AUGUSTA LINKS GETTING ROUGH.

Byline: GREG WILCOX Golf

Those guardians of the game at Augusta National Golf Club, site of the annual spring rite known as the Masters, sure thanked Tiger Woods for setting their tournament record. They immortalized him even before he's won his second major or come close to developing a paunch shot - which like a fine wine comes with a little age on it.

So it's OK if Tiger flames out. His star's been burned into the firmament two years after he scorched the Masters' field by 12 strokes and stomped on former champion Nick Faldo.

And now things will never be the same again at the hallowed expanse of green at the end of Magnolia Lane.

After Woods' record-setting performance, Masters officials began mulling ways to toughen up their perfectly manicured and usually tough course. They can't have the guys posting birdies and generally treating Augusta National like it's one of those TPC (Tournament Players Club) venues.

So now we know what Tiger wrought.

Masters officials have grown their course some hair, though more of a Drew Carey buzz-cut than an Alice Cooper mane.

For the first time, Augusta National will have some rough, though no one will confuse it with the stuff at the U.S. Open or even The Players Championship, the fifth major and annually the year's first.

In the past, the whole course was fairway, and looked pretty on TV, too. This year the grass beyond the fairway will be 1-3/8 inches high. This is a huge change, though it's still an almost perfect lie.

Two holes are longer, too, and 20 pine trees have appeared along the right side of the 15th fairway.

Augusta members are a dignified lot and don't call longer grass rough. They prefer a more gentrified ``second cut'' when referring to the taller stuff.

``While changes made to the golf course this year included distance, the principle objective was to place greater emphasis on accuracy off the tee,'' Hootie Johnson, in his first year as chairman, told the Associated Press. ``The second cut is consistent with that.''

Yeah, and it should be consistent with higher scores, too.

Augusta is as famous for lightning fast, contoured greens as its green jackets. And their new second cut is just about as deep as a golf ball is tall. That is going to make it tough to hit a ball from the rough with any kind of control. Look for shots to end up in some strange, terrifying places.

``Obviously, all these years you've had a beautiful lie with which to do anything you can to the ball,'' said Ben Crenshaw, a two-time Masters champion. ``Even if you take just a little bit of spin off the ball, it will make a big difference.''

Things could be worse.

Woods shot his record-setting 270, 18 under par, after opening with a 40 on the first nine holes. It was one of the all-time great comebacks.

Woods' score was one shot better than the record set by Jack Nicklaus in 1965, when Augusta officials probably wrung their hands in worry but they pretty much left the course alone for years.

And they didn't scramble to give it a face lift when Raymond Floyd equaled Nicklaus' record in 1976.

Now Ernie Els, capable of torching a course or two himself, thinks Woods' record will last for ages as long as the rough is up.

Notes: This year's winner of The Players Championship wins a three-year pass into the Masters. This is the only other tournament that's not classified a major in which the winner is accorded such a privilege. So what does that make the Players? An almost major, minor-major or what? . . .

This just in. OK, it came in Wednesday, but it's long overdue. The PGA Tour is banning cellular telephones and cameras from all its events starting this week. Take your cell phone or camera to a PGA tournament and you will have to check it at the gate. A golf course is a golfer's office and some of the players have been carping about phones chirping and flash bulbs flashing in the middle of their backswing. Fans caught with either device will have to turn them in or scram.

LEADERBOARD 

Players Championship

Bob Estes 33-35-68 -4

Brian Watts 33-35-68 -4

David Duval 36-33-69 -3

Hal Sutton 36-33-69 -3

Joe Ozaki 35-34-69 -3

Nabisco Dinah Shore

Meg Mallon 32-34-66 -6

Kris Tschetter 32-36-68 -4

Kelly Robbins 35-34-69 -3

Janice Moodie 35-34-69 -3

Pat Hurst 34-35-69 -3

Helen Alfredsson 37-32-69 -3

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