AUGUSTA, Ga. -- If Tiger Woods produces something special this afternoon, he'll probably look back on the 45-minute rain delay as a timely break. According to his coach, Hank Haney, Woods didn't have the best warm-up session on the range prior to his 1:10 p.m. tee time. Just 15 minutes before showtime, play was halted for 45 minutes, as the heaviest rain we've seen since it arrived last night drenched the course.

At 1:55, Woods bombed his opening tee shot down the middle of the first fairway, and the third round, as far as spectators are concerned, officially began. Here's hoping the later groups get in before dark. The final twosome (Immelman and Snedeker) will tee off at 3:25.

--CB

AUGUSTA, Ga. -? Here's an idea for the green coats, or whoever is responsible for reducing Masters joy for players and patrons: What do you say we put the field on the members tees Friday? Maybe back off the saturating of the fairways and perhaps cut a few holes in some accessible locations.

"It used to be a lot of fun to play," Jim Furyk said. "It's not fun anymore." Oh, by the way, Furyk's 70 was one of the lowest rounds of the day.

There were exactly two memorable roars Thursday at sun-soaked Augusta National. The first was the result of a hole-in-one by England's Ian Poulter on the 170-yard 16th. In a rare bit of luck, I happened to be standing nearby when Poulter's ball landed 20 to 25 feet right of the hole and began trickling down the slope the way so many balls do on that dramatic par 3. When it disappeared into the cup, the thousands of people sitting and standing within view produced the kind of thunderous reaction we love to hear at Augusta.

More than two hours later, when Tiger Woods chipped in for eagle on the par-5 15th, came roar No. 2. Sadly, it would be the last of the day. But why?

"This must be what Augusta National wants," said Tom Watson, who remembers hearing a lot more noise and players having a lot more fun during his championship years here (1977 and '81). "You used to hear a lot more roars around here. Last year it was a morgue; it's just not as exciting as it was in the past."

Watson says the course is too long--and on Thursday too wet--for players to do more than bash drives, try to knock it on the green somewhere and two-putt for pars.

The lack of roars got Woods' attention, too. "It's hard to make the eagles and the big birdies," said Woods. "The course is playing so much more difficult now being longer."

Charles Howell III said you almost have to have a U.S. Open mentality on the course now, "where pars are good scores."

Arron Oberholser, who shot a 71 and reiterated his plans to take two months off after the Masters so he can properly heal his hand, said the sad part about the mostly quiet Thursday is that it might only get quieter.

"This is about as easy as it's going to play for the week," says Oberholser. "The excitement has been taken out of it."

Hopefully, someone in charge is willing to bring back the thrills.

--Craig Bestrom

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Heavy fog has delayed the start of the 72nd Masters . . . unless you count the ceremonial 205-yard poke from Arnold Palmer that he was bragging about to members in the clubhouse afterward. "Did you see that?" Palmer said to folks having breakfast upstairs. "Hit it out of sight."

He was being literal, a reference to the poor visibility in the early morning at Augusta National. Palmer didn't disagree with one reporter who suggested the shot rated a 10 on a 10-point scale. It landed dead center in the fairway and bounced about a yard forward to about 205 yards from the tee markers.

After retrieving his green jacket from the Champions Locker Room and saying goodbye to a few members, Palmer headed off to the airport for a flight to Latrobe, Pa. Palmer's wife, Kit, has been in and out of a Pittsburgh hospital for the past two weeks and has undergone two surgeries on an infected ankle. "Not sure what it is," said Palmer.

--Craig Bestrom

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Rory Sabbatini made five 2s to shoot a five-under-par 22 and win the Par-3 Contest on Wednesday afternoon. Sabbatini's winning score was two shots shy of the tournament record shared by Art Wall Jr. (1965) and Gay Brewer Jr. (1973). Among the other highlights from Wednesday's Contest:

Paul Azinger, Charles Coody, Fred Couples and Wayne Grady made holes-in-one, bringing the total to 67 holes-in-one made since the inception of the Par-3 Contest in 1960.

