In the field
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Zach Johnson , the reigning Masters Tournament champion, returned to Augusta National on Sunday evening for the first time since slipping on the green jacket last April.
He described his triumphant return as he entered the gates and drove down Magnolia Lane.
"It was different because the baby was crying and had strawberries all over his face, my wife had a headache and I had to go to the bathroom real bad and I wanted to get there before registration closed," he said.
Then, the wonder and awe of the Masters took over.
"The clouds parted, and Magnolia Lane opened up," he said. "I was very stressed before I got here, and I'm de-stressed now. Is that a word?"
Johnson hadn't played the course or even returned since his victory.
For tonight's annual Champions Dinner, Johnson has selected a surf and turf menu: Midwestern corn-fed beef and Iowa corn on one side, shrimp and tuna on the other side.
ZACH'S WAY: Johnson's Masters win might help others this year.
It's long been thought that the lengthening of several holes in the past few years had taken away any chance a short-game golfer had at winning the Masters.
Then, Johnson came along. He dared to lay up when others went for the par-5 holes in two.
Now, other players are hoping to do the same thing.
"Some short hitters have always felt like that they're at a huge disadvantage because they can't go at the par-5s in two," Jonathan Byrd said. "Zach pretty much said, 'I don't have any business going at those greens with the clubs I have to hit in, so I'm going to lay up and trust my wedge game.' Now, guys think, 'Hey, it's OK not to have to go at these greens.' "
Byrd is one of those golfers who might give the "Zach Johnson way" a shot. He last played in the Masters in 2004 and missed the cut. The course has changed since then, and Byrd saw it firsthand Monday.
"There's a couple changes on the greens, like No. 7, the front right of No. 9. Fourteen is a little bit longer, and you've got the trees on the right. It's still a tough hole. I'm still hitting a 4- or 5-iron into that green myself," he said. "Seven is obviously the biggest change. That hole is really tough now. I remember hitting sand wedges and wedges into that hole, and now I'm hitting a 5-iron, and a 6-iron today."
TEAMWORK: Drew Weaver and Johnson Wagner , a pair of Masters rookies from Virginia Tech, hit the course together during Monday's practice round. Weaver won the British Amateur in June and has known he would be in the Masters field for 10 months. Wagner, who got in thanks to a win at Sunday's Houston Open, had known for less than 24 hours.
With so little preparation time, Wagner called for help from the amateur during Monday's practice round.
"I've played this golf course more than any other golf course in the past four or five months. That's a huge benefit for me to play," Weaver said. "Johnson had played here maybe 45 holes four or five years ago, so he didn't remember much of the golf course."
FUZZY-LIKE: Nick Dougherty , the 25-year-old Englishman, is one of 19 golfers who will make their Masters debut this year. It's well-known that Fuzzy Zoeller was the last golfer to win the Masters on his first time out. He accomplished the feat in 1979.
Like the other rookies, Dougherty said he's already fielding questions about his game compared to Zoeller's.
"I've been doing some work with (sports psychologist) Bob Rotella , and Bob said to me it's no coincidence that Fuzzy Zoeller's the (last) first-time winner because this course demands patience and acceptance more than any other course," Dougherty said. "Fuzzy is probably the most laid-back golfer you can get. He's always horizontal."
Dougherty had a strong following Monday: "I've got half the crowd, I think, with me this year. I've got Mom and Dad, brother, girlfriend Claire, uncle, auntie, a couple of friends of Mom and Dad's, a few of my friends from the golf club. We left the pets at home."
