Augusta National barely recognizable to players

Brandt Jobe couldn't believe the changes.
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) -- 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 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.
First practice rounds
The crash course for the 70th Masters began in earnest 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, which is nothing new. For years, players would show up at Augusta and look for subtle differences -- a tee box moved 10 yards to the left, a shelf added to the back portion of a green -- even if there had been no change at all.
Sometimes, it was all in their heads.
245-yard par-3
But not this year. Not with a walk from the putting green to the first tee that now is about 10 steps instead of the length of a basketball court. And not with a par-3 fourth hole that measures about 245 yards and left several players standing with their hands on hips, 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 this one closer to the flag. As the crowd applauded, Ames snatched his tee from the ground and said, "Thank God for technology, huh?"
Howell grew up in Augusta and has been playing the Masters every year since 2002, the first set of massive changes. He was asked if Augusta National was no longer fun.
"It's a major. It's the Masters," he said. "I think that's the way Bobby Jones would have wanted it. I don't think he would have wanted guys strolling around out here laughing and smiling and having a big time. I think he wanted to see them grinding. Because it tests you. Because if you win, you beat the best on one of the hardest golf courses in the world."
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