Steve Allaire and Lance Johnson gladly sacrificed their plane tickets back to Houston on Sunday night in favor of front and center seats on the 18th hole of the Augusta National Golf Club.

After three days of strategic planning plus nearly three hours of waiting patiently outside the gates of the Augusta National early Sunday, they were among the first spectators to stake out a prime spot at the final hole.

``It's just sleep,'' said Allaire, 46, shortly before 8 a.m., when the gates were opened and spectators were allowed on the course. ``It's going to be a classic.''

Unlike many patrons who regularly get tickets to attend the Masters Tournament, Johnson and Allaire say they aren't likely to return. The golf buddies won their four-day badges playing in a charity golf tournament in Texas.

Each hole of the tournament was assigned a major golf tournament, and anyone who made a hole-in-one would be awarded two badges.

Johnson and Allaire were paired together, and Johnson, 54, sunk his ball at the one hole where the prize was tickets to the Masters.

``What are the odds?'' Johnson says now. ``They're like one in 8,000 for a hole-in-one, and to make one at a time when a prize is at stake, and that prize is tickets to the Masters - the timing was absolutely perfect.''

Which is why they sacrificed their sleep and their plane ride home Sunday night for their seats at the final hole.

Their day began before daybreak, arriving at the course gates shortly before 5:30 a.m. By 7:45, they were standing at the front of one of three lines of spectators snaking from the front gates of the club to entrances at Washington and Berckmans roads.

In the hours spent waiting, golf fans talked about the game, the players, their hometowns and their families - anything except where they were planning to put their green golf chairs.

``We had 21/2 hours to talk strategy as to how we were going to get our chairs in the right place,'' Allaire said.

``But you don't want to share your strategy with the people sitting around you, so they don't take your seat,'' Johnson said. ``You want to be cagey.''

At exactly 8 a.m., security guards waved those who had been waiting through, and the race began. Running is prohibited at the course, but that didn't stop the teams of spectators from walking at top speed.

``They say `Don't run,' but it was like warfare out there,'' Johnson said.

Within 15 minutes, the lines had cleared and the course's most popular greens, namely 18 and 16, were surrounded by foldout chairs, including Allaire's and Johnson's, which were right by the pin of the 18th.

``The idea was to get in before any other public,'' Allaire said.

``And we did,'' Johnson said. ``I was huffing and puffing the whole way, but we made it.''