Tom Fazio pointed toward the first fairway at the Augusta National Golf Club on Friday morning and explained some of the course change that has been a huge topic at this week's 63rd Masters Tournament.

``We wanted to do something to define the golf hole,'' Fazio said as he pointed toward the visual differences between the rough and fairway cuts. ``When you look down the first fairway you can really see where to hit the ball. Any time you design a course, you want to frame the hole. If you have a picture, and the frame doesn't work, then you get a new frame.

``If anything, I think the second cut may help the golfer line up some.''

Fazio, 54, is the consulting golf course architect for Augusta National and the man responsible for implementing the massive changes that took place to the course from last summer until this spring. He has been affiliated with Augusta National in some capacity since the 1960s when his uncle George, a course designer, worked with Augusta National co-chairman Cliff Roberts on course alterations. More recently, Fazio has been the club's main consultant on course changes. Fazio said this is his 29th Masters.

There never has been as busy a time as last summer. Redesigned Nos. 2, 11, 15 and 17 were long-range plans he put in place starting last May. Adding rough was something Fazio and Augusta National chairman Hootie Johnson decided last fall when the course re-opened for membership play. Accuracy, he said, was the premium in all the moves.

``It's not just something that happens,'' Fazio said. ``They plan here and do everything thoroughly. That's one of the great things about this place. There is no spur-of-the-moment decision.''

Fazio said his team is monitoring how the changes are affecting play this year. One person stakes out each of the redesigned holes to determine how the players are performing.

``We want to see how the ball bounces, see how far it rolls, what side of the fairway people play from -- everything,'' Fazio said. ``We do this so if there is some discussion, we won't be basing any decisions on chance. There is information we can refer to.''

Fazio said he has heard that the lengthened par-4 17th is ``the strongest, the hardest'' change. He said his monitors noted that seven or eight drives rattled around in Ike's Tree during Thursday's first round, an unusually high number for that hazard down the left side of the fairway.

The players' reaction?

``I usually don't see many of the players this week,`` Fazio said. ``I usually run into them next week or the week after and get their feedback. Most of their comments, I just hear about or read about until then.''

Fazio, who lives in Hendersonville, N.C., with his wife and six children, has become one of the nation's top designers in the 1990s, with courses such as Wild Dunes in Charleston, S.C.; Shadow Creek in Las Vegas; and Black Diamond in Lecanto, Fla.