Augusta National should test every skill from opening tee shot to the final approach. The premium is on driving, ball-striking, short game, putting and--always-- hinking.
"I always thought the Masters was the toughest mentally, because there's always such a fine line between success and failure on every shot," Stewart Cink said. "You're riding the knife's edge on every single shot."
The greatest change of all could be the fireworks on the back nine Sunday at Augusta, where Nicklaus shot a 30 in 1986 to claim his sixth green jacket, and where Norman had a 40 during his horrific meltdown 10 years later.
Instead, the premium might be on par, just like in a U.S. Open, which is regarded as the toughest test in golf.
"You're going to see a lot more bogeys, that's for sure," Mark Calcavecchia said. "And you're going to see a lot less birdies, especially coming down the stretch. It's going to be really tough and really long. That's what you want for your Masters champion.
"You don't want somebody slinging it around there and winning because he had a good week putting," he said. "Whoever wins that tournament is going to have to have it all."
