As he took his first walk down the fairways at the Augusta National Golf Club, Masters rookie Steve Stricker didn't say anything to his caddy like, ``Wow, we're here,'' and the caddy was also quiet.

Sure, they both thought it. And like many couples, they knew what each other was thinking, and nothing needed to be said.

While most players' wives have to walk along the sidelines while their husbands experience their first Masters, Nicole Stricker is right by Steve Stricker's side. The husband and wife team have been working together for seven years, going back to Steve's amateur days, and the Masters was a family goal.

``We're just trying to get our bearings and get used to everything,'' Steve says of Augusta, fresh from a nine-hole practice round with 1992 Masters champion Fred Couples and 1988 PGA Championship winner Jeff Sluman. ``She's excited to be here, too. We've been working on this a long time. This is a big week for both of us.''

Nicole says they came in Sunday to start getting used to the place and get over the idea of being at the Masters. But still, this morning, ``It'll be hard not to get excited when we tee off,'' she says. ``To actually be playing in the tournament will be a bit overwhelming, but then we'll calm down and get on with it.''

The couple met through Nicole's father, Dennis Tiziani, golf coach at the University of Wisconsin.

Tiziani had wanted Steve to play for him at Wisconsin, but Steve chose to go to the University of Illinois. There were no hard feelings though, as Tiziani is still Steve's teacher and occasional opponent.

Steve and Tiziani both entered the 1995 Greater Milwaukee Open, as did Mario Tiziani, Nicole's brother. For the record, Dad beat his son-in-law by one stroke, though it was no big deal as both missed the cut.

It was a rare cut for Steve, who missed only three of 23 cuts in 1995.

He scored his Masters invitation by finishing tied for 13th at the 1995 U.S. Open. Tiziani came to Augusta on Monday to give Steve a lesson before flying back to Wisconsin.

As a Masters rookie, Steve is one of those 19 much talked-about players vying to accomplish the rare feat of winning the first time out.

``He could do it,'' Nicole soberly says.

She's in a small elite group herself.

Nicole Stricker is one of only five female caddies at the Masters and only the second wife, according to Augusta National officials. Mark Calcavecchia's wife, Sheryl, used to caddy for him. Ken Green's sister and George Archer's daughter were also caddies.

Aside from Nicole, the only other female caddy currently on the PGA Tour is Fanny Sunesson, who caddies for two-time Masters champion Nick Faldo.

On the course, Steve and Nicole operate much like any other player and caddy - there's no hand-holding on the tee going on here.

Sometimes they'll stroll the greens together, sometimes she's several paces behind wiping the dirt off an iron while Steve chats with another player. Often, she seems like just one of the guys herself, sharing laughs with Sluman and Davis Love III during Wednesday afternoon's Par-3 Contest.

Sometimes the couple does lean into each other and lower their voices in quiet conversation, giving observers a clue that they're married.

The Strickers don't go out of their way to keep the golf course out of the home or vice versa. Things just sort themselves out.

``We have enough interests outside of golf that we don't get too wrapped up in it,'' Nicole says.

Steve says, ``It does come home with us. She's a good player, so naturally she has a lot of insight and we talk about it. But when we're on the golf course, she becomes more of a caddy than a wife.''

So might Nicole one day decide to make her own mark as a professional golfer?

``No,'' she says. ``That would take the relationship in an entirely different direction and I'm very happy where it is now.''