While yesterday at the Mas ters was probably much more of an anomaly than a trend, it may have been a day when golf's future shifted into the beginnings of a hazy focus.

Woods, faced with an unusual first- and second-round doubleheader, left his famous "A game" somewhere between the practice green and valet parking.

Woods chipped in on his first hole - for bogey. He was out on the course for 22 holes and seven hours until he made his first birdie. His birdie-free first round was such a rarity that even certified Tigerologists couldn't remember the last time he'd played 18 holes without a red number.

After a long, cold day, the best Woods could do was to insist "I'm not out of this thing."

He was correct, but, at 2 over par through 28 holes, he's eight strokes off Mike Weir's lead and not exactly "into it," either.

Yesterday's enduring memory, however, may not be the birdies Woods didn't make but how many younger players were taking shots at him and finding the range. Woods finished the first 18 holes trailing 43 players. Eight were younger than he was.

To give Woods, who turned 27 last Dec. 30, proper credit, he's always insisted that there are players coming along behind him who'll eventually equal and surpass him.

We might have actually seen a few of them yesterday.

Woods probably saw more than he preferred of 22-year-old U.S. Amateur champion Ricky Barnes, a peroxide blonde Arizona Wildcat who played in Woods' threesome and had numerous opportunities to utter one of the most seldom-heard sentences in golf: "Tiger, I believe you're away."

Barnes' caddie was his older brother, Andy, who was a strong enough player to qualify for the 1999 U.S. Open. Over that weekend at Pinehurst, Ricky lugged the bag. Andy was asked if Little Bro's youthful confidence had him convinced he could beat Woods.

"Yeah," said the elder Barnes, "Ricky's young enough and dumb enough."

Barnes finished the first round with a 69, tied for second place. He played just as fearlessly in the p.m. round, but not as well. When darkness fell, however, he was sitting at 1 under par, three strokes ahead of his erstwhile idol and role model.

"I remember watching TV and rooting for Tiger when he was winning his U.S. Amateurs and playing in the majors as a teenager," Barnes said. "I always dreamed about a day when he'd be on top and I'd be the young up-and-comer trying to knock him off."

There are others. They range from the well-known (Sergio Garcia), to the almost well-known (Charles Howell), to the all but unknown (Hunter Mahan of Oklahoma State, who lost to Barnes in the Amateur final).

They don't have Woods' experience and can't approach his mental edge, but they aren't overawed by Woods or their surroundings.

Informed that only one amateur's made the cut in the past three Masters, Barnes said, "Half the field makes the cut. I honestly set my goal a little higher."

Barnes (6-1, 200) made Woods look skinny. He not only has the attitude, but the build of a hard-hitting free safety. His father, Bruce, was a football player at UCLA and, briefly, with the NFL New England Patriots.

Fulfilling another of Woods' predictions, Barnes is a former all-sports athlete who dropped football and baseball to concentrate on golf. Woods has always maintained that performance in golf will take a dramatic step forward when the game attracts and retains more of these type players.

"I had some early success in golf," Barnes said, "so I decided to concentrate on it. It was an easier choice to make, I guess . . . considering how the game's grown since Tiger's come up."

Woods has two more days to teach these guys a little respect for the elders.

Not that he ever showed any himself.