Monday at the Masters busy as usual

Monday at the Masters was busy as usual, in stark contrast to most professional golf events.

Other stops resemble ghost towns, with few players on the course and little fan turnout other than relatives.

At the Masters, all but eight of the 95 starters had signed in by Monday evening. The missing are Paul Azinger, Larry Mize, Colin Montgomerie, Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman, Gary Player, Duffy Waldorf and Mike Weir, whose wife is due to give birth any moment.

``Why am I here on Monday?,'' asked Players Championship winner Hal Sutton. ``It's the Masters.''

Almost every player limited himself to 18 holes at the hilly Augusta National Golf Club.

``It's a hard-walking course,'' Lee Janzen said. ``If they'd let me take a cart like they do when I come in early (weeks or months before the tournament to practice), I would play 27 or 36.''

It was a given that the fans, from all over the country, would be out in droves. This is the only professional tournament so popular that practice-round tickets are pre-sold.

``That is what is so special about this place,'' said Brandt Jobe, who finished tied for 14th in the 1999 Masters. ``Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are just incredible. It's like playing a tournament every day. This is the first time my caddie, Phil Dyson, has been here. He said there are more people here for the practice rounds than at a normal tournament. That's the fun of it. It's special.''

``Augusta has done such a great job marketing and promoting this event over the years,'' Nick Price said. ``It has its own special aura and mystique about it. Part of it has to do with the name - the Masters. That's a great name.''

The players, even veterans like two-time Masters champion Ben Crenshaw, wouldn't think of missing a Monday practice.

``I've been here for 29 years and you can't play it (the Augusta National) enough,'' Crenshaw said. ``You can't learn everything about it. There's always something to learn out there. It's fantastic. There are so many feel shots you have to have. There is a lot of magic in those shots you have to play. Sometimes three days isn't enough here.''

``You get shots here you don't get many other places,'' said Honda Classic winner Dudley Hart. ``There are so many shots to practice, mainly around the green. I think that's why guys play some more practice rounds.''

Hart, in particular, wasn't going to miss the Monday practice round. Since he hasn't been in the Masters since 1997, the changes made to the course in 1999 are new to him.

Even the weather forecast had some players who don't normally play on Monday out on the course. As a rule, Scott Hoch skips Monday and plays either Tuesday or Wednesday.

``The weather might not be good and I don't think one practice round is enough for anyone around here,'' Hoch said.

It also didn't hurt the turnout that the BellSouth Classic in Duluth, Ga., made it an easy drive to Augusta. Most of the players got an early start on that drive when the final round was canceled at 11:30 a.m. The two co-leaders after 54 holes, Phil Mickelson and Gary Nicklaus, stayed around and played a sudden death playoff later in the day, which Mickelson won on the first hole.

After that victory, Mickelson said he would be taking Monday off. He still showed up at Augusta National to sign in and get his player's badge.

Some of the seven Masters participants who missed the BellSouth cut on Friday had been here since Saturday.