By Bob Harig
 Special to ESPN.com
 Tuesday, April 3
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Those fortunate enough to buy Masters badges do so for the unbelievably moderate price of $125. That includes four days at the world's most famous golf tournament, plus parking. What a deal.

Missing in action
If there is a rap against The Masters, it is the tournament's weak field compared to the other major championships. Although it sought to strengthen the field last year by including the top 50 in the World Rankings and the top 40 from the previous year's money list, the tournament is still missing some top players.

There are 93 who are exected to begin The Masters on Thursday, but nine of the top 30 on the current money PGA Tour money list were not invited.

Four players who won PGA Tour events since the 2000 Masters are not in the field: Billy Andrade, Michael Clark II, Garrett Willis and Scott McCarron, who won the BellSouth Classic on Sunday. Winning a tour event used to bring an automatic invitation, but not anymore.

Others missing from this year's field include Jeff Sluman, Jerry Kelly, Tim Herron, John Daly and Frank Lickliter, along with foreign players such as Craig Parry, Jean Van de Velde and Andrew Coltart.

You won't see any corporate hospitality tents this week at Augusta National Golf Club, home of The Masters. Nor will you hear prize money mentioned on television. Souvenirs, food and drinks are reasonably priced.

It's all about dignity, and preserving the legacy of the late, great amateur golfer Bobby Jones, who founded both the course and the tournament.

Times change, however, and in one aspect, The Masters isn't measuring up: TV coverage.

The powers that be are to be commended for keeping commercialism out of their tournament. They take in far less money than they could get in order keep control, limiting ad time to just four minutes per hour. But golf fans worldwide are deprived, getting to view just 10½ hours of live action.

In this day of wall-to-wall coverage of sports events, The Masters remains in the dark ages, limiting its telecasts to just 2½ hours per day Thursday and Friday, from 4-6:30 p.m. ET on USA Network. CBS takes over on the weekend, with a 3:30-6 p.m. ET broadcast Saturday and a 4-7 p.m. ET show on Sunday. That's it.

The Masters led the way in many television innovations over the years. It was also the first to have gallery ropes and red- and black-numbered scoreboards, to show how players were in relation to par. Players consistently rave about it being the best-run tournament of all. But the event misses the point on TV.

Masters officials have long contended that they do not want to dilute their product, that they want to give their paying customers value. Commendable, but do they really think people won't show up if the entire tournament is televised?

With Tiger Woods going for a historic fourth major championship in a row, those $125 badges will be selling illegally on the street for several thousand dollars. The practice rounds are jammed with people who bought their tickets through a lottery and are just wanting a glimpse of the course.

The Masters is an incredible happening, one that could never be diminished by TV.

If anything, Masters officials are driving fans to other sources to get information, such as the Internet, or the Golf Channel, which does periodic updates.

Why not a four-hour show on Thursday and Friday, with start-to-finish coverage of the leaders on the weekend? It wouldn't be that much more, and yet it would be so much more satisfying.

Don't call the TV people with your complaints. They'd show every shot of the tournament if they were allowed. But The Masters decides, and limited television coverage it is. Too bad.

Bob Harig, who covers golf for the St. Petersburg Times, writes a column every Tuesday for ESPN.com.




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