Amen Corner Live

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masterslogo2.gifTangible benefits to Hootie's progressive ways:

For the first time ever, visitors to masters.org, the Tournament's official Web site, will be able to see every golfer play Amen Corner live.

Visitors to "Amen Corner Live" on masters.org will be able to see live action prior to the start of the daily television broadcast. The free service will be available Thursday, April 6 through Sunday, April 9. Approximate web cast times are 10:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 12:30 p.m. - 5 p.m. Saturday and 1:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Sunday. Visitors should check masters.org daily for exact times. All times are eastern daylight savings times.

"The importance and use of the Internet continues to grow and we think this is another service to our patrons," said Hootie Johnson, Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament. "The ability to see live action at Amen Corner is something very special."

In previous years masters.org has provided live coverage of hole Nos. 6 and 12, but only during the practice rounds.

Ames and The Masters

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 Stephen Ames after The Players Championship THE PLAYERS:

It was a difficult year for my wife and myself. And my boys, yeah, they probably watched it all as they came in this afternoon. They're probably sitting in front of the television watching it. It's going to be a big thrill and a wonderful vacation now.

Q. Have you spoken to Jodi yet?

STEPHEN AMES: I haven't, no.

Q. Is that going to be a two week vacation?

STEPHEN AMES: Not sure yet (laughing).

Q. Seriously, is there a possibility you won't play The Masters?

STEPHEN AMES: I have no plans of playing at Augusta. My kids have just come out of for their spring break, and we had plans to go somewhere else. My priorities have always been my family first. If it comes down to that, it's probably going to be a two week vacation, yes.

Q. What is the status of your citizenship?

STEPHEN AMES: For which country (laughter)?

Q. For your individual country.

STEPHEN AMES: I am born in Trinidad and Tobago. I am also a Canadian citizen. I live in Canada and have been there for the last 12 years.

Ah, but this rally killer was not successful...

Q. Is it possible your wife might talk you into Augusta?

STEPHEN AMES: I don't know. I'm not sure about it yet.

Q. What will determine whether you go to Augusta? Would your wife and children have to say go, pop?

STEPHEN AMES: No, I'd rather go on vacation to be truthful.

Q. So are you telling us you will not play The Masters?

STEPHEN AMES: I don't know yet. We'll see.

Whitten: Augusta 2006 v. 2001-2002

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Golf Digest's Ron Whitten criticized recent changes to Augusta National in the same story featuring the comments of Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. His criticism is not that astonishing to most given that the same remarks have been uttered by big mouths like me since 1998.

However, when you see where Whitten stands now compared to where he stood just four years ago, the contrast is pretty amazing.

Here's what he wrote this year: 

But sheer yardage is not what has gotten Jack, Arnie and others of the Old Guard riled up. They're mostly upset about the tightening of many holes, through the use of expanded bunkering, transplanted trees and the introduction of rough, what Augusta National calls, in delusional parlance, "a second cut of fairway."

This is where Jack and Arnie are absolutely right. Far from maintaining the integrity of the design that Jones and Mackenzie envisioned, the changes undertaken since 1998 have abandoned their philosophy of multiple options and different lines of attack.

And...

Gone are Augusta's wide corridors that allowed every competitor to play his own game off the tee, to pick the spot he thought provided the best angle of approach for his trajectory and shot shape. Squeezed-in fairways now dictate the manner of play on every hole. It's as if the Masters Committee thinks it's now running the U.S. Open.

Which makes one wonder just how much research Augusta National has really done regarding the original Mackenzie-Jones design. Mackenzie believed that if a good player hitting good shots couldn't post a good score on one of his courses, then there was something wrong with his design. Jones once wrote that he never intended Augusta National to be a punishing golf course.

Jones and Mackenzie believed in rewarding risk on the golf course. Most of that is gone now.

And...

The best course designs challenge different golfers on different holes. Augusta National used to do that. It no longer does.

The club planted many mature loblolly pines along the left of No. 7, too, just because it can, I guess.

The irony, of course, is that Augusta National used to be the trendsetter in matters of course design. But now it's well behind the curve.

The older pines at Augusta traditionally had a bed of pine needles beneath them, which allowed players to attempt all sorts of recovery shots. The newer pines have rough underneath, deeper than the "second cut," and are planted so close together that the only recovery available is usually a pitch out. It's one more example of how Augusta has stifled some playing options.

