Facts and figures concerning the 2003 Masters:
Event: The Masters Tournament, first major golf championship of the season, being played for the 67th time over the par-72 Augusta National Golf Club course.
Field: The field will include about 98 players, the exact number depending on how many of the former champions decide to compete. Last year, Masters Chairman Hootie Johnson asked some of the former champions to consider not playing because of their recent inability to produce a competitive score. He then established an age limit of 65, beginning in 2004. But that edict was rescinded last month, causing 73-year-old Arnold Palmer to announce he would play in this year's tournament.
Qualifications: Those eligible to play include previous Masters winners; the last five winners of the U.S. Open, British Open and PGA; the finalists from last year's U.S. Amateur; the current British Amateur, U.S. Public Links and U.S. Mid-Amateur champions; the first 16 finishers from last year's Masters, the first 8 finishers from last year's U.S. Open and first 4 finishers from both last year's PGA and British Open; the top 40 money winners on the last year's PGA tour; the top 3 on this year's money list two weeks prior to the Masters; and the top 50 on the world rankings at the end of last year as well as two weeks prior to the Masters.
Conditions of Play: Four 18-hole rounds will be played. After 36 holes, the field will be cut to the low 44 players and ties, plus anyone who is within 10 shots of the lead.
Last year: Six of the top seven-ranked players in the world were within reach of the title going into the final round, but it was Tiger Woods who prevailed. He shot a closing-round 71 that was good enough for a three-shot win over Retief Goosen. It was the second straight Masters win for Woods and this year he will try to become the first player to win the tournament three times ina row.
Scoring records: Woods set the 72-hole scoring record when he won his first Masters in 1997. His 270 total bested the record set by Nicklaus in 1965 and equaled by Raymond Floyd in 1976. The lowest 18-hole total is 63, established in 1986 by Nick Price and tied by Greg Norman in 1996.
First-time competitors: Close to 20 percent of this year's field will be made up of rookies. Those teeing it up at the Masters for the first time will be professionals Rich Beem, Jonathan Byrd, Chad Campbell, K.J. Choi, Thomas Levet, Peter Lonard, Pat Perez, Chris Riley, John Rollins, Justin Rose and Phil Tataurangi along with amateurs Ricky Barnes, Hunter Mahan, Ryan Moore, Alejandro Larrazabal and George Zahringer.
Among the missing: Professionals who played in last year's tournament but failed to win an invitation this year include Tom Pernice, Mark Brooks, Stewart Cink, Jesper Parnevik, Lee Westwood, Joe Durant, Mark Calcavecchia and Tom Kite.
Playoffs: There have been 12 straight Masters conducted without a playoff, the longest such stretch in tournament history. Nick Faldo won the last two playoffs at the Masters in 1989 and 1990, the first time the tournament had experienced back-to-back playoffs.
