It's not just what the Masters Tournament has that makes it so popular with participants. It's also what it doesn't have - a pro-am.

"Sometimes you maybe cringe at pro-ams, but the bottom line is, if you're in the pro-am, you had a good year the year before because they do it off the money list."
-Shaun Micheel (File/Staff)

On the PGA Tour, today would be the normal pro-am day, when three to four amateurs play with one of the pros. The money raised from the amateurs' entry fee goes to each tournament's operating fund, and just about every tournament has a pro-am, with the exception of the major championships and World Golf Championships.

Fourteen tour events have been played this year, and only two of them - both World Golf Championships events - haven't had pro-ams.

The Masters, which is conducted by Augusta National Golf Club, has never had a pro-am. In the early years, it had "clinics, driving and iron-play clinics" on Wednesdays, wrote tournament co-founder Clifford Roberts in his 1976 book The Story of the Augusta National Golf Club.

Those activities were discontinued when the Par-3 Contest was introduced as the Wednesday staple in 1960.

Unlike pro-ams, the Par-3 Contest isn't mandatory for the pros.

"Sometimes you maybe cringe at pro-ams, but the bottom line is, if you're in the pro-am, you had a good year the year before because they do it off the money list," said 2003 PGA Championship winner Shaun Micheel.

"No, having a Wednesday where you can play a proper practice round is really nice. In a pro-am, you're on the course, but you're not really practicing."
-Geoff Ogilvie (Associated Press)

"We love pro-ams," U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy said sarcastically. "No, having a Wednesday where you can play a proper practice round is really nice. In a pro-am, you're on the course, but you're not really practicing."

"It's kind of nice not having one," Carl Pettersson said of the pro-am. "I don't mind the pro-ams that much, but it's not my favorite thing to do. I do enjoy it. I know it's a day for the amateurs, and we wouldn't be playing for the kind of money we do if we didn't have pro-ams.

"In that way it's good. A lot of money goes to charity. But it wouldn't bother me if I didn't play a pro-am."

A bad experience in a pro-am can carry over to the opening round the next day.

"Yeah, you can get frustrated and impatient, and it can affect your play," said Augusta resident Vaughn Taylor. "At the Bob Hope (in January), there were a few times I had to walk away and get my thoughts together and take some deep breaths and just say, 'Everything is fine; we're out here to have fun.'"

One benefit of playing in the pro-am is getting to see the course the day before the tournament, even if it's not a true practice round. The course is closed for practice to the other pros on pro-am days, as is the driving range for certain hours.

I know it's a day for the amateurs, and we wouldn't be playing for the kind of money we do if we didn't have pro-ams. In that way it's good. A lot of money goes to charity."
-Carl Pettersson (Rainier Ehrhardt/Staff)

"I use them as practice rounds," said Micheel, who tries to turn pro-ams to his advantage.

For instance, he said, "It allows you to stay home a couple of extra days with your family and come in on Tuesday afternoon and play Wednesday."

Still, most of the pros would prefer the added day without the pro-am.

"That extra day, especially at a course like that (Augusta National) is very important," said 2004 British Open champion Todd Hamilton. "There are so many nooks and crannies at that course that it's very important to get that extra day."

Said Taylor: "It's good to play a pro-am to see the course, but it would be better to play a regular practice round and get prepared for it."

"It's as close as it (the course) is going to be like on Thursday," Ogilvy said of the Wednesday practice round. "Augusta can change in 15 minutes, but it's really nice to be able to practice on the day before the tournament."

"It's good to play a pro-am to see the course, but it would be better to play a regular practice round and get prepared for it."
-Vaughn Taylor (Rainier Ehrhardt/Staff)