By JERRY POTTER
Gannett News Service

AUGUSTA, Ga.

The golfer who can hit the ball long and straight has a big advantage, and it has been that way since before Jack Nicklaus had a crew cut.

Don't expect anything different at The Masters, which begins today at a revamped Augusta National, where almost 300 yards have been added since last year.

"Power is always important," Nicklaus said. "On this golf course, power is a big issue. If you're a moderate hitter then you're going to be driving the ball into the face of the hills all day long. The changes they've made have eliminated a lot of moderate hitters from contention."

Nicklaus, who came to Augusta National to attend the Past Champions Dinner on Tuesday night, isn't playing this year, in part, because of distance. At 62 and hampered by a bad back, he just can't hit the ball far enough to compete on the course.

A few weeks ago, he played two rounds on the course and shot 76-81. On his final nine holes, he didn't hit an approach shot into any green with less than a 2-iron.

Little wonder that he said jokingly, "I used to be the Tiger Woods of my time."

Woods, of course, is the most complete player in golf, having a blend of power and finesse that makes him a favorite for The Masters. But he's just one of a group of power players who are expected to have a big advantage this week.

John Daly leads the PGA Tour in driving average at 309.3 yards. Woods is second at 296.8. Others among the top 10 who have been in contention in the past are David Duval (291.1) and Davis Love III (289.9).

"Being able to hit the ball a long way is always significant here because the greens are so difficult and the wind swirls so much that you have to come into the greens with shorter irons," said Phil Mickelson, who averages 287.5 yards. "The wind won't affect them as much, and your misses tend to be a little smaller."

Mickelson said the advantage of power is greater here than at a U.S. Open course, where the U.S. Golf Association always has narrow fairways bordered by rough that's about four inches deep.

Here, where the fairways are bordered by a shorter cut of rough, every fairway hit is a chance to make a birdie. "If you hit nine or 10 fairways," Mickelson said, "that's nine or 10 chances to attack the pin. Even if you're in the first cut of rough, you can still recover and make par."

Greg Norman, who won the British Open twice, was once one of the game's longest hitters. He says power becomes the biggest factor on the par 5s. "If you can reach the par 5s with a long to middle iron," he said, "you've got a chance to pick up four shots every day. If you walk to the first tee feeling confident that you can do that, then you're playing a par-68 golf course."

Norman said the Augusta National golfers that are playing this year should require accuracy as well as length off the tee.

"For many years the guys here would just wing it," he explained. "They'd hit the ball as far as they could and as high as they could. They had a huge advantage because the difference between hitting a 7-iron and a wedge into a green is dramatic."

Norman said the players will have to give their tee shots more thought this week. "What they've tried to do here is balance out the golf course," he said, "and make sure the power hitters have to think about what they're doing on the tee."

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