First time at Augusta National is special

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Every Masters rookie tells the same story. The first step in learning to play Augusta National is just getting over being awed by the place. Webb Simpson, one of the first-timers this year, took care of that with time to spare. He played here when he was 12.

That leads to the question: Which is harder to imagine, how can a 12-year-old tackle this course, or how a 12-year-old can get on in the first place? In Simpson's case, the answers are, respectively, pretty well and at the invitation of the pro at his family's club in Raleigh, N.C., who had worked at Augusta National for 10 years.

"My eyes were pretty wide the whole day. You know, I remember it like it was yesterday," he said after playing a practice round, during which he saw Augusta National member Haley Roberts, his host during that 1998 experience.

Simpson is 26 now, a two-time PGA Tour winner and second-place finisher on the 2011 tour money list. But everyone is a little like a kid the first time they enter the Masters, so it wasn't hard for him to relive his trip here with his dad and pro Ted Kiegel. Even then, Simpson was an equipment buff and a new Scotty Cameron putter in the pro shop caught his eye. His father instantly turned that into a competition: If young Webb could shoot 76, dad would buy the putter.

He had 76 entering the final hole, a par 4 and his father relented. Under the new terms, if Webb could break 80, the putter was his. He smoked his drive and amazingly hit a 3-wood within 4 feet of the pin, which was where it usually is placed on Sunday at the Masters.

"And I missed it," he said. "We go to the shop and he's feeling bad for me and he gets me the putter, anyway."

Simpson returned as a college golfer eight years later and shot eight shots better, a round of par 72. But he still never has played a Masters round, so he is trying to get himself ready for anything.

Kyle Stanley, who earned his way in with a win in Phoenix (a week after squandering a lead on the final hole at Torrey Pines), said: "There's just the whole aura of the tournament. I think you have to believe in yourself, believe in what you're doing."

Yes, Stanley did play here while he was at Clemson, but that really doesn't help on the greens. "You still have to learn them. You can't really do it in one or two days," he said.

Jason Day, whose second-round 64 last year tied the record for low round by a first-time entrant, said every newcomer ought to ask as many questions as he can of the old-timers.

Adam Scott, making his 10th appearance after tying for second last year, said that it doesn't necessarily get easy after the first time. "My first year here, I finished ninth, and I didn't think much [about it]. It was like, 'What's the big deal?' But then I got a few slaps in the face after that," Scott said Monday.

So what advice would he give a rookie such as Simpson? "Obviously, you want to enjoy the experience, but he's in a position where he has a legitimate chance to win this golf tournament," Scott said. "I don't think he should treat it any different than anything else."