PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Another day, another gadget. For $25 per day, or $75 for the entire tournament, fans at the Players Championship can rent something called a Kangaroo TV. It hangs around your neck with a strap, weighs maybe a pound, and allows you to watch the telecast while you're out baking in the sun. I would liken it to the "black box" that Peter Kostis takes with him while roaming the fairways for CBS, except that Peter has never let me near his black box. He must have heard about my stormy relationship with computers.

Whenever I touch anything more high-tech than a hair dryer, it goes into convulsions and ceases to work. (When I touch a hair dryer, it just looks at my scalp and laughs.) Anyway, the PGA Tour has been kind enough to let us writers use the Kangaroo TVs for free, because the tour knows we only pay $25 for luxury items, like a suit of clothes. The sight of a reporter actually walking a golf course is noteworthy in itself, so the prospect of us being out in the heat watching what we usually watch in an air-conditioned press tent stopped traffic at the Stadium Course. Or maybe it's just my advanced age.

One lady saw me fiddling with my Kangaroo TV and asked if I needed help. I think she thought it was my dialysis machine. If it was, I would be in trouble, because, not surprisingly, I had problems with all the buttons. Besides the actual telecast, you can punch in just the action at the fabled 17th hole, or go to the scoreboard, or the stat center or create a search for your favorite player. I don't have a favorite player, which is just as well because I couldn't get past the screen welcoming me to the Kangaroo TV world and offering "simple instructions".

I didn't bother using the earplugs, either, because there was nothing to hear. I have no idea what you do with a Kangaroo TV in the rain, but according to the grim weather forecast, we'll find out Sunday. You could never carry a Kangaroo TV around at the Masters, where you can't bring anything through the gates except your wife, but I'm not going to knock progress. When I returned the gizmo, the lady noticed I had barely dented the five hours of battery time. "Didn't you like it?" she asked.  "Oh, very much," I replied. "I'm just saving energy."

--Bob Verdi

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Whatever happened to Craig Perks? Well, the 2002 winner of the Players Championship is at this year's tournament. He just didn't bring his clubs, which is understandable since he announced his retirement after the 2007 season.

"I don't know that I needed to 'announce' it," said Perks. "I just wanted to walk away quietly, which is what I did."

At 41, Perks is beginning a career as a teacher. Also, he's doing some broadcasting this week on the world TV feed, and with "Live @ the 17." He's scheduled to drop in on the Golf Channel, too.

Last but not least, Perks attended the Champions Dinner. "I was honored and proud to be there, just as I was honored and proud to win this tournament," said Perks.  "I might have been a one-hit wonder, but nobody can take that away from me."

Alas, his 2002 triumph that included chip-ins on Nos. 16 and 18, Perks never won again on the PGA Tour. At the end of that season, he studied statistics and saw his name near the bottom in several categories.

"So, I made a complete overhaul of my swing," Perks said. "It didn't work.  Then I tried to go back to my old way, and wound up caught in between. I made one cut the last two years and was just awful. I felt like I was an embarrassment to the game, and maybe even a distraction to playing partners. I played a lot of practice rounds by myself, and hit a lot of balls at the corner of the range."

Perks is creating a performance institute in Broussard, La., near Lafayette, where he settled after completing college at Southwest Louisiana. That's a long way from his home in New Zealand, but he met wife Maureen while in school, and their two children are also quite content in Cajun Country.

Asked if he wants to be the next Butch Harmon--a world-class teacher who doubles as a TV analyst--Perks said that given the support he received from his family through tough times, "I'd rather be a world-class husband and father."

--Bob Verdi

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Without question, the happiest face around this Players Championship belongs to Greg Rita, a popular veteran caddie who showed up from his nearby home to visit many friends on the PGA Tour.

Rita, 52, hadn't been at a regular event for a year, because he had been working for Scott Hoch on the Champions Tour. Then in September, Rita collapsed and was later diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Surgery was performed Nov. 7, and he's endured it all since--radiation, chemotherapy, seizures, pneumonia, spinal tap.

"But this is the greatest therapy of all," said Rita, whose presence at the course brought things to a screeching halt as players, caddies and tour types dropped whatever they were doing to greet him with smiles and hugs.