Trophies are awarded to the winner and to the contestants who place their tee shots nearest the hole. Closest to the hole winners Wednesday:

Hole No. 1 (130 yards): Arnold Palmer, 23 inches
Hole No. 2 (70 yards) : Paul Azinger, hole-in-one
Hole No. 3 (90 yards): Charles Coody, hole-in-one
Hole No. 4 (130 yards): D.J. Trahan, 34 inches
Hole No. 5 (130 yards): Stewart Cink, 15 inches
Hole No. 6 (140 yards): Bret Wetterich, 22 inches
Hole No. 7 (115 yards): Fred Couples, hole-in-one
Hole No. 8 (120 yards): K.J. Choi, 47 inches
Hole No. 9 (135 yards): Wayne Grady, hole-in-one

Recent champions
2008 Rory Sabbatini
2007 Mark O'Meara
2006 Ben Crane
2005 Jerry Pate
2004 Padraig Harrington
2003 Padraig Harrington and David Toms
2002 Nick Price
2001 David Toms
2000 Chris Perry

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- We hear it all the time at major championships, perhaps most often at the Masters. Course conditions early in the week barely reflect what players will see Thursday morning and certainly not what they can expect Sunday afternoon. Still, it's worth noting that Augusta National has played long so far this week. Unusally long, according to every player we've asked.

"Too long for my man," caddie Andy Prodger said of K.J. Choi's chances. Choi needed two woods to reach the 465-yard 18th during Tuesday morning's practice round, and he hit more 3-irons into par 4s than he will at any other tournament this year. Even freakishly long Bubba Watson is stunned by Augusta's length this week compared to what he remembers from playing in a college event here six or seven years ago. Tiger Woods hit what appeared to be a solid driver on the par-5 13th Monday and had no choice but to lay up. The same was true Tuesday. (Woods only hit balls on the range and putted on the practice green Wednesday.)

"You used to say that par was 68 for the longer hitters," says Woods. "I remember roaming around here and hitting good drives off the par 5s and good irons to every green; that's no longer the case."

Sunny, warmer weather arrived Wednesday, which should help dry out the fairways for Thursday's first round. After a couple of days with highs in the 80s, a cold front with rain is expected to arrive Friday night and stick around through Saturday. The forecast for Sunday currently includes heavy winds and a high temperature of 56.

--Craig Bestrom

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Ticket scalpers were asking $225 at 7:30 a.m. Monday for a ticket to the first day of practice rounds. The hottest ticket so far, according to the two "salesmen" we approached, is for Wednesday's practice round and Par-3 Contest. Asking price: $700.

Before you plan your last-minute dash down here in the hopes that you'll be able to buy a reasonably-priced ticket to one of the four rounds of the tournament, consider that the asking price for a badge to Thursday's first round, as of early this morning, starts at $1,200. Weekend badges are going for $2,000 or more, but those are a lot harder to find.

We asked a couple of local policemen if there was anything illegal about buying and selling Masters tickets along Washington Road, the long boulevard that leads to the font gates of Augusta National Golf Club. Both officers said that as long as you're buying and selling at least a half-mile away from the course, and you aren't causing a traffic hazard, it's perfectly OK.

--Craig Bestrom

Remember Hawaiian teenager Tadd Fujikawa? Youngest boy to play in a U.S. Open when he missed the cut at Winged Foot in 2006. Youngest to make the cut in a PGA Tour event at the Sony Open in January, where he finished tied for 20th.

Then on July 12 he turned professional at age 16. Since then he has missed the cut at the Reno-Tahoe Open and a Canadian Tour event.

Today he's playing in his first European Tour event, the Omega European Masters in Switzerland. That's the tournament where Michelle Wie played and missed the cut alongside the men last year.

According to the Honolulu Advertiser, the 5-foot-1 Fujikawa received round-trip airfare to Switzerland, along with his sponsor's exemption. Temperatures have been right around freezing this week, but it's a little warmer today.

