AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The big headline out of the Golf Writers Association of America annual dinner Wednesday night: Luke Donald is funny.
Really funny.
While accepting the award for the association’s 2011 Player of the Year, the World No. 1 applied some dry, pointed wit as he roasted the assembled scribes for neglecting to fill seats at his press conferences and for failing to give the Brit his due.
“It’s a strange feeling to be in a room full of people,” he said sarcastically, before pulling out a frizzy black wig that resembled the hair of a certain 22-year-old Northern Irishman whom the golf media has been accused of fawning over.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – The 2012 Masters kicked off just the way you’d hope: three balls in the fairway from golf’s three living legends.

Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer were joined by Gary Player, making his debut as an honorary starter, to hit the ceremonial opening tee shots on a clear, sunny Thursday morning at Augusta National. The tradition dates to 1963, but never has there has ever been a group of starters with more major-championship (34) or green-jacket (13) cred on that first tee box.

It was a heck of a scene.

Robert Beck/SI

Jack Nicklaus (left), Arnold Palmer (center) and Gary Player have won a combined 13 Masters titles.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- They are not booing when the World No. 1 approaches each green, they are cooing, as any Bruce Springsteen fan will tell you. Not "Bruuuuce," but "Luuuuke."
Luke Donald receives his share of support from the galleries, but he knows he doesn't have the outgoing personality of Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson or the celebrity of Tiger Woods. Donald is the Invisible Man, the World No. 1 Ghost. But while most of the talk at the Masters suggests the only story in town is Rory vs. Tiger, the 34-year-old Englishman now fighting out of Chicago obviously disagrees.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Billy Payne was wincing and treading lightly as he made his way from the stage after his annual press conference on Wednesday morning. The chairman of Augusta National mumbled something about a balky back, but it was his pride that had to be hurting.
Payne had opened with an overwrought 11-minute monologue that celebrated the glory of the Masters and highlighted Augusta National's desire to grow the game and make it more inclusive. Speaking in front of two dozen green-jacketed members who had turned out in support, Payne seemed thoroughly pleased with himself. But as soon as the floor was opened for questions, the mood in the room soured.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy bumped into each other on the putting green earlier this week, two alpha dogs sharing space at Augusta National Golf Club.
 
They had a private conversation in front of a gallery of hundreds, each golfer standing with his shoulders back and his chest high, each possessing the unmistakable air of a winner.
 
Woods turned to walk away first, the elder signaling to the younger that their chat was over and it was time to return to work. McIlroy lingered for a moment and then dutifully followed suit.
 
It was a brief encounter in what many believe could be a decade of jousting in major championships -- a decade that could begin during this year’s Masters.
 

AUGUSTA, Ga. -– Phil Mickelson says Augusta National has gone soft less than 36 hours before the start of the 2012 Masters, and if the course doesn’t dry out fast the season’s first major could turn into a “birdie-fest.”
 
Such a sea of red numbers could potentially negate the advantage of veterans like Mickelson and Tiger Woods, the three-time champion Mickelson added.
 
“It seems that some of the planning I have made may go by the wayside,” he said at his press conference at Augusta National on Tuesday afternoon. “As soft as the golf course is, you can fire at a lot of the pins. The greens are soft. I don't want to say they are slow, but it's just not the same Augusta.”

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- He's back.
Here it comes, the opposite of going out on a limb: Tiger Woods is the most likely winner of this week's Masters. When I say he's back, I don't mean that I guarantee he's going to win his fifth Masters this week. Four lipped-out putts -- or a Phil Mickelson onslaught -- could change that in a heartbeat. But I've seen enough from Tiger in the last six months, and heard enough on Tuesday, to be convinced.
Assuming he stays healthy, Tiger is going to win more tournaments and more major championships and yes, at least one more Masters. It will happen sooner or later. Forced to wager, I'd take sooner and give the points.

Augusta, Ga. — It’s a little known fact that Sir Isaac Newton’s Third Law of Motion applies to golf as well as space travel or sitting in a bathtub. The law states that for every action, there is an equal an opposite reaction. So, to stop the world spinning off its axis, for the emotionally shutdown and defensive Tiger Woods there is the self-deprecating and refreshingly honest Rory McIlroy.
 

