April 10 - 13, 2008
Augusta National Golf Club
Augusta, Georgia
Par: 72 / Yardage: 7,445 yards
Purse: Last Year, $7.2 million with $1,305,000 going to the winner.
This year's purse will be announced the Saturday of the event
Defending Champion: Zach Johnson
List of Champions & Scores

Results & Scores 2007 Masters

Box Score of 2007 Masters

Tournament facts:

Tournament information:

The Masters was conceived by Bobby Jones, who had always dreamed of having a U.S. Open played on Augusta National. But with the hot summers in June, Jones approached the USGA with the idea of playing the Open at Augusta in April, but the USGA turned him down. So Jones and Clifford Roberts decided to hold their own annual event beginning in 1934. Roberts proposed that the event be called the Masters Tournament, but Jones objected thinking it was too presumptuous. The name Augusta National Invitation Tournament was adopted and that title was used for five years until 1939 when Jones relented and the name was officially changed.

Course information:

Photo: © American Golfer ABobby Jones hitting some shots at what would be the 8th hole at Augusta National.

Also helping Jones and Roberts on their search was Thomas Barrett Jr. He knew of a piece of property in Augusta that he thought would be perfect for Jones' dream course. He recommended a piece of property called Fruitlands Nursery. The land consisted of 365 acres that was once an indigo plantation the family bought in 1857. The man was Louis Mathieu Edouard Berckmans, who was a horticulturist by hobby. Along with his son Julius Alphonse, an agronomist and horticulturist by profession, they formed a business in 1858 to import trees and plants from various countries. It would be the first commercial nursery in the south and they called it, Fruitlands Nursery. Even though Berchmans died in 1883 the business flourished. A great variety of flowering plants and trees, including a long double row of magnolias, were planted before the Civil War, and today they serve as the club's entrance were on the property. But Prosper's claim to fame was that he popularized a plant called the azalea.

Upon Prosper's death in 1910 the business stop operation and the heirs looked for a buyer. That buyer came around in late 1930 when Tom Barrett first showed Jones Berchman's nursery. Upon seeing the property from what is now the practice putting green, Jones knew he had the perfect land for a perfect golf course. He told Roberts and Barrett that he thought the ground had been lying there all these years waiting for someone to come along and lay a golf course on it.

Photo: © American Golfer Alister Mackenzie and Bobby Jones walking the land that would be Augusta National

Jones and Mackenzie completed the plans and the construction started in July of 1931. Unfortunately, Mackenzie died after the construction work was completed, before Augusta National was fully covered with grass. The course was finished and opened in December 1932 with a limited amount of member play. A formal opening took place in January of 1933.

The average green size at Augusta is 6,150 square feet, which is about the average on the PGA Tour. The course has water that comes into play on five holes on the back side and only 43 bunkers

For a more comprehensive look at the course, look at this Course Overview done by Masters.Org

The Buzz:

Now the big question of the week is can Woods pull of the first victory of a potential Grand Slam at Augusta? He hasn't won here since 2005 and it's become a very difficult event for him because the course isn't as easy for him as five years ago. Yes, the people that run the Masters have done a good job of "Tiger-proofing" Augusta National.

A bit of buzz has circled around the question of who will win if Tiger can't? First, you have to look at Phil Mickelson and I don't see anything that points to a victory for him. His game is strong from tee to green but Mickelson could be experiencing his worst period with the putter. Right now he is T123 in overall putting and he is 101st in three-putt avoidance. Already this year Mickelson has racked up 14 three putts while last year he had 28 for the entire year. His putting ins't the only problem. His scrambling stats are in the toilet also as he is 138th in this stat. The bottom line: there is a reason that Mickelson isn't on the radar screen to win this year at the Masters. But beware of the sleeping giant. You never know how fast Mickelson could change things around.

Another big name in disarray is Ernie Els, who dumped David Leadbetter for Butch Harmon. It will be interesting to see if this can help his game. Remember last year Mickelson started working with Butch Harmon for three weeks and won the Players Championship. Could Harmon do the same with Els and get his game in shape in time for this week? As for other players that could "master" this week, how about Geoff Ogilvy? His game has been solid and the course is right up his alley. The Masters is the only major an Australian hasn't won so it would be a feather in Ogilvy's cap to be the first.

While Ogilvy looks to be the first Aussie winner at Augusta, K.J. Choi is looking to be the first Asian player to win a major. Don't laugh, he has contended before at the Masters and it could happen again. But the biggest buzz about a long shot is Fred Couples. He loves this course and this year is going after his 24th straight made cut. But screw the making cuts, Couples could contend this year. He started out strong at Bay Hill and played OK last week in Houston. His back is strong again and he is full of confidence. Look for him to contend on Sunday.

Other things that we will be looking for is Gary Player finally calling it a career at the Masters. Yes he is a great physical specimen, but he doesn't have the game for Augusta National and for him to play just to break Arnold Palmer's longevity record is sad.