Now, here's Whitten in a 2001 Golf Digest preview:

The new look of Augusta National--the one with a buzz-cut of rough around each fairway and most greens--was first introduced in 1999, but few noticed a big difference. Last year, however, it had players playing defensively, pundits writing offensively and TV viewers adjusting their contrast. Few cared for it, and many blamed it for the lack of drama.

Wrong. Cold weather and high winds were responsible for the conservative play in 2000. Augusta National's grooming is just another attempt to Tigerproof the course, although club officials will never admit it. They won't even call it rough, preferring to label it a "second cut" of fairway.

Rarely has so much fuss been made about so little. The rough is just 1 3/8 inches deep, not the sort that causes anyone to pitch out sideways. Sure, it's enough to cause a knuckleball that has no chance of stopping on a rock-hards green. But Masters competitors are smart, talented and well equipped. They can pick a ball cleanly out oflight rough, use the grooves on their irons--or avoid the rough in the first place.

What Augusta's rough has done is make the Masters more of a test of drives and second shots, and less of a putting contest. Last year's winner, Vijay Singh, had three three-putts, more than the combined total of the previous seven Masters champions. But he lead the field in greens in regulation, and won by three shots. For the 2001 Masters, the strategy will be the same: fairways and greens.

And in the 2002 preview story for Golf Digest he wrote about the sweeping changes being made, including the tree planting and narrowing that he's currently criticizing...

What impressed me was the thought process that came up with new strategies for the course, a thought process that started right after Tiger Woods' record-setting first Masters victory back in 1997. Since then, Augusta National officials, working with consulting architect Tom Fazio and his team of associates, have tracked shots on selected holes during every Masters. The resulting data convinced them that they shouldn't simply push tees back to gain length, they should also move tees left or right to force players to hit certain shots on certain holes.

So last summer, using four separate construction crews, the club added nine new back tees. They also regraded some fairways into new sweet spots. They pushed some fairway bunkers farther out, so they can't easily be carried.

Augusta National will be much more of a shotmaker's golf course from now on. It won't automatically favor the long hook as it did in the past. The first, eighth, 11th and 18th holes now require fades off the tee, then draws into the greens. The ninth, 10th, 13th and 14th still reward draws from the tee, but on 13 and 14, fades are the preferred approach shots (though it's hard to hit a fade on 13, because the fairway provides mostly hook lies).

And...

I was pleased to see the 18th has been stretched to 465 yards, adding 60 yards to the uphill finishing hole. As a major-championship finish, it finally measures up.

Have all these changes "Tigerproofed" Augusta National? Not at all. But they may have Hal Sutton-proofed the course. Long hitters will continue to have the advantage on holes like nine, 10 and 14, where, even with new back tees, big bombers will still be hitting no more than 9-iron approach shots into greens where Arnie and Jack used to routinely hit 6-irons.

Long hitters at Augusta will work harder to hit fairways from now on, especially on the tight, tree-lined seventh and ninth, where, as one Augusta National employee put it, "It's like trying to hit through the neck of a Coke bottle."

What club officials wanted to do at the seventh, now 45 yards longer, was take the 3-wood out of players' hands and force them to hit a driver down the narrowest fairway. (It's just 35 yards wide from tree line to tree line, with the fairway a scant 28 yards wide.) The club also leveled the fairway to eliminate a slingshot effect offered by old ripples in the center, and added a few more pines left of the fairway.

It's not likely many players will take the bait. Most will continue to thread the needle with something less than driver and hit an 8- or 9-iron (instead of sand wedge) onto the perched green.

The real additions to the ninth are newly transplanted pines to the right and a mat of fluffy pine needles beneath them. A loose lie in pine needles may be the worst lie you can find at Augusta National. There's already a lot of that "pine straw" to the right of the 14th hole, where the fairway slopes from left to right. I was told that for this year's Masters, there won't be any cut of rough along that right side of either nine or 14. They don't want anything saving errant drives from rolling into pines and needles.

Mark it down. Augusta National is no longer just a hooker's paradise, or a second-shot course or a putting contest. It's now a complete test of golf, from tee to green. It's now a shotmaker's course.
It is great to see someone like Whitten change his mind and use his position in Golf Digest to voice those views. It's just unfortunate that he did not recognize the damage when it was first inflicted on Jones and MacKenzie's national treasure.

