AUGUSTA - Despite the extra length of Augusta National and the increasingly claustrophobic nature of many tee shots because of newly planted mature pine trees, the world's best golfers still believe the key to winning this week's Masters is on and around the greens.
Defending champion Tiger Woods noted how
the hot and sunny weather was making the course harder and faster by the day and emphasised the importance of making difficult par putts.
"You're going to have some putts or chips that are going to run out and you're going to have those eight or 10 footers in there for par and you've got to make those putts."
The man he beat in a play-off last year, Chris Dimarco, agrees.
"If you can hit your driver in play, its one of the components, but putting is still the key."
Which is the reason most players are using Augusta's under-length driving range for little more than warm-ups this week. The real work is being done on the practice green and during two days of practice rounds so far, groups of players will spend up to 15 minutes chipping and putting to various hole locations on each green.
It can make tedious watching for the 45,000 spectators who have been at the practice days but for most of them it's their only chance to be on the course this week. But they've had a chance to watch the curious case of Phil Mickelson's two-driver operation.
The left hander, who won here in 2004, is carrying two drivers so he can shape his tee shots to match the angle of the hole.
Mickelson reckons he needs to be able to draw the ball from left to right on some of Augusta's longer holes using his usual swing. Therefore his fade driver is heel weighted and his draw is toe weighted.
He says his draw club gives him an extra 23m pop.
However, Mickelson's activity after interviews suggests he too knows where the real key to Masters success lies. Thirty minutes in the press room was followed by 60 on the practice green.
KEY VIEWING
* Michael Campbell starts his first round at 1.17am tomorrow in the company of two-time champion Tom Watson and British amateur champion Brian McElhinney of Ireland.
* Tiger Woods is paired with US amateur champion Edoardo Molinari of Italy and Robert Allenby of Australia, starting just over an hour after Campbell's group.