"I really like it here," Fujikawa said Wednesday. "The weather is a little cold for me, but the course is nice and it is really an honor to be playing."

Fujikawa got off to a great start with birdies on two of his first four holes today. You can follow his progress on the European Tour's website.

--Craig Bestrom

Tiger Woods is in New York City today to promote the latest version of his EA Sports video game Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2008, and to ring The Opening Bell at the New York Stock Exchange with Deutsche Bank CEO Seth Waugh.

Tiger's day began at NBC's "Today" show, where host Matt Lauer opened his five-minute interview with a couple of questions about Tiger's physique.

Matt Lauer: You were here a couple of years ago on the show, and I haven't seen you in that time. You have gotten . . . Your whole body has changed! Are you working out that much harder now than you did a few years ago?

Tiger Woods: No, I'm just gettin' fat. [Laughs.]

Lauer: It's not fat. I'm talking about muscle. When you first walked in, I thought, That's like one of his security guards here. You're much bigger!

Woods: I am a little bit, yeah.

Lauer: How much do you weigh today versus couple of years ago?

Woods: Probably about seven to 10 pounds heavier.

Lauer: And is this all about preventing injuries? I mean are you working out as hard as you're working out not only to be fresh in Round 4 of a major tournament, but to not let injuries derail your career goals.

Woods: Well, the thing is to be consistent each and every day. That's the thing. Over time I've kind of naturally just filled out. I guess, 31 now. Kind of right around that time when metabolism slows down just a little bit.

Lauer: Are you wearing tighter shirts on tour, too? Come on. [Laughs.]

Woods: Yeah, you know, I've gone to extra small. [Laughs.]

Later, after telling Tiger that the PGA Tour needs him a lot more than Tiger needs the tour, Lauer asks him about skipping The Barclays at Westchester.

Click on the Tiger photo at today.msnbc.com to view the video from "Today" of the interview. If Tiger's photo is no longer on "Today's" home page, click on Video from Today and find it in "This Week's Highlights."

--Craig Bestrom

Bernhard Langer is 59th in the FedEx Cup points standings, which means he could (and some might say should) be playing in The Barclays at Westchester Country Club today. Instead, he's playing in the KLM (Dutch) Open in the Netherlands. Langer's 17-year-old son, Stefan, is also playing in the tournament as an amateur, his first-ever European Tour event.

Unfortunately, it's not going so well for the young Langer, who plays to a plus-1 handicap.

James Corrigan of The Independent details Stefan's first-round 98, which, believe it or not, wasn't the highest round in European Tour history. Mark James shot 111 in the 1978 Italian Open. Bernhard Langer shot 67 to beat his son by 31 strokes Thursday.

To follow the Langers progress in Round 2, click here.

--Craig Bestrom

(Photo: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)

Kudos to Craig Dolch in the Palm Beach Post and Lorne Rubenstein in the Toronto Globe and Mail for reminding us today what Gary Player said back in February about his captain's picks for next month's Presidents Cup matches at Royal Montreal in Canada:

"I can't just put a Canadian in because we're playing in Canada," Player said. "It's my duty as captain to put in the best team."

At least when Player announced Monday that Australian Nick O'Hern and, ahem, Canadian Mike Weir would be his captain's picks for the Sept. 27-30 matches, he was honest in explaining why Weir belonged on the team.

"Being played in Canada, if we didn't have a Canadian in the team, I can assure you in my opinion only, this series would be quite flat amongst the Canadian people," Player said. "Mike is a hero in his country, deservedly so."

Rubenstein says that Stephen Ames, a Canadian citizen since 2004 and ranked higher (36th) than Weir (46th) in the World Golf Ranking might have been the more logical pick.

Jack Nicklaus made Lucas Glover and Hunter Mahan his captain's picks for the U.S. Team. Arron Oberholser, who finished fourth in the PGA Championship and is ranked (29th) above both Mahan (49th) and Glover (58th) was too far back in the Presidents Cup points standings (23rd).