If The Course Weren't So Darned Long...

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I finally got through all of Guy Yocom's excellent oral history of the 1986 Masters, and was fascinated by this comment from Jack II, buried near the end:

Jack Nicklaus II: Last fall we were up at Muirfield Village. It was a cold day, and we were hitting drivers on the range. Dad sidled over to watch me. I'm not super long, but after a few shots he said in a quiet voice, "If I could hit my driver like that, I could still win the Masters."

It's true. His distance control with his irons is terrific. He chips extremely well, and he has zero nerves in his putting. If the course weren't so darned long, he could win the Masters.

Of course he could win. We're talking about my dad.

 

Augusta v. Sawgrass Renovations

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Golf World's Bill Fields looks at the complaints surrounding Augusta's latest renovation and seems prepared to join the critics questioning the rationale and execution of the changes.

At what point does an icon, instead of aging gracefully and naturally, get his face stretched so taut that he becomes a parody of his former self?

Ouch. After citing Mike Weir's reasoned critique as reported last week by Ken Fidlin, Fields has this interesting quote from Mark O'Meara:

To add intrigue, 1998 Masters champion Mark O'Meara is against a reflex to add yardage. "The most talked about holes in golf in the last two years," O'Meara says, "are the shortest holes in golf. They create the most havoc with the best players. Sixteen at Doral, 10 at Riviera, 12 at Augusta. It's the short holes that make a player have to think. If you want to mess with the pros, make them have to make a decision."

Regarding Sawgrass, he picks up on a subject discussed here earlier this week:

In addition to the better turf that will come with Sawgrass' renovation, Woods, for one, would like to see the course much like it was when it first opened. "I've talked to a lot of guys about this," Woods said a year ago at the Players, "and we've all come to the same conclusion: It would be a lot better if there was no rough at all, like how it used to be played … but they've kind of changed that and gone to a U.S. Open-type setup."

And he sums it in a way that gives the impression he's not too optimistic about the chances of Augusta removing its second cut:

With so many young players, who because of their tools, technique and temperament are swatting the ball one way -- hard -- there is all the more reason to offer variety in the courses they encounter. An Augusta National -- without rough, with options -- was the beau ideal. New applicants are now welcome. 

Weir: Jones Would Be Like !?!?!

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Ken Fidlin in the Toronto Sun talks to Mike Weir about the new look Augusta National. As we've seen with other players, the recent criticism by Nicklaus and Palmer seems to have made the observations much more to the point. And again, the club's move away from his design vision while citing Jones quotes to justify the changes seems to have opened the floodgates...

Once again the tall foreheads who run Augusta National have chosen to mess with God's golf course. For more than half a century, it was considered unique and beautiful and very nearly perfect in every way. Now those bright lights in green jackets have taken to tearing the place apart just about every year. Just because they can.

It used to be bad form for players to make anything but complimentary comments about the place but now these latest changes are getting trashed from all sides

"I'm sure if Bobby Jones was still around," Weir said, "it would be, like 'What are you guys doing?'"

Weir played Augusta on Sunday and Monday and is somewhat dismayed. They've added more yardage to bring the length up to 7,300 yards but in the process, they've started to tinker with the personality of the golf course.

"I don't know what they're doing," he said. "I don't mind them lengthening the course. That's fine.

"The thing that kind of disturbs me is they're getting away from the character of the golf course. Now they're bringing in all these trees. Besides lengthening No. 11, they pinched the trees in even tighter on the right side. It's like a tree-lined golf course now. Totally different from 10 to 15 years ago. It's not even the same place.
"I don't think Mr. Jones wanted that. I think he wanted it cut down so you could see creative shots from all over the place, into tough greens."

Oh it's going to be a fun Champion's Dinner!

 

Els On Augusta and Technology

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There was so much to post yesterday I didn't get around to Ernie Els' press conference, which sadly (for the Bay Hill folks) turned into a Masters chat session. Here he is talking about the changes to the course:

No. 4 is big. The one day it was downwind, I hit a 4 iron to the left flag. The second day, the wind was a little into us to a right flag and I hit 2 iron. Both times I made par, thank goodness. But going with a 2 iron into that hole is quite something. It's a bit of a change.