Although Rita wears a scar around his head and has dropped some weight, he looked like a man who is up for the fight against cancer.

"I'm going to will this thing away," said Rita, who caddied for Curtis Strange's consecutive U.S. Open victories in 1988 and 1989 and was on the bag when John Daly won the 1995 British Open.

Besides his appearance at the Players, Rita got to hang out with many of his buddies a couple evenings ago when Paul Fusco, Steve Flesch's caddie, and wife Pam had some of the boys over to their house not far from where Rita and wife Kelley reside.

"A great night," said Greg, who undergoes physical rehab almost daily because, as he says, "my body has been torn up." Rita anxiously awaits his next MRI in June--"I pray it's clean"--and takes 40 pills a day, but he doesn't require any medicine to retain a goal he set when doctors delivered the bad news.

"Our son Nicolas is 3," said Rita, a serious Boston Red Sox fan. "When he turns 5, I'm taking him to Fenway Park."

--Bob Verdi

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Was there ever any doubt? Tiger Woods did nothing eventful for the first two rounds at the Masters, and still he was lurking. Now, after Saturday's bogey-free 68--a score he said was the highest possible he could have posted--the world's best golfer has shed some fellow challengers and cast himself as a realistic contender on what promises to be a blustery Sunday. The last man to win a Masters from beyond the top 10 after 36 holes was Jack Nicklaus in 1986. So, if chasing Trevor Immelman, Brandt Snedeker, Steve Flesch and Paul Casey--nary a major title among them--doesn't get Tiger's attention, surely another crack at The Golden Bear's legacy should appeal to Woods.

"I've got some work to do," said Woods, following a par from the pine straw right of No. 18, as he had on Friday. And the leaders have some worrying to do. Woods hit the ball very nicely Saturday, but he made only one putt of note. He has yet to find comfort on the greens. That is a warning. Woods began the round seven shots off Immelman's lead, but Tiger's fans--including members of his inner circle--were pumped for some electricity, even after an early afternoon storm passed. Tiger birdied No. 2, but despite scorching his tee ball on Nos. 7 and 8, missed birdie putts.

Still, he posted 35 on the front nine, and then when he birdied No. 10, finally cracked the leader board at T-9, five shots off the pace. His putter was not an ally. The rains had softened the greens, and he was not dialed in on pace. But he also had an occasional misread, such as on No. 11, where he left a 45-footer well wide. He converted for par, but only after making things hard on himself.

The difference between good and not so good is so fractional at Augusta National, as witnessed by No. 16 Saturday when Woods struck what appeared to be a fine 8-iron toward a back right pin. The ball landed to within five feet, then peeled off and retreated to the front of the green. He could have been putting for birdie. Instead, he did well to get down in three from 55 feet. A few minutes later, having pounded another drive on No. 17, he had his second kick-in birdie in as many days.

After lofting a 7-iron through a keyhole in the trees toward the 18th green, Woods was seen striding sideways to get a view of the result. He looks quite confident. Would you want him coming up from behind you on Sunday?

--Bob Verdi

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- It's starting to build now. If Tiger Woods isn't going to make a charge at this Masters--and even if he does--Phil Mickelson's legion of fans is beginning to think ahead. When the left-hander came to the No. 12 tee Friday, he was 3,000 miles from home, and yet he was accorded a standing ovation as if he were born across the street from Augusta National. After he completed the hole with par, the bleachers at Amen Corner emptied as though someone yelled "FIRE!" And remember. This was Friday.

A couple hours later, Mickelson completed his four-under 68 for a five-under total, three behind leader Trevor Immelman. When he left the Champions Room at about 4:30, it completed a rather full shift for the two-time Masters champion. He reported to the course at 7 a.m., when the sun had yet to awaken, for marathon putting drills before his 10:34 tee time--not an unusual session for Mickelson.

He converted a four-footer on No. 3 for birdie and a 10-footer for birdie on No. 8 toward 33 on the front side. He missed birdie putts on Nos. 15 and 16, but canned a 30-footer for birdie at the 17th for his only birdie on a breezy back nine. Uneventful, but effective. Earlier Mickelson was fortunate when his second to No. 13 drifted right and stayed up just by the hazard line, barely above the water. He failed to birdie that par 5, and could do no better at the 15th, also a par 5. But he pronounced himself pleased with a well-managed round of golf.

