placed for the campaign.

"My short game, I'm pretty happy with," Woods said after his one-stroke Players Championship victory over last year's Masters champion, Vijay Singh. "I'm very pleased on some of the shots, and I will continue to work on the most important thing at Augusta and that's to control your trajectory."

A high ball flight can be a big advantage around Augusta, where a soft landing on the green can improve a player's chances of being in the right place to make a putt.

Controlling trajectory is also vital in dealing with the confusing winds that can blow through and around the tall pines at the grounds which once served as a tree nursery.

Last year's changes seemed to hold the scoring in check, and the par-5 13th and 15th holes, which in the past have yielded enough eagles to cause big swings on the leaderboard, played tougher.

At the 485-yard 13th, trees added on the right side punish balls driven through a fairway that doglegs to the left.

At the 500-yard 15th, the removal of a mound on the right which allowed players to sling their tee shots forward made the hole play significantly longer.

Last year there were 14 eagles scored by the field, down from 29 in 1999.

Many prominent players applauded last year's alterations.

"They were the best changes they've made, especially 15," said Greg Norman. "It's dramatically changed. We all used to aim for the right mound, hook it and get it on the downslope. We'd be hitting 8- and 9-irons into that green at times. That was a great change."

Norman was also happy with the changes at No. 13.

"I used to play that hole with a driver and drive it right through the fairway, because the further you drive it up the hill the easier the second shot becomes," he said. "Now you have to shape it off the tee and get it around the corner."

Norman did not mourn the reduction in the number of eagles.

"Maybe it's just as exciting watching a guy take a 6 as a 3. It depends on what you're looking for," he said.

Nick Price agreed.

"Fifteen is a great change. I wish they'd do that with more of the other holes," Price said. "It's not a bomber's hole now. You've got to shape it a little better. They've toughened it up, which is what it needed. Now they need to toughen the whole golf course, but not do it in a way that makes the course unplayable."

Larry Mize, who holed a 140-foot pitch shot on the second hole of a playoff to beat Norman in the 1987 Masters, likes both changes.

"I think 15's a better par-5 now," said Mize. "Rather than just being able to blow it way right, you've got to hit a better drive."

Woods has a big enough game to play the course on his own terms, but he hopes to avoid putting himself into trouble as he did last year at Augusta with an opening-round 75.

Woods blames some of his early struggles this season on poor greens on the West Coast swing.

"When I went over to Dubai I got on some good greens and I knew I was putting well and next thing you know I got it going," said Woods, who was runner-up to Thomas Bjorn at the Dubai Desert Classic.

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