The fans watched and they knew.

``There's Coody,'' one fan whispered along the seventh fairway.

``Is that Gay Brewer?'' another fan asked by the ninth green.

``That's Billy Casper,'' a man responded.

In Thursday's first pairing, Casper, Charles Coody and Doug Ford made their way around Augusta National. The 78-year-old Ford's trip ended after the first hole because of a hip problem, while the 69-year-old Casper and 63-year-old Coody played all 18. Coody, the 1971 Masters champion, shot an 8-over 80 while Casper, the 1970 Masters winner, had an 87.

Ford, the 1957 Masters winner, made a double-bogey six on the first hole, then withdrew. This is the fourth straight year he has withdrawn after the first round.

He told his playing partners that his hip had been bothering him and that he did not know if he could make the full round.

Coody and Casper will tee it up today at 11:07 a.m. on a course they find a little different.

``The hills are higher, your steps are shorter and the course is longer,'' said Casper, who began his round with a quadruple-bogey 8 on the first hole. ``I don't think it's any longer, I just think we hit it shorter. Charlie and I were saying that we used to hit it down beyond the trap on the second hole. Now we're 40 yards short of the trap; I was.''

Age has taken its toll on the older players, who don't hit it nearly as far as they once did. But Casper recaptured some of his old Masters magic when he rolled in an 8-foot birdie putt on the par-5 13th hole.

``That was the highlight of the day,'' he said.

No matter how low or high he shoots, he'll still pick up a check for at least $5,000 at the end of the tournament.

``That's not too bad, is it?'' Casper said. ``Think of how many people would just love to come here and play.''

Casper, who has 51 PGA Tour wins along with nine Senior PGA Tour victories, has played a much-reduced schedule recently. After playing in 17 Senior Tour events in 1995, he has played a total of six in the past two years. But Augusta has a special place in his heart.

``I start thinking about it in November,'' he said. ``And you better get your plane tickets then, too.''

Despite a knee injury last year that reduced his schedule to nine events, Coody is a regular on the Senior Tour. Since 1988, he has played 26 or more tournaments nearly every year and has more than $3.6 million in Senior Tour earnings.

``(Augusta National) treats us very nicely,'' Coody said. ``It's always a pleasure to come back. It's the premier tournament in the golf world. It's nice to have won and come back to every year.''

One of the things Coody cherishes the most is the Champions Dinner on Tuesday night.

``That's part of the fun of coming back, going to the dinner on Tuesday night. We come here to listen to some stories, some lies, some embellishments. That's a very nice evening,'' he said.

Casper and Coody flew around the course in three hours and 34 minutes. The group behind them finished nearly an hour later.

``We didn't exactly burn the fairways up today with our speed and walking,'' Coody said. ``If we would have been able to walk faster we would have been a lot quicker.''