"I would love to be in the lead, but I would have had to press the issue at some spots and I didn't want to do that," said Mickelson, who noted what everybody is noting--Augusta National does not lend itself to the theatrics as it once did. As a result, roars are few instead of frequent. Mickelson's most spectacular act occurred on his first hole Thursday, when he made birdie from well off the green. "I would have had a tough up-and-down even for bogey there," said Mickelson. "That was a two- or three-shot swing right there." Then there was that lucky 13th, Thursday and Friday.  "I hit two shots in there that should have gone in the creek, and both stayed up," he said. "In 2004, when I hadn't won a major, I hit a shot there that Bones (caddie Jim Mackay) and I were sure went in the creek. But it stayed up and I wound up making birdie."

Omens? Perhaps. The galleries would like to think they are following him for a reason.

--Bob Verdi

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Among the interested observers at Augusta National for Thursday's opening round of the Masters was Leonard Decof, the high-profile lawyer who probably didn't get his badge from friends at the PGA Tour. He probably doesn't have any, after years of asking tough questions.

Decof recently joined with Greg Norman in requesting a look at the tour's financial statements. That didn't happen, nor did Decof's attempt with a number of players 10 years ago to form an association. The effort just didn't gain any traction because, as independent contractors, golfers can't join a union, right?

"Wrong," said Decof. "That's a myth. The Screen Actors' Guild. Ever heard of it? Screen Writers' Guild? They're all independent contractors, but they have unions."

Decof has heard recent rumblings about how some tour golfers want more representation. He has no idea whether this gesture will gain momentum, or fizzle, but he has opinions about what golfers are earning and what they deserve.

"The guys on the PGA Tour are the most underpaid athletes in the world," said Decof. "Tiger Woods is the most famous athlete in the world, and he made $11 million last year? When Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees made $26 million? Phil Mickelson didn't even make $6 million? That's what utility shortstops make for hitting .225. Plus, golfers have no guaranteed contracts, no tenure, and if they get injured, they're out of luck. But if they want to seek a greater voice, they need more than just a few players and obviously, it wouldn't hurt to have big names on board."

--Bob Verdi

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Is it any wonder why things get done so efficiently, so often, so peacefully at the Masters? I think not, not after listening to Chairman Billy Payne's state-of-the-art press conference Wednesday morning.

It is an annual affair, and unlike so many gatherings in other sports, this one rarely takes on a contentious tone. One reason for that is, if there's something that needs to be fixed at the Masters, it just seems to happen. I'm sure there are committees to which Payne must report, but at an intensely private institution with a rich history and deep pockets, it's probably infinitely easier to create more room for patrons to leave their cars. You just buy up some land near Augusta National GC and designate it as a parking lot.

No task seems too large or too small for Payne and his fellow green jackets, which is not to suggest that the Masters and the club don't have "issues." There is a new policy this year that allows children ages 8 to 16 to enter free when accompanied by an accredited patron. This is a way for boys and girls to see golf at its finest, according to Payne, and also to watch how spectators are supposed to behave at a golf tournament.

Payne is mighty proud of this concept at an institution that is perceived as being quite exclusionary. And that begat a question from the audience: If a 10-year-old girl comes through the gates Thursday, falls in love with the place and decides she would like to join someday, how do you tell her she can't? Payne's reply: There's the tournament and then there's the club, and he's not going to discuss how fellow members wish to operate the other 51 weeks every year. He'll deal with Masters week.

He takes the next question with a smile. If Billy Payne were baseball commissioner, I don't think it would take him 10 years to figure out why all those home runs were being hit 10 years ago. Just a hunch, but I think he would have caught on sooner.

-- Bob Verdi

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- If you hang around the main entrance gate to Augusta National GC this week, you will probably see a lot of children taking their first steps onto these hallowed grounds. The movement is part of an initiative by Masters Chairman Billy Payne, who announced just before Christmas--appropriately enough--that youngsters age 8 to 16 will be admitted free of charge on regular tournament days (Thursday through Sunday.) "We want to inspire the next generation of golfers now," said Payne. "We're serious about exposing youngsters to golf and the Masters."

