Some weary golfers will be making their way up the 18th fairway in Sunday's final round of the Masters Tournament.
Though the hills at the Augusta National are formidable, the golfers won't be tired so much physically as mentally.
That's one of the major charactertistics of the Augusta National, a course where concentration is vital.
``You can't let your guard down on any shot on this golf course,'' Bob Estes said.
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Steve Elkington grimaces after missing a birdie putt on the No. 10 green Friday at Augusta National.Michael Holahan/Chronicle Staff
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``It's an exacting course and it's a patience test,'' said Davis Love III. ``When you get beat up mentally for four days, it takes a lot out of you. It's like taking a week of exams in college. When you use your brain and worry that much, it drains you physcially and mentally. The course is hard, so it takes more thought and concentration.''
That's especially true this year. The alterations to four holes on the course, not to mention the addition of rough, have forced the players to change their strategy as they plot their way around the layout.
``There is just so much more to think of while you're playing,'' two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen said of the Augusta National. ``Every hole there is a hazard of some sort waiting for an errant shot or a shot that wasn't thought through well enough.''
One of the reasons John Huston has such a strong record in the tournament is because of his approach to the Augusta National.
``To me, it's a little more relaxing tournament because the fairways are so much wider than other courses,'' Huston said.
Wider, yes, but the player must still hit his tee shot into a certain quadrant of the fairway to set up the approach shot to the pin, located on whatever cliff it's hanging off that day.
``Each pin is kind of tricky in that you have to hit the proper shot every single time,'' Janzen said. ``It's not just `take a club out and fire it at the pin' like we usually do every week.''
The mental strain of the Masters is greatest once the player reaches the slick, undulating bentgrass greens.
``For me, if you're not putting great from 30 to 40 feet, you're going to have 5- and 6-footers all day,'' Nick Price said. ``These are what tire you out.''
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Fred Funk reacts to missing a birdie putt on the No. 7 green during the second round of the Masters Tournament Friday April 9, 1999 at Augusta National.
Brant Sanderlin/Chronicle Staff
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It's not just at the end of the tournament that the field's brain is starting to feel like a bag of wet sand.
``How about at the end of every day?'' asked Estes after a first-round 71. ``I'm exhausted right now. I need to rest awhile and recover. You need a lot of time to recover between rounds. It's the greens that tire you out for the most part. Being as firm and fast as they are, you always have to be on the right place on the green or around it. Sometimes it's better to miss the green on the short side than have a downhill putt.''
After a pressure-packed week at the Masters, many of the golfers look forward to the next stop on the PGA Tour, the laid-back MCI Classic at Hilton Head Island, S.C.
``If it was any other tournament after the Masters, I probably wouldn't play it,'' Janzen said. ``It is very relaxing. The course is flat and easy to walk. It seems like the most relaxing week on tour.''
``It's a really fun tournament, especially after the Masters,'' said two-time U.S. Open chamion Ernie Els. ``It's like a holiday time. After all the pressures of the Masters, it is kind of nice to go to a place where you can relax a little bit, maybe have a couple of beers. It's a lot more low-key than Masters Week, where everthing is so hyped up.''
Playing mind games