Lastly we have to talk about the weather this week because that is so important as to how the course plays. After a rainy, wet weekend that saw three inches of rain fall on the course, things have dried up. It will be another great day on Wednesday for the par 3 contest, but then the weather looks iffy after that with possible thunderstorms on Friday. Look for a cold, windy weekend so it should be interesting to see what that does to the course. In the history of Masters the winner has only been over par three times and with one coming last year this could be historic if the winner is over par again for the second straight year.

Here are some things to look for this week:

Photo: © Steve Munday/ALLSPORT The 10th green at Augusta National.

• Key stat for the winner:
  As the chart shows below there are a few things that all winners at the Masters have in common. First it's precise ball striking, like a Ben Hogan, length and power like Tiger Woods, deft touch with a putter on the steeply contoured greens like a Ben Crenshaw and the mind and wisdom of a Jack Nicklaus. All of these are what it takes to win the Masters.
• Precise ball hitting is a must. With steeply contoured greens you have to position shots to the green in a area that you will set up an easy putt. That's why players like Nick Faldo and Ben Hogan have five titles. If you look at the champions of the Masters, a poor putter usually doesn't win. Being able to avoid three putts is important.
• Now, of course, Zach Johnson having six three-putts last year put a dent in our theory about three putts. In looking further back in history, both Vijay Singh in 2000 and Tiger Woods in 2001 had more in the year they won the Masters than the previous seven champions of the 1990s put together. That doesn't mean that we're going to have a new trend. I will still bet that the winner this year has the least three putts of anyone else in the field.
• To show you how theories don't work all of the time, look at the theory that says you have to hit it long to win at Augusta. Yes, Tiger and Vijay hit the ball long, but past champions like Mike Weir, Jose Maria Olazabal, Mark O'Meara and Ben Crenshaw could be the shortest hitters on the PGA Tour. No matter what, length is very important, just look at Tiger Woods' victory in 1997. Being able to reach par-5s with wedges is a big advantage over players hitting into the greens with long irons and woods. But again, theories don't work sometimes at the Masters. Just look at Zach Johnson last year. He laid up all all the par 5s and played them in 11 under par.
• Stats are great but in reality they really don't mean much when it comes to picking a winner at the Masters. Since 1993 the only true favorite to win the Masters was Tiger Woods who won it in 1997, 2001, 2002, 2005 and Phil Mickelson in 2004 and in 2006. Yes it was a big surprise for Zach Johnson winning last year and a bit of a surprise that Mike Weir won in 2003 and Vijay Singh won in 2000 but even bigger surprise winners have been Jose Maria Olazabal, Mark O'Meara, Bernhard Langer and Ben Crenshaw, who came from out of the blue to win. Even Nick Faldo surprised all in 1996. So does that mean that this trend is going to continue? Absolutely not. As a matter of fact I feel strongly in saying that this year's Masters is going to be a three-horse race between Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Geoff Ogilvy. I can even say that I will be highly disappointed if these guys don't finish 1st, 2nd and 3rd this year. Both Woods and Ogilvy are playing the best coming into this week and all three have primed their games with this week in mind.
• One other very important factor will be Mother Nature. In the past decade the Masters has been plagued with some really poor weather, which has put a damper on the way Augusta should play: firm and fast like a links course. Last year the weather was pretty dry and we saw how tough the course could play. This could happen again if the predicted rain doesn't move in and we could see another rash of high scores.
• Last but not least experience and wisdom is important, that's why Jack Nicklaus has six titles. The last player to win the Masters in his first start is Fuzzy Zoeller, who did it back in 1979.

In trying to pick the winner at the Masters, it's important to see who has won it and why:

Here is a look at the winners and their stats:
Year	Winner	Driving Distance	Fairways Hit	Greens Hit	Putts	# of 3 putt greens
2007	Zach Johnson	265.0 (1st)	45 of 56 (T2nd)	44 of 72 (T4th)	112 (T10th)	6
2006	Phil Mickelson	299.3 (1st)	35 of 56 (T36th)	50 of 72 (T4th)	116 (T16th)	2
2005	Tiger Woods	292.4 (4th)	32 of 56 (T49th)	54 of 72 (2nd)	115 (T10th)	3 & one four putt
2004	Phil Mickelson	290.4 (T9th)	41 of 56 (T9th)	53 of 72 (1st)	117 (T23rd)	2
2003	Mike Weir	271.2 (T39th)	42 of 56 (T11th)	38 of 72 (T37th)	104 (4th)	1
2002	Tiger Woods	293.8 (6th)	39 of 56 (T22nd)	54 of 72 (1st)	115 (T21st)	1
2001	Tiger Woods	305.5 (1st)	40 of 56 (T19th)	59 of 72 (1st)	121 (T37th)	4
2000	Vijay Singh	273.0 (12th)	41 of 56 (T9th)	58 of 72 (1st)	124 (T45th)	4
1999	Jose Maria Olazabal	239.8 (55th)	37 of 56 (T39th)	44 of 72 (T18th)	109 (T7th)	0
1998	Mark O'Meara	266.6 (31st)	47 of 56 (T27th)	40 of 72 (T38th)	105 (1st)	1
1997	Tiger Woods	323.1 (1st)	4047 of 56 (T24th)	55 of 72 (1st)	116 (T8th)	1

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