There are restrictions, of course. Each child must be accompanied by an accredited patron. That is, a patron whose name is on the Masters list of applications and badge holders. If you lend your badge to your neighbor, for instance, your neighbor cannot bring a child in. But if you, an accredited badge holder, want to bring your neighbor's child in, you can do that. It doesn't matter if the kid is yours, only if the badge is yours.

This is a magnanimous gesture by Payne and his fellow green jackets, although it is not the first of its kind. At the British Open, any juvenile who is accompanied by a "responsible" adult is admitted free. The big difference--the huge difference--is that daily tickets are always on sale at British Open venues during the week of competition and thus are not part of family heirlooms and last wills and testaments. Masters badges are probably the toughest tickets in sports. But at least it's gotten easier for the next generation of pimento sandwich customers to get a taste of the season's first major.

--Bob Verdi

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- If you're looking for a dark horse to win the Masters, what about a man who has emerged from the darkest of golf's places? Steve Stricker. When he says, "I'm happy to be here," as he did more than once Monday, he means it.

Stricker missed four consecutive years at Augusta National--from 2003 through 2006--when he had trouble driving anywhere, let alone down Magnolia Lane. So to be a highly-ranked player (No. 4 in the world) starting Thursday represents another quantum leap for Stricker, who is taking this assignment very seriously, as witnessed by his suntan. "I didn't get this back home in Wisconsin," he says. "I've been playing a lot."

Indeed, this will make it four straight weeks for a fellow who does not apologize for enjoying his time off with family and friends. Stricker's highest finish ever in seven previous Masters is a T-10 in 2001, a slightly strange résumé, considering he is one of the best putters on the PGA Tour. "For some reason, I haven't putted well here," said Stricker, whose only explanation is that the greens at Augusta National are a tradition unlike any other. "That's one thing I'm going to work on this week."

Even when Stricker vanished from radar earlier this decade, he set aside Masters week for television viewing, as he has for as long as he remembers--in high school, then college, as he embraced dreams of becoming a professional golfer.

Oddsmakers, and experts, have installed Tiger Woods as THE favorite to win come Sunday evening. The same might be said of forecasts regarding all four majors. "He's the only player capable of the Grand Slam," says Stricker, who is twice-running comeback player of the year. "Sid Wilson of the tour called me last winter about having my name on the ballot again," Stricker recalled, smiling slightly. "He didn't want me to feel it was a slap in the face, or a mockery. Which I didn't. I thought of it as an honor."

It was his pal Woods who started campaigning during mid-summer of 2007. "Then I talked with Tiger at his tournament in December," Stricker went on. "And he said to me, 'just think . . . that's one thing you're going to have that nobody else will ever do. Like a record that will never be broken. And he was dead serious."

Stricker is not likely to three-peat, but he has those two awards sitting side by side back home in Cheeseland. "Same trophy," he said. "Just a different year on each one. And Tiger was right. It is kind of cool."

--Bob Verdi

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.--At the behest of U.S. captain Paul Azinger, the Ryder Cup format will be altered during this September's matches against Europe with foursomes preceding four-balls on each of the first two days. The last time this order was in effect was 1999, when the U.S. rallied to win 14 1/2 to 13 1/2 at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., although the turnaround was generated by strong play during the Sunday singles, allowing the Americans to rally from a 10-6 deficit.

"I'm not saying we're better than Europe at foursomes or alternate shot than Europe is," Azinger said. "I just want to make a change. We've made some huge changes elsewhere, like with the selection process. Why not the format too? They've killed us the last two Ryder Cups playing four-balls before foursomes, for whatever reason. Why not try something different?"

Since 1973, when the Ryder Cup first featured morning foursomes followed by afternoon four-balls, the Americans have a 3-2-1 record.

The format of foursomes preceding four-balls has been used during several recent Ryder Cups, an exception being in 1997 when Europe's captain Seve Ballesteros requested a change shortly before the event began. However, in the last two Ryder Cups, each a rout by Europe, the four-balls have been played in the morning on Friday and Saturday, followed by the foursomes in the afternoon.