Here are the lineups for the U.S. team and the International team.

-- Craig Bestrom

The FedEx Cup playoffs begin next week, and someone might need to tell John Daly he isn't invited. Unless Daly misspoke while talking with reporters Sunday at Southern Hills, he has no idea how the FedEx Cup format works.

"It was a good week," Daly said after finishing tied for 32nd in the PGA
Championship. "I got some confidence. I'm going to Sweden and Holland and then hope to play some of the FedEx events. I need to win $300,000 to $400,000 more this year."

Daly is 166th in the FedEx Cup points standings, with only this week's Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, N.C., remaining to qualify for the FedEx Cup series of events. Only the top 144 in the points standings move on to play in the Barclays (Aug. 23-26), the first of four playoff events.

Daly will be eligible for the PGA Tour's Fall Series that begins Sept. 20 at the Turning Stone Resort Championship.

Read the rest of  Daly's discussion with reporters.

--Craig Bestrom

(Photo: David Cannon/Getty Images)

Here's hoping British Open champion Padraig Harrington gets his ego properly stroked today at the WGC-Bridgeston Invitational. According to a Reuters story, Harrington's biggest disappointment about his first-round 72 on Thursday came shortly before he teed off.

"I was really, really looking forward to the guy on the first tee announcing 'The Open Champion' and he didn't do it," Harrington said.

"They used to have a guy here who went into a lot of theatrics announcing the name and they sacked him because he did too much. I wish he was there today.

"He just said: 'Padraig Harrington, Ireland.' I was gutted! I was looking forward to it for the last 24 hours."

--Craig Bestrom

(Photo:Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)

OK, we'll give the kid a few more rounds before declaring Tadd Fujikawa's decision to turn pro at age 16 completely ridiculous, but after 18 holes in the Hawaiian's professional debut at the Reno-Tahoe Open he's 15 shots behind leader Steve Flesch.

Ann Miller of the Honolulu Advertiser chronicles the teen's tough start.

--Craig Bestrom

(Photo: Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

Golf Digest contributing editor Mark Soltau remembers the time he left during the middle of a Stanford football practice and accompanied Coach Bill Walsh to the nearby Stanford driving range. Walsh, who died Monday at age 75, needed a cure for the shanks, and Soltau was able to help.

A couple of years later, Walsh developed a lasting bond with Tiger Woods.

Read Soltau's memories, "The football genius who's crazy for golf".

--Craig Bestrom

(Photo: Gary Newkirk)

Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post loves the Tiger she met at his AT&T National press conference: Tiger the new Dad.

The fact is, after watching him win 12 major championships over a decade as a pro, we haven't been very well acquainted with Woods. It was therefore all the more surprising, and even moving, when Woods chose to open up a little yesterday during his news conference.....

It was the most approachable and unguarded Woods has ever been in public. For a few brief minutes you saw the delineation of a more regular guy, one sharing the common experience of new fatherhood. As opposed to the phenom who shot 48 for nine holes at the age of 3, or the titan who already seems cast in bronze, or the standoffish mogul who named his yacht "Privacy."

Meanwhile the Post's Thomas Boswell checked out Tiger's event and declared it the best buy in sports:

Play hooky. Call in sick. Blow up your plans. But whatever you do, come to Tiger Woods's golf tournament at Congressional Country Club starting today. This event, with the best golfer who ever lived, with five of the top six players in the world on one of the most magnificent courses in America, may be this town's best sports value of my lifetime.

How's the press coverage going so far, Tiger?

-- Craig Bestrom

The Telegraph's Lewine Mair does a great job of detailing yet another course set-up debacle during qualifying at Sunningdale yesterday for the British Open (July 19-22) at Carnoustie. As Mair writes, The R&A put absolutely no spin on the mistake which led to eight competitors having to replay the par-3 fourth hole after their round.

Some players, like Argentina's Ricardo Gonzalez who had five-putted first time around, improved their score the second time. But Sweden's Fredrik Anderson Hed, who parred the hole on his first attempt, double-bogeyed it on his second try to change a 66 to a 68. (That's the Swede in the photo being carted back to the fourth.)