(All times Eastern)
Rd. 1 times   Rd. 2 times 
7:50 a.m.  10:57 a.m.:  Craig Stadler;  Brendan Steele;  Tim Clark
8:01 a.m.  11:08 a.m.:  Jose Maria Olazabal;  Robert Garrigus;  Randal Lewis
8:12 a.m.  11:19 a.m.:  Larry Mize;  Paul Lawrie;  Anders Hansen
8:23 a.m.  11:30 a.m.:  Ross Fisher;  Ryan Palmer;  Harrison Frazar
8:34 a.m.  11:41 a.m.:  Ben Crenshaw;  Robert Karlsson;  Bryden Macpherson
8:45 a.m.  11:52 a.m.:  Adam Scott;  Bo Van Pelt;  Martin Kaymer

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- As we prepare to gaze upon the breathtaking cinematography that is the Masters at Augusta National, Tiger Woods, who hasn’t hoisted major hardware in almost four years, is more compelling than ever. The numbers bear this out: NBC’s final-round ratings from the recent Arnold Palmer Invitational, when Woods won by what should have been a yawn-inducing five strokes, were virtually identical to the ratings from the last time he won at Bay Hill, by one over Sean O’Hair, in ’09.
 
In fact, over the last half hour of play, NBC’s 6.8 rating and 13 share edged the NCAA men’s basketball tournament (Kansas/North Carolina) and its 6.6 and 13.
 

On Wednesday, Billy Payne will give his annual Masters week press conference, a state of the union for the world's most famous tournament and celebrated golf club, which are inextricably linked.

The final round of the Kraft Nabisco Championship was supposed to be uneventful, perhaps even boring. World No. 1 YanTi Tseng, whose dominance of late has triggered comparisons to Tiger Woods in 2000, was expected to coast to the winner's circle for the third consecutive week and for the fourth time in six starts in 2012.
Yet as the sun faded behind the San Jacinto Mountains at Mission Hills Country Club on Sunday, the title was still up for grabs. The back nine was producing more twists and turns than an episode of 24. Even Tseng, at 23 already a five-time major champion, was caught up in the excitement. Standing in the 18th fairway while waiting for the group on the green to clear, she wandered over to a reporter and said, "There's some drama, huh?"

AUGUSTA, Ga. — There was a time when the question before a major was simple, even if the answer wasn’t: Do you take Tiger Woods, or the field?
 
Heading into the 2012 Masters at Augusta National, the proposition has been slightly modified: Do you take the three-headed monster that is Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson and Woods—a.k.a. Tiger Mickelroy—or the field?
 
“I think it’s going to be the most wide-open Masters ever,” said putting coach Dave Stockton, who worked with McIlroy at the Bear’s Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., last Saturday. “Luke Donald is playing well, and so is Justin Rose. Hunter Mahan has won twice.”
 

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Who’s the top American at Augusta? Tiger Woods? No. Phil Mickelson? Wrong again. James Brown? Probably. But this week, Augusta’s godfather of holes (apologies for that) and the golfer hiding behind the wraparound shades is Hunter Mahan, champion in Houston on Sunday and, at World No. 4, the highest ranked U.S. golfer in Augusta, and therefore the world.
 

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Old traditions die hard at the Masters, and as tournament week kicked off Monday with relaxed practice rounds under bright skies, a fresh set of players and fans gathered to enjoy the sights and sounds that make Augusta National special.

The only thing missing was the azaleas. But we’ll get to that later.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- There are no sure things in golf, but here's a tip straight from Las Vegas that you can take to the bank: this year at the Masters, two players have separated themselves from the field. You know who they are.
"It doesn't matter if it's a computer, my brain or anything else, this year Tiger and Rory are the favorites," said Mike Colbert, risk director for Las Vegas-based Cantor Gaming. "We're going to have an opinion, and we're going to post numbers accordingly. And our opinion is that it's going to be Tiger or Rory who wins this thing."

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (AP) - I.K. Kim raised her left hand to her mouth and turned her head away, unwilling to look at what just happened at her feet. Fans at Mission Hills gasped, groaned and screamed in a chorus of shared pain.
With a major championship resting on a 1-foot putt, Kim had just lived every golfer's nightmare.
She had done the unthinkable. She had missed the unmissable.
A few minutes later, the Kraft Nabisco Championship was in a playoff - and with an improbable second chance to win, Sun Young Yoo didn't flinch.
Yoo won the LPGA Tour's first major of the season with an 18-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole Sunday, earning her first major title after Kim's mind-boggling miss on a tap-in on the final hole of regulation.

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A TIGER-RORY-PHIL LETDOWN?

HUMBLE, Texas (AP) - Louis Oosthuizen took a moment at Redstone on Saturday to take in the view of the golf course backlit by the setting sun.
The rest of the day, he was all business.
The 29-year-old South African shot his second straight 6-under 66 to reach 17 under and take a two-shot lead over Hunter Mahan after the third round of the Houston Open.
Carl Pettersson (67) and Brian Davis (69) were three strokes back at 14 under. James Driscoll (71) was alone at 12 under. Defending champion Phil Mickelson (70), Keegan Bradley (69) and Ryan Palmer (66) were 11 under.
``It's a great leaderboard behind me,'' Oosthuizen said. ``It's going to be tough, but I feel like I'm ready for it.''