Posted 4/14/03 9:57 am ET

Masters Notebook

Player says fast balls are the real problem

Retief Goosen, of South Africa, blasts out of the bunker on the 4th hole. AP

By Chris Gay
The Augusta Chronicle

Gary Player has a simple solution for the problems caused by long hitters: Fix the ball.

"The answer is simple, so, so simple," said Player, a three-time Masters champion. "They've got to slow the ball down. Everybody has said this. It's unanimous.

"The ball is a big issue. Instead of spending, which they're going to be doing around the world, tens of millions of dollars lengthening golf courses, they could just slow the ball down 30 yards and give the money to charity or junior golf or something constructive.

"To me, it's a waste of money. And it's happening all around the world. It's happening in Timbuktu, Augusta, South Africa, Europe, St. Andrews. Why must you do that? Just slow the ball down, not for the amateurs but for the pros."

Whether it's the ball, the clubs or Player's great physical condition, he's not having too many problems with the additional 285 yards at Augusta National Golf Club.

"I knocked it on the 13th hole in two today at 66 years of age," Player said. "(Monday), I was two yards short of No. 2 into the wind at 66. Length is not the issue here. The issue at Augusta is not length; it's always how firm are the greens and how much does the wind blow."

LUCKY NUMBERS

As luck would have it, Larry Mize was the 87th golfer to register for the Masters Tournament on Tuesday. He received a player's badge, a round pin, with the number 87 on it.

Aside from the defending champion, the number on the player's pin indicates when he arrived at the Augusta National. The defending champion - this year it's Tiger Woods - always receives the pin with the number 1.

Mize's pin number corresponds with his lone Masters victory 15 years ago.

"I didn't register early," he said. "But I won in '87. That's a good number."

FAN FAVORITE

One of the largest crowds Tuesday gathered at the No. 1 tee when David Duval, Arnold Palmer and U.S. Amateur runner-up Robert Hamilton teed off. As he walked away from the tee, Palmer, ever the gracious champion, gave the applauding fans a thumbs up.

Later, after he hit two tee shots into the water at No. 12, the cheering crowd urged Palmer to hit another. He smiled, teed up the ball and hit the shot just a few feet past the pin.

THE NANNY

Jesper Parnevik knows what kind of girlfriend Tiger Woods has. And he should. Elin Nordegrin used to be Parnevik's nanny.

"She was very good," Parnevik said. "She's just a great girl - down to earth, very mature."

THE CADDIE

Longtime Augusta caddie Buck Moore is looping this week for Paul Azinger. Moore briefly caddied earlier this year for Charles Howell.

NAME GAME

Retief Goosen won the 2001 U.S. Open, the European Order of Merit and last weekend's BellSouth Classic. And yet no one knows how to pronounce his last name. Some people started calling him "Hoosen," an incorrect pronunciation.

Ernie Els watches closely as his shot flies to the No 3. hole. Els is seeking his first green jacket this week. Annette Drowlette/The Augusta Chronicle

"It's Goosen," he said. "I don't know who started with the 'H.' It's just Goosen as it is. I don't know where that came from, but hopefully we'll get there one day."

FIELD STRENGTH

Each of the top 50 players in the Official World Ranking are in the 89-player field. It's only the second time in Masters history that the top-50 have appeared and only the fourth time in golf history it has happened anywhere.

WEEKEND GOLFERS

Two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer and 1992 Masters champion Fred Couples are looking to extend their streaks of Masters cuts made. Langer, who won the Masters in 1985 and '93, has made 18 consecutive cuts, while Couples has made 17 straight.

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING?

Several players this week believe a long hitter will be wearing the green jacket Sunday. But only three players ranked in the top 25 in driving distance on the PGA Tour - Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh and Sergio Garcia - have won a tournament this year.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Two-time Masters champion Seve Ballesteros celebrated his 45th birthday Tuesday. As a present, his daughter Carmen ran up to him under the clubhouse veranda and gave him a hug and a tooth she'd lost.

A month ago, Ballesteros told reporters in Europe that he believed he could win again at Augusta in spite of missing cuts each of the past four years. After two days of practice rounds at Augusta, Ballesteros didn't express the same confidence.

"I'm not very happy with my game," he said. "I'm not playing very well. My body don't really react as good as it used to be."

If Ballesteros can't contend, he believes another two-time champion from Spain has a good chance - Jose Maria Olazabal.

"He is one of my favorites," Ballesteros said. "I think he could. Olazabal hits the ball a bit longer and has experience and a good short game."

FRED COUPLES

The 1992 Masters victory is the only major championship on Fred Couples' resume. If he's ever to add a second major title, it will likely come here.

"My game is just OK," said Couples, who contended as recently as 1998 when he entered the final round with a one-shot lead. "I love this course, and I feel like I can play well here. This is kind of a good spot, even though I'm not playing great."

Health has been an issue with Couples for years, but his back has felt well enough this season that he's twice played stretches of four consecutive weeks without any physical setbacks.

"I'm basically almost done with the year," Couples said. "You won't see me much after the U.S. Open. So I felt like playing a little bit on the West Coast. I wanted to be ready for here."

STICKS TO HIS GUNS

Gay Brewer , the 1967 Masters winner, kept his word and did not attend the annual Champions Dinner on Tuesday night at Augusta National Golf Club.

Brewer was one of three former winners who received letters from Augusta National Chairman Hootie Johnson this year asking that he not compete in this year's Masters. Doug Ford, the 1957 winner, and 1970 winner Billy Casper also received letters.

"He told me he was devastated by what happened," Casper said after the dinner Tuesday night. "I tried to get him to reconsider. He said, 'I'm going to Kentucky."'

Defending champion Tiger Woods served porterhouse steaks and grilled chicken breasts at the meal, which has been a part of the Masters tradition since 1952.

 

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