“I’ve got a lot of stuff that I don’t do textbook.”

/

Perhaps it's a tribute to just how many stars have aligned this week, but after reading Michael Buteau's story on Mid-Am champion Steve Wilson, it's sort of amazing that the Mississippi filling station owner and great quote has been overlooked so far.

At 39, he will be the oldest of the five non-pros competing at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, with Woods and 100 other golfers including Phil Mickelson and Greg Norman.

“I’m not going to look anything like those guys,” said Wilson, co-owner of stations in Gautier, Mississippi, and Theodore, Alabama, on the Gulf Coast. “I’ve got a lot of stuff that I don’t do textbook.”

The professionals will vie for a purse that in 2008 was $7.5 million; this year’s will be disclosed April 12, the match’s last day. While Wilson can’t pocket any money no matter how low he scores, he prepared by playing Augusta 15 times after gaining “honorary member” status with his amateur triumph.

“I’m pretty sure I have worn out my welcome,” the Ocean Springs, Mississippi, resident said.

Tee Times Released

/

Tuesday Clippings: Tiger Dodges Bubba By Playing Late

/

Doug Ferguson files several fun notes, including this one related to Tiger's late practice session.

Bubba Watson was among the first to go off, no doubt looking for Woods to join some elite company. By midmorning, photographers were on the prowl and fans began to murmur, ``Has anyone seen Tiger.''

Poor Bubba.

James Corrigan focuses on the teens and Rory McIlroy in particular, considering his chances at his inaugural Masters.

Larry Dorman analyzes how Padraig Harrington has eluded the spotlight in pursuit of his third straight major.

Mike Aitken talks to Monty about the European players and why Paul Casey has so much potential to win at Augusta, highlighted by his high ball flight.

Jerry Potter files the latest story on the downturn in entertainment spending outside the gates.

The press conferences were dull outside of Gary Player announcing his retirement. Jim McCabe celebrates Player's incredible run. As for the press conference transcripts...

Gary Player is here.

Rory McIlroy is here.

And inexplicably, Anthony Kim was called in to the media center and his chat is here.

Monday saw more piling on when it comes to bashing the course changes. Gosh, I remember the good ole days when writers cared about getting drawn in the Monday lottery.

In this Golfweek Q&A, Paul Goydos doesn't hold back.

What’s one thing you would change about the Masters if you could?

Goydos: I’d bring the fun back in it. The golf course has gotten too long and it’s lost all of it’s fun. I can’t reach any of the par-5s in two, so it’s turned into a battle of attrition. They have to get it back to this battle of wits, but now it’s more like a U.S. Open. Like I said, if you’ve got a two-shot lead going into the back nine and you shoot even par, you’re going to win the tournament. That needs to go away.

Bob Harig (here) and Daniel Wexler (here) both review the many changes and crunch some numbers, while Steve Elling focuses on the peculiarity of any weather hiccup throwing the entire course into chaos, all because they have so few options to move tees.

Immelman points out that he was 11 under after 54 holes, right in line with scoring in previous years, before the weather turned foul in the final round with winds gusting in excess of 30 mph.

"When you're playing a golf course like Augusta National, the beauty of Augusta National, its defense is that you really need to be accurate and you need to really control the distance and the trajectory of your golf ball," Immelman said. "When that's a golf course's defense, then a 30-mile-an-hour wind is thrown into the equation, it becomes extremely difficult for golfers."

That's exactly the point. The course is so punitive that weather wrinkles can make it unendurable. The design limitations make it difficult to counteract Mother Nature and the numbers speak for themselves: Nobody has shot four rounds under par since Woods in 2002. The last real final-round gun battle took place between Els and Phil Mickelson in 2004, a week in which 30 eagles and three aces -- two in successive groups on Sunday -- were recorded.
Seems a distant memory, really.

"What's the problem with 12 under winning the Masters?" Faldo asked. "There really isn't one."

And finally, Golfweek offers a few photos from Monday's practice, minus the copyright free music. It's only Monday though.

It's Here!

/

The field, which almost saw a late addition in J.B. Holmes, is set.

Coverage on this site will utilize Cover-It-Live's Live Blogging interactive software of the Par-3 contest coverage Wednesday and the four rounds of tournament play. It looks like they've added some neat features, including Twitter capability that will make it easy to get news updates as we watch, especially now that The Masters is on Twitter.)

So please come back, come often, bring a little attitude and be ready to share your innermost Masters thoughts with the world. (You can also check in via a mobile device.)

I also hope to feature the traditional clippings breakdown of must read items each day, but it depends on how much work and how little golf the on-site scribes decide to enage in Monday-Wednesday. (Now that the economy isn't so hot and Internet operations have been improved, I'm hoping for more early week items to help us make our pool picks get in the mood for Thursday.)

Either way, I can't imagine the Masters' stars aligning any better.

  • A couple of old geezers played nicely in Houston and it's easy to imagine a scenario where Greg Norman and Fred Couples contend.
  • Three teenagers are playing impressive golf in their debut events, and Johnny Miller even thinks Danny Lee could win. But Johnny also could probably find grain on Augusta's greens, so...I like Rory McIlroy to be low teenager.
  • A positive weather forecast for the tournament days. However, the practice rounds sound cold and windy, which Stewart Cink noted on Twitter will not bode well for the fans hoping to see players: "Very windy weather Mon-Tues means curtailed practice rounds by many players. You can get into bad habits playing in cold wind."
  • Golf Channel sounds like they are really stepping up their always-top notch pre and post round coverage, so this year they may actually have more people covering the event on site than in the Orlando studio.
  • We get to listen as the CBS and ESPN guys try tell to us that the course design is functioning beautifully, putting them in the same category as the Golf Digest Panel or Rex Hoggard, who confuses rankings with popularity contests. Jim Herre in this week's SI chat says the nets have been reminded not to say anything that might upset Hootie Johnson. Who knew that notorious tough guy who stood down Martha Burke and sidelined those harmless past champions could have his feelings so easily hurt?

As for a table setter, check out Doug Ferguson's breezy report about Sunday activities at ANGC, including which former champ took a cart for his round.