MASTERS MAJOR ACHIEVEMENT AWARD HONOREES

HORACE BILLINGS

FIRST MASTERS: 1954

FIRST PUBLICATION: Salisbury (N.C.) Post

FAVORITE MOMENT: "My first Masters, when fellow North Carolinian Billy Joe Patton almost won."

BIGGEST CHANGE: "The golf has improved quite a bit. The guys can shoot 30 now. They used to shoot 36."

ART SPANDER

FIRST MASTERS: 1967

FIRST PUBLICATION: San Francisco Chronicle

FAVORITE MOMENT: Nicklaus' win at the 1986 Masters

BIGGEST CHANGE: Growth of the city of Augusta. "It's become a real city. They have 24-hour pharmacies now. I can remember coming from the big city and being taken aback by how little was here."

DAVE MOFFIT

FIRST MASTERS: 1959

FIRST MEDIA OUTLET: United Press International

FAVORITE MOMENT: 1986 Masters with Jack Nicklaus, as old as he was; and 1987 when Larry Mize sank that impossible chip shot.

BIGGEST CHANGE: The city of Augusta. "When I first came here, there was no place to eat and the Bon Air was about the only place to stay."

FURMAN BISHER

FIRST MASTERS: 1950

FIRST PUBLICATION: Charlotte News

FAVORITE MOMENT: "In 1957, Bing Crosby and Phil Harris came over and Bing became my correspondent for the week. I was ghostwriting his stories from the Masters. It was by Bing Crosby, as told by me, for The Atlanta Journal."

BIGGEST CHANGE: "It's not a change. It's the manners, civility and sporting atmosphere that (have) been constant here. It has maintained the same level of manners."

DAN FOSTER

FIRST MASTERS: 1954

FIRST PUBLICATION: The Greenville Piedmont

FAVORITE MOMENT: Arnold Palmer's win in 1960. Palmer birdied Nos. 17 and 18 to win and avoid an 18-hole playoff the next day, and Foster was able to attend his son Max's 8th birthday party. "My wife was a huge fan of Arnold Palmer after that."

BIGGEST CHANGE: The current press building, which opened in 1990. "I worked in it a few times before I retired."

RON GREEN SR.

FIRST MASTERS: 1955

FIRST PUBLICATION: Charlotte News

FAVORITE MOMENT: 1986, when Jack Nicklaus won the Masters at age 46. "It is dearest to my heart because of who it was, his age and the way he played. Those last nine holes ... it was the most heartwarming tournament of all. It was just so perfect in every way."

BIGGEST CHANGE: "People used to dress up in their finest. The women wore hats and dresses, and men would put on jackets. It was a fashion show. Now people dress nice, but it's golf casual. It's more a change of our culture than anything."

DAN JENKINS

FIRST MASTERS: 1951

FIRST PUBLICATION: The Fort Worth Press

FAVORITE MOMENT: Jenkins singled out Ben Hogan's victory in 1953, amateur Billy Joe Patton's finishing a stroke short of a playoff in 1954 and Jack Nicklaus' wins in 1975 and 1986.

BIGGEST CHANGE: "Besides the food still being cheap, everything is different. When we first started coming to Augusta, we (the writers) would come out a week before (the tournament) and play the course for free. We'd walk right in. Now, even I have trouble getting in with a (credential)."

HUBERT MIZELL

FIRST MASTERS: 1968

FIRST PUBLICATION: Florida Times-Union

FAVORITE MOMENT: Jack Nicklaus' win in 1986

BIGGEST CHANGE: "I've enjoyed seeing the overall attitude of Augusta National and the Masters Tournament evolve and modernize. They've taken a lot of criticism, but I think they've handled everything with class and with good judgment. I've been lucky enough to go to 32 Super Bowls, 25 World Series, 10 Olympics, 30 Final Fours and none of those quite measure up to Augusta National in class and in memories."

EDWIN POPE

FIRST MASTERS: 1946

FIRST PUBLICATION: Athens Banner-Herald

FAVORITE MOMENT: Watching Nicklaus come up the last hole as the winner in 1986. "Even back then, sports were getting very hard-boiled. To see the rapport between the star and the crowd was amazing. Everyone was as one. I haven't seen anything like that to that degree. If the gallery had not taken Jack to their hearts by then, they did that day. Finally, Jack got what he was after. It's not even close. That was it."

BIGGEST CHANGE: "Too many cars and too little traffic control. It's horrendous. They've got to do something."

NICK SEITZ

FIRST MASTERS: 1965

FIRST PUBLICATION: Oklahoma Journal

FAVORITE MOMENT: "That would be 1986. I was on the 15th and 16th holes for CBS Radio and all hell was breaking loose. I couldn't hear myself talking. That was the loudest noise I've ever heard indoors or out."

BIGGEST CHANGE: "It used to be quiet early in the week. Now the practice rounds are almost a bigger deal. I'd swear there are more people than regular tournament rounds. That is the most striking change."

KAYE KESSLER

FIRST MASTERS: 1963

FIRST PUBLICATION: Columbus (Ohio) Citizen-Journal

FAVORITE MOMENT: "It was the Saturday in 1967 when Ben Hogan was playing in his final Masters. I remember we picked up Hogan on his second shot at 11 and followed him in. He shot an incredible 30 on that nine. The crowd just kept getting bigger and bigger. On the last hole, he took off his cap coming up 18 and birdied the hole. It was a chilling and thrilling experience."

BIGGEST CHANGE: "The class of it hasn't changed. The club has just gotten better and better. I remember when I came in 1963, it was so awesome. It has done nothing but stay the same or get better. I was star struck and blubbering in 1963 ... and I am now in 2007."

DAVE KINDRED

FIRST MASTERS: 1967

FIRST PUBLICATION: Louisville Courier-Journal

FAVORITE MOMENT: In 1967 when Ben Hogan shot 66 on Saturday and made about a 30-footer for birdie on No. 18 for 30 on the back nine. "I was in the locker room and Hogan was talking to about a dozen of us. Behind Hogan was a white lace curtain. The sun was coming through that curtain and it kind of made a halo around Hogan's head. He was very pleased and contented. As we were talking to him, one of the interested lookers over in the corner was Arnold Palmer. He was sitting there by himself listening to the great man talk about his great day."

BIGGEST CHANGE: "One thing I like about the Masters is it doesn't change. A lot of little changes. This event is closer to its original intent than any sports event that I go to. What Clifford Roberts and Bobby Jones wanted in 1934 is what there is here now. It's a great tribute, to Clifford Roberts and Bobby Jones, to Billy Payne. The tournament is the thing."

AL WESTER

First Masters: 1952

FIRST MEDIA OUTLET: Mutual Broadcasting

FAVORITE MOMENT: Jack Nicklaus' win in 1986. "Never forgot it. And he happens to be a close personal friend so naturally, you know, it's got to be."

BIGGEST CHANGE: "Just the great, great effort to steadily improve a great golf course. It has grown by 560 yards in length. It now takes a tremendous game, but it also takes a tremendous short game. Everything is necessary to win at Augusta. But the beautiful part about it - what the Masters brings out in a golfer, what makes it a great tournament - is the great emotion of playing here, the great incentive of a victory meaning you return for the rest of your career. This is one tournament that can make the career of a golfer."