7 was another big one. I hit driver and a 7 iron both days was a little into the breeze. Going into that green with a middle iron is also quite a big change. I wouldn't want to go in there with 4 or 5 iron like some of the guys might go in there with. It's quite big.

Again, 11, quite a big change with the tee further back. That fairway is really narrow now. It's almost like a U.S. Open hole now. And then 17 I thought also was a big change with the fee further back.

So all in all, you know, it's very tough. If we have tough weather conditions, it's going to be a very tough week. It will be it's becoming one of the toughest one of the majors now. Where it used to be kind of the most fun of all the majors, it's becoming the hardest one now.

Q. How about No. 1?

ERNIE ELS: Yeah, No. 1, another one. No. 1 I feel the tee shot is almost easier for us. It's 297 yards to the front edge of the bunker, so you know, again, 80 percent of the field is not even going to reach the bunker. It's an easier tee shot, much more difficult second shot. I was going with 6 iron my second shot. On the first hole, you know, it's kind of a tough start to your round.

Q. Did you see that tongue in the bunker the way it's separated?

ERNIE ELS: Yeah, if you go into the front of the bunker, you essentially can't get to the green, even if you go just to the right of it, I don't know if you'll have a stance to hit the ball out of there. Yeah, very different.
And here he is responding to a question about the possibility of back nine charges:
You know, I think the second part of your question, I mean, 13, I think most of the guys can still get it on there in two shots. But 15, there was a bit of a breeze into us and I really cranked a drive there. As I say, I had 230 in.

So it's going to take a bit of the excitement away definitely. The time like with myself when Mickelson won, that kind of golf, I don't think that's going to happen that often anymore because the holes are getting so long. I mean, 10, you can still get 10 down there, hit an 8 iron into the green. 11 is so long now, you're going to probably hit 3 , 4 iron in there, so that's not really a birdieable hole. 12 obviously is. 13, you probably can get there. 14 is longer, you're not going in there with wedge anymore you're going in with 7 iron. 15 is debatable if you're there in two. 16 is what it is and 17 is longer; that's not a birdie hole, and 18 is not a birdie hole. So you're going to do well to break par the back nine.
And here's where the always eloquent Els started stumbling through his answer, perhaps because he might recall that three years ago he said that a "governor" should be put on the ball and even suggested that there should be some consideration of a return to wood heads.

Q. How do you feel, you're one of the prime examples of the modern power game, how do you feel away the traditionalists and courses are going about trying to rein in the power game and bring nuance, subtlety and accuracy back into it; do you think the way they are going about that is the right way and how do you feel about being one of the causes of it?

ERNIE ELS: Well, I think technology is a good thing. I think the world, we keep ticking on, don't we. We've got to get better in many ways and golf is just another sport that's going that way. Athletes I think are bigger maybe, and I wouldn't say more healthy, but they are a bit stronger. And with technology, you know, we're going to hit the ball longer. It's like any other sport. Cars get faster; guys in the NFL, get bigger, hit harder. That's just the way of life.

But we've got some great, great golf courses that are just not they just don't play the way they used to play. Bunkers are just way out of play. We play a great golf course down in Melbourne, an Alister MacKenzie course and on a good day there I shot 60 around there with no wind, I was bombing it to the greens, chipping it on and making putts, I was in perfect shape. That course played on that same weather conditions in the 50s or 60s, we would have done really well to maybe shoot 65 coming in with 7 irons, but I was just hitting sand irons into the green.

So we have to look at that, changing golf courses a little bit. That's what they have done at Augusta. I don't agree with all it. There's a good argument that you can have, with technology and the design of golf courses. I think the modern day golf courses that we design, I wouldn't design a course under 7,500 yards, off the back tees, not for you guys. I think it's definitely there's two different games being played today. There's the professional game where we hit it 300 and the amateur game where you guys hit it 200. I mean, I played at Augusta off the back tees it was 7,400 and a bit, and the member I was playing with was playing off 6,300 and a bit.

Can we still put you down for a competition ball Ernie?  We'll assume you'll take a pass on the return of persimmon.

Hard Equals ?

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Ernie Els at Bay Hill, talking about The Masters:

 "If we have tough weather conditions, it's going to be a very tough week," the world number five said. "It's becoming one of the toughest of the majors now.

