After years of tweaking, Augusta is monster test

~ The Masters will be played over the second-longest course in major championship history.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Brandt Jobe recognized the drive down Magnolia Lane. The stately white clubhouse was a welcome sight, and he walked beneath the majestic live oak tree on his way to the first tee Monday at Augusta National.

Once on the tee box, however, he might as well have been in a foreign land.

It has been six years since Jobe last qualified to play in the Masters, and so much has changed, starting with the half-mile of turf added to the golf course to keep it current with today's players and the equipment they use.

"It's changed so dramatically," Jobe said, his voice a mixture of awe and regret. "I remember on No. 1, if you hit a real good drive, you could get over the bunker. I played with Todd Hamilton today, and neither of us got to the bunker. It was like, 'Wow; welcome to Augusta.' This is a big-boy golf course now."

Even those who have made the Masters their annual rite of spring, who have seen 13 holes lengthened in the last five years, have that "wow" factor when they play practice rounds.

"Until you play it, you just can't appreciate the difficulty," Charles Howell III said.

The crash course for the 70th Masters began in earnest on Monday as players registered for the first major of the year and began finding their way along a course that now measures 7,445 yards -- the second-longest in major championship history, and 460 yards longer than when Jobe last played.

Among those on the course was defending champion Tiger Woods, who played nine holes with Mark O'Meara and Sean O'Hair before heading to the practice range and chipping area.

Course changes figure to dominate conversation in the days leading to the start of the tournament Thursday.

The par-3 fourth hole was lengthened to about 245 yards. That left several players standing with their hands on hips Monday, staring with disbelief, and ultimately removing the head cover from a fairway metal or a hybrid club.

Stephen Ames, who got into the Masters by winning The Players Championship two weeks ago, walked to the back of the tee and said to no one in particular, "Full driver, isn't it?" And he reached for his driver, then smiled and shook his head before taking a hybrid.

The first one sailed to the left side of the green. He reloaded and hit his second try closer to the flag. As the crowd applauded, Ames snatched his tee from the ground and said, "Thank God for technology, huh?"

"Now, I put it up there with a U.S. Open or a PGA," Jobe said. "Your driving has to be great. Your irons have to be awesome. And you have to putt and chip like a demon. You cannot have any weakness."