Par-3 Contest Tickets: $700

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