"Where it used to be the most fun of all the majors, it's becoming the hardest one now."

I know a lot of people take pleasure in seeing the pros struggle because it makes them feel better about their own feeble golf games.  And I have no problem with that once a year at the U.S. Open.

But I keep wondering if it ever occurs to the folks running the game that when a course is set up just tough enough and still vulnerable to attacks by the best players, it translates to fun for the players, and most likely fun for the fans.  

The point here is rather simple and not a new one, but as you can see, I feel it's worth repeating:  the folks at way too many golf courses make setup about them, and not about the players. It's about producing a certain score, and producing a post-event reaction that has 20 handicappers patting each other on the back for putting those spoiled Tour boys in their place.

Nothing new here, just kind of sad when you realize how intensely selfish it is. 

Tiger On Augusta: Interesting, Very Interesting

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Translation: yuck, very yucky.

Amazingly (or is frighteningly), I read all of Tiger's press conferences and continue to marvel at his ability to answer the same questions over and over again. He's also become quite good at acting like he's enjoying some lame question about a player he's played with twice. And he can be so positive when talking about a course he probably thinks is mediocre at best.

So I think it's safe to say--lacking much in the way of complimentary talk--that this is a not-so-flattering assessment of Augusta:

Tiger at Bay Hill:

Q. Speaking of The Masters, now that you've had a chance to play the course firsthand, what do you think of the changes?

TIGER WOODS: Interesting, very interesting.

 Hey, at least he didn't say it was the best of its kind! Sorry, continue...

I didn't hit enough club to No. 4. I needed wood to get to 4. 7 is certainly changed. It's a totally different hole now. 1 is 300 yards just to get to the bunker now. If we get any kind of cool north wind like we have today, you won't be able to see the flag. You won't be able to see the green. Some of the changes are pretty dramatic and certainly going to be very interesting if the wind ever blows.

Q. Do you think they accomplished (inaudible)?

TIGER WOODS: I've talked to some of the older guys who played there back in the '50s, '60s and '70s and they never had to hit wood into 4 before, but you'll see a lot of guys hitting wood in 4 this year.

Q. What do you think will happen if there's rain?

TIGER WOODS: It will be brutal because now you're hitting some really long clubs into the holes. Again, we haven't seen the greens hard and fast either. With the rain, with or without rain last year, we were thinking in the practice rounds that over par is going to win the tournament. If you can keep it around even par, you're going to win it easily.

So, you know this, year, if it stays dry, probably the same thing.

Q. Did anyone ask you about Jack's comments, and do you agree that there's only ten or a dozen or so guys that are capable of winning because of the changes, because of the length?

TIGER WOODS: It eliminates a lot of guys, yeah. If you hit it low and rely on your game that way to get the ball out there and hit your irons not so high, if you have a flatter ball flight, you're going to be struggling there.

Q. If even par were to win there, is it a shame in a sense that you guys already have a U.S. Open?

TIGER WOODS: It's just different. I think it they should get rid of that second cut and get rid of and bring the pine needles and the pine trees back into play. But they see it differently than a lot of us do as players.

I remember pulling that ball off the first tee and it's going straight through the pine trees. Now you have a chance of it stopping in that second cut. They think it's harder to play out of that than it is out of the trees.

Q. Ernie was saying how The Masters used to be most fun major and now it's become the toughest, do you think it has gotten up to that?

TIGER WOODS: Without a doubt, it's gotten so much more difficult now. With the added length, with those greens being the way they are, it just makes it so hard out there. You're hitting clubs that, granted, they are trying to get you to hit clubs like the older guys used to hit, and yeah, but the greens were not running at 13 on the Stimpmeter either. So it just makes that much more difficult now.

With the speed of these greens now, each and every year, it all depends if they are firm. I mean, if they are firm, that golf course is probably the most difficult golf course you'll ever play.

Q. Could you have imagine them dialing some of those changes back a little bit, get rid of the rough or move the tees forward a little bit?

TIGER WOODS: They may move tees around. I think that's what they did with some of the tee boxes. Like on 4 and 7, they are really long tee boxes, so they have the ability to move it around and play with the tee markers a little bit. Because if you get soft, yeah, you can go ahead and move the tees up a little bit and give the guys a chance. So I think that's one of the smart things they have done. 