"I wouldn't have played the fourth again given the chance, but we were told we had to," said the Swede, who was the only one of the eight to finish in the top 16 and qualify for the Open.

Martin Kippax, chairman of the R&A's championship committee took full responsibility for the debacle. He was standing right there when Brett Rumford hit a tee shot to two feet, missed the birdie putt and faced a 35-foot comebacker for par. He missed that one, too.

Click here for a complete list of qualifying scores.

There was another 36-hole qualifier for the British Open played Monday at Oakland Hills Country Club in Michigan, where Charley Hoffman, Jerry Kelly, Ryan Moore and Duffy Waldorf were among the 12 who qualified. Camilo Villegas and Rocco Mediate missed a playoff by one shot, and Steve Elkington, Brad Faxon, Jesper Parnevik, Tom Pernice and JB Holmes also failed to qualify. Will MacKenzie was one under with two holes to play and easily inside the number to qualify for his first major, but he double-bogeyed the last two holes to miss the playoff by two shots.

-- Craig Bestrom

Who needs Tiger Woods when you have John Daly and Kid Rock? John Niyo of the Detroit News details how Kid Rock -- a Michigan native whose real name is Robert Ritchie -- and his friend J.D. stole the show at the Buick Open.

Sunday's biggest celebrity actually rode in a golf cart. That would be Kid Rock, who followed John Daly -- his pal and weeklong houseguest -- all afternoon in a mini-convoy, flanked by state troopers and a swarm of autograph seekers. Daly already was the top draw in this field, but with Mr. Ritchie driving the tour bus -- a beer in one hand, a stogie in the other -- things got a little crazy Sunday.

When Daly and playing partner, Fred Funk -- how's that for an odd couple? -- finally arrived at the 17th, the fans started singing, en masse, "We got the Funk!" With Kid Rock leading the drunken cheers from the balcony -- they went nuts when Daly made his birdie.

On the next hole, after Daly found the tree line with another errant drive on No. 18 -- he hit eight of 28 fairways on the weekend -- it was pretty obvious where everyone's attention was centered. The folks at the ninth green had their backs turned on the final pairing of the day -- Jesper Parnevik and Tom Pernice Jr. -- and were watching the circus go by on the 18th.

And after Daly had finished at the last, someone in the grandstand yelled, "Hey, Johnny! You wanna beer?" He turned, smiled and nodded yes. Hey, what did you expect? Sunday, he was the life of the party

Rock says he has been friends with Daly for seven years, since the latter went to one of his concerts in Memphis and bought $4,000 in merchandise.

Incidentally, it's not the first time Kid Rock has been linked to golf this year. Earlier this year, he helped a high school girls golf team bounce back after six sets of clubs were stolen from their coach's car.

-- Craig Bestrom

At age 25 and just five years into her professional career, Lorena Ochoa is the No. 1 women's player in the world, having overtaken Annika Sorenstam in April. But if you don't win majors, writers can't wait to attach that big "C" label to your chest.

Ochoa will love reading what the Charlotte Observer columnist Scott Fowler had to say Monday.

Lorena Ochoa stuffed another skeleton into her closet Sunday, losing another major championship in the final nine holes. Ochoa nearly broke her 0-for-forever streak in majors at the U.S. Women's Open at Pine Needles. Instead, the No. 1 women's golfer in the world was beaten again, this time by Cristie Kerr. Undone by her errant driver and an obvious case of nerves, Ochoa finished tied for second.

To label her "O-choke-a" would be going too far. Unlike Michelle Wie, Ochoa keeps finishing tournaments and always stays on the leader board.

But she can't win the big one. Not yet, anyway. And because she's so talented and always in the picture, that's going to dog her career like it dogged Phil Mickelson's until she finally changes it.

For the record, Phil Mickelson was 33 years old and had played almost 12 years before winning his first major at the 2004 Masters.

-- Craig Bestrom