Earlier this month, Azinger revealed that he will make his four Captain's picks on Sept. 2, three weeks after the normal post-PGA Championship announcement. During that time period, two of the three FedEx Cup events--the Barclays and the Deutsche Bank Championship--will be contested. "Why not wait until the last possible moment?" Azinger said. "If a guy who doesn't make the top eight on points happens to win either of those tournaments, you have to like his chances of being a captain's pick. That's the whole idea, to have guys on our team who are in form and playing well at the time." The Sept. 2 press conference will take place in New York, and, according to Azinger, the PGA of America has been supportive of all his suggestions. "They've pretty much given me free reign," he said. "They want to win the Ryder Cup back as much as I do, and we're trying to do everything we can to make it possible."

The 37th Ryder Cup will be staged Sept. 19-21 at Valhalla G.C. in Louisville. Shortly after he was named captain, Azinger instituted a significant change in team selection whereby he will be afforded four picks, instead of two, to fill out his 12-man team. Azinger is to discuss the format change later Wednesday at a press conference.

-- Bob Verdi

In preparation for its first foray into drug testing beginning July 1, the PGA Tour held two separate meetings last week before the Buick Invitational. Players were informed about details, prohibited substances and procedures. Several golfers voiced objections to the possible scenario of being examined in their homes, even during off-weeks. Inasmuch as the tour's policy was not collectively bargained, because golfers do not have a union, some think the scope of the system could constitute a violation of privacy.

"There is no question in my mind what they've done is not right," said Frank Lickliter II. "Not only did the tour ram this thing down our throats, they're telling us they can come knocking on my door on Christmas Eve and ask me for a urine sample. Are they kidding? They're passing that off as legal? I can tell you one thing for sure, if some inspector guy comes around with a cup in his hand, he's going to have a hard time getting on my property. And then he's going to have an even harder time getting off my property after I'm done with him."

Lickliter aired his complaint during the afternoon seminar attended by several dozen fellow pros. He said that later on, commissioner Tim Finchem told him not to worry. "Tim said even though it's written in the policy that they can test us anytime, anywhere, nobody will be coming to our houses," Lickliter went on. "Well, that's nice of Tim to tell me that while I'm still hot. Meanwhile, it's still there in black and white on a piece of paper that they can do whatever they want. This isn't like baseball, where the players have to approve whatever measures management tries to impose on them. They just threw this at us and told us, 'This is the new law.'"

Finchem said that drug testing is not his favorite pursuit, but "it unfortunately can't be avoided. This is part of the world of sports today. Testing by definition is a process that speaks to the notion that you don't believe a player when he says he's following the rule."

Finchem rued that such a mindset is "counter to the culture" of golf, where participants call penalties on themselves and therefore "something that's troubled me for a long time." Finchem concluded that drug testing as such will be "difficult for the players, and difficult for all of us as we get into that arena."

-- Bob Verdi

The nine-member PGA Tour Policy Board will vote Monday in St. Augustine,
Fla., on several proposals concerning the Fed Ex Cup playoff system and
implementation of a drug policy. Among the changes is revision of the 2008
schedule to provide an off-week between the third of four playoff events
and the Ryder Cup, thus resulting in a move of the Tour Championship to a
slot after the biennial matches between the United States and Europe that will
be staged in Louisville, Sept. 15-21.

If ratified, the playoffs will be held as follows: The Barclays in New
York Aug. 18-24, Deutsche Bank in Boston Aug. 25-Sept. 1, and the BMW
Championship in St. Louis Sept. 2-7. As first reported in the Sept. 21 issue
of Golf World, the Tour Championship, originally scheduled for the following
week, would then be contested later in Atlanta.

The board also will address the Fed Ex Cup payoff, which was $10 million
deferred to the champion, Tiger Woods, in its initial year. One possibility
is that a substantial amount--perhaps as much as $9 million--will be issued
up front. In addition, the board will study a proposal to decrease the size
of playoff fields to 120 at Barlcays, 90 at Deutsche Bank, and 60 at the
BMW. The field for the Tour Championship is expected to remain at 30.

The new drug policy, providing for a variety of suspensions from several
months to one year to life, likely will include random testing to be
instituted as early as January 1 but no later than the middle of the 2008
season.

--Bob Verdi