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TinsLEV • connnuEDPRomm is a no-brainer. He has been in top form early this season, picking up victories at the Buick Invitational and the Ford Championship at Doral. Augusta is also a perfect fit for his power game and soft touch around the greens; he already has four Masters victories. The biggest question mark for him will be how well he handles the illness of his father, which contributed to his mediocre play at the Players Championship two weeks ago. Phil Mickelson: He put to rest any doubts about his game with a 13-shot victory at the Bellsouth Classic last week. His long drives and magical short game also * bode well for Augusta where he has one victory and four third-place finishes. Retief Goosen: The two time U.S. Open champion has proved he can putt fast greens like Augusta’s as well as anybody. He also has the length to succeed at Augusta. His biggest key will be to control his drives and iron shots, which have haunted him some in the past. The pretenders: Vijay Singh: He is as good a ball striker as there is, but his putting will not hold up on the slick Augusta National greens. Barring a lot of rain to slow the greens up some, Singh’s putter will let him down like it did in a final-round 78 at the TPC Ernie Els: His game has been very sporadic so far this year as he has only managed two top-10 finishes in five starts on the PGA Tour. Augusta is not the place to find your game, so don’t expect Ernie to break his pattern of close calls at the Masters this year. Sergio Garcia: Like Singh, his putter will keep him from breaking through for his first major championship this week. He will contend for three rounds before putting woes ruin his chances as they have in many final rounds all season (he averages 75 in final rounds). Pick: Mickelson wins in a thrilling back-nine duel with Tiger that makes everyone, me included, forget about the changes that eliminated most of the field from contention. HMSTCRS • CORTIRUCD PROfTl IM lesson. “I putted great,” Woods said with a smile. Woods didn’t have a three-putt that week, shattered scoring records to win by 12 shots in a watershed moment in golf, and then he walked off the 18th green into the arms of his father, melting in tears. “This has been a very special week for us as a family,” Woods said. Last year, Earl Woods managed to travel to Augusta, but he was in no shape to go to the golf course. He watched on television as his son chipped in for birdie on the 16th, went bogey-bogey to blow a two-shot lead, then regrouped with his best two shots of the week to set up a 15-foot birdie for the victory in a playoff. And then he broke down on the 18th green, noting that “Pops” was unable to see him win. No one will really know how heavy this weighs on Woods as he plays the first major of the year. He has been mediocre in his last two starts at Bay Hill and Sawgrass, but he won at Torrey Pines and Doral. Asked to describe his father’s condition, Woods replied, “Fighting.” “When you’re away from the course, obviously things are a little bit different,” Woods said. “But when you’re at the course, you’re playing, you’re grinding. Today, I’m preparing. I have enough on my mind out there trying to place my shots, and what angles I need to have, or where I need to be for certain pins and stuff like that.” He knows that he likely will remove a head cover before taking on the par 3 fourth, one of the six holes changed at Augusta National, and one that is getting a lot of attention this week. Woods hit a 5-wood during practice Tuesday that covered the flag and stopped about 12 feet behind the hole. The other day, with wind in his face, he hit a 3 wood. Phil Mickelson has a new weapon — two of them, actually — as he plans to keep two drivers in his bag, just as he did last week at the BellSouth Classic when he won by 13 shots. Colin Montgomerie had a typical reaction to No. 11, now a 505-yard hole that plays as a par 4. “Holes that start' with 5 and it says par 4 are generally the problem,” he said. And then there’s two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen, who dismissed any criticism or hysteria with an adage that works anywhere in golf. “There’s a few mixed feelings out there,” he said. “But at the end of the day, everybody is playing the same course.” Still, some players might have an easier time than others based on length alone. Jack Nicklaus is among those who believe only a dozen or so players have a realistic chance of contending on a course that now measures 7,445 yards, making it the second-longest in a major championship behind Whistling Straits (7,514 yards) in the 2004 PGA Championship. And considering only 91 players are in the field — including Gary Player — the odds are even better than at most majors. Chris DiMarco has played in the final group the past two years, a hard luck loser to Woods in the playoff. He has good vibes at the Masters, and he described the course as one that fits his eye. “Although it’s getting harder to see,” he added, “as far as the pins are getting away from me.” Woods is the favorite as usual. The unknown is not a player, but the weather. Augusta National has been rain-softened every year since the first series of major changes in 2002, so no one is quite sure what to expect if it becomes the firm, fast test that the club desires. “I think we just hold back and see where it goes; see how we play the game on this new Augusta National,” Ernie Els said. BRIEFS • COnnnUED FROm 14 Womens golf moves ranked in top 25 The USC women’s golf team moved into the top 2 5 teams in the nation in the latest Golf Stat rankings. The Gamecocks are ranked as the No. 23 team in the country after finishing ahead of four top-20 teams at last weekend’s Bryan National Collegiate. USC has finished ahead of eight top-25 teams in its past two tournaments. The Gamecocks have faced one of the most difficult schedules in the nation according to the Golf Stat rankings as they rank No. 19 in strength-of schedule rankings. The Gamecocks travel to Nashville, Tenn., to compete in the 2006 Southeastern Conference Championships April 14-16. Track and field competes today The South Carolina USA Track and Field state meet will be held today at the Weems Baskin Track & Field complex at USC. South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, Francis Marion University in Florence, Coker College in Hartsville, Voorhees College in Denmark and Benedict College in Columbia are scheduled to compete, along with a . partial team from USC. Running events are slated to get underway at 4 p.m. with the women’s 3,000 meter steeplechase. The field events get started at 1:30 p.m. with the men’s hammer throw. The final event, the men’s 5,000 meter run, is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. BASEBALL • EOATIAUEBFROfllM be announced. After struggling to find their bats early in the season, the Gamecocks have begun to knock the ball around a little. USC outscored its opponents 66-12 last week. Atwood and Co. take the field for a 7 p.m. start at Sarge Frye as they look to extend their winning streak to 10 games and put thoughts of rebuilding totally behind them. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu 1 J800 ALEXANDER RD 803.939.0444 www.universitycommons.com Alpha Chi Omega’s 5th annual / Volleyball Brawl * April, 12 2006 3-7pm \ at the Strom Sand Volleyball courts Benefiting SisterCare of Columbia A shelter for victims of domestic violence for more information meserve c.edu Rain Date: April 19 3-7pm .GREEKWIDE RTY!! Cash Bar, Live Band, Food, PaAvtliik Contest 8:30pm-12:30am (buses will run from the Village & S. Tower from 8pm-1am) p «ay= Wear your GW ‘06 t-shirt t-shirts am $7 — dr send orders to decke ailbox.sc.edu