 

Even More Of Jack On Augusta

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Several writers filed comprehensive stories on Jack Nicklaus' criticism of changes to Augusta National.

Some of the comments appeared in Doug Ferguson's story yesterday, and all came from a press conference Nicklaus held at The Bear Club to plug (I think) something related to the 20th anniversary of his Masters win.

Showing just how highly he thinks of these inkslinger gatherings, Jack donned shorts with loafers and no socks.Q-15NJACKSC-5658_o.jpg

Anyway, here is some of the new stuff, including bits that David Westin of the Augusta Chronicle picked up from Tiger's web site and from Mike Weir at Bay Hill.

Woods, a four-time Masters champion, played the latest "new" course for the first time Sunday and shot 2-under-par 70, he said.

"It definitely played longer," Woods said on his Web site. "It will be a big challenge if the golf course plays fast."

"I love Augusta, don't get me wrong," Nicklaus said. "And all I want for Augusta is to be Augusta and be the best it can be because it's such a great event.

"But when they take the golf course and limit the number of people who have the ability to win ... their intention is not to do that, but they're doing exactly that."

"They're making the long holes really, really long," Nicklaus said. "They are frustrated, as I am doing my courses. They're trying to figure out how to compete with the length of the golf ball."

Weir played Augusta National the "last few days," he said Tuesday at the Bay Hill Invitational in Orlando, Fla., and also had an issue with No. 7.

"I didn't think they needed to do anything to it (the course), but I don't mind the added length," Weir said. "The only hole I don't think they needed to lengthen was No. 7. That green is not built for a 4-, 5-, or 6-iron."

Safe to say that No. 7 sounds silly. Of course,most people could have told Hootie this change was a bad idea. Except apparently, Tom Fazio.
 

Jeff Shain in the Miami Herald was there and put this answer into context:

As Nicklaus discussed his charge from four shots back, he was asked if the ''new'' Augusta could produce a similar run.

He suggested ''about 10 guys'' could pull it off.

''Could Tiger [Woods] do that, or Ernie Els or Vijay [Singh]? Yes, because they have the length to do that,'' he said.

"Could a Mike Weir or José María [Olazábal] or Bernhard Langer or one of those guys of moderate length? Probably not. Not with the golf course today. That's the change at Augusta I have a hard time with.''

 And Ray McNulty had this story on the gathering, with remarks you probably won't read in many other places:

...should the men of Augusta, if only to preserve their course, if only to protect the integrity of The Masters, take the lead in placing limits on the golf ball?

"They would be the only place that could," Nicklaus said.

If you listened closely enough, if you looked into his eyes as he uttered those words, you knew that he wanted Augusta to take a stand.

Even though he didn't actually say it.

 

1986 Masters Redux

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nicklaus861.jpgGolf Digest's Guy Yocom compiled an oral history of the 1986 Masters, and from the parts I've skimmed, it's a must read.

Yocom also answers questions from and unnamed interviewer about how the project was put together, including who cooperated, who didn't and who turned out to be the best source of fresh insight into the greatest golf tournament ever. 

More Nicklaus Comments On Augusta

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Jack Nicklaus makes some more interesting comments about Augusta in this AP story that reader Tim forwarded.

On Tuesday, he discussed the last of his 18 professional majors, and he was asked whether a back-nine charge was still possible.

"I know what Augusta is trying to do," Nicklaus said. "Whether they've gone overboard, I'm not sure. But they've eliminated a lot of guys who are able to do that. Could Tiger (Woods) do that? Or Ernie Els? Or Vijay (Singh)? Yes. Could Mike Weir or Jose Maria (Olazabal) - one of those guys of moderate length - could they do that? Probably not. That's the change at Augusta I have a hard time with."
And...
Nicklaus didn't mind the change at No. 4, saying it was always a 2-, 3- or 4-iron shot, and that's likely the club that will be used at this year's Masters.

"But No. 7? Wow," Nicklaus said. "I had dinner with Ernie the other night, and he played 4-iron and 7-iron. A 4-iron into that green? Ernie Els? What is Mike Weir playing, a 4-wood? That's the issues I've got."
And...
"I love Augusta. Don't get me wrong," Nicklaus said. "All I want is for Augusta to be Augusta, because it's such a great tournament. But when you take a golf course and limit the number of people that have the ability to win ... Their intention is not to do that. But they're doing that."