No snacks

US Olympic skier Bode Miller and his wife, Morgan Beck, have a story to tell about the Masters. According to the Augusta Chronicle, Miller and Beck were stopped on their way to the course on Thursday and told to get rid of a quesadilla they hoped to snack on during the first round. "If you pay $7,500, you ought to be able to bring out a quesadilla," Miller said.The couple was eating at Berckmans Place, a posh hospitality venue tucked behind trees alongside the fifth fairway. The facility, which opened last year, is available to club members, tournament sponsors and VIPs.

Tall task

John Isner should be able to find his friends fairly easily at crowded Augusta National. The 6-foot-10 tennis player, who is ranked ninth in the latest ATP standings, arrived at the Masters on Friday and started searching for his fellow Georgia Bulldogs. There are a several of them in the field. "It is very cool," Isner said. "It is crazy, really. Not to mention there' i probably five or six others that have their (tour) card as well." Bubba Watson, Chris Kirk, Harris English, Russell Henley played at Georgia, and Patrick Reed started his college career at Georgia before transferring to Augusta State.

Tiger factor

Television already is feeling the effects of not having Tiger Woods at the Masters. In a release, ESPN said its live telecast of the opening round on Thursday had a 1.5 rating with an average audience of two million viewers. That is down from a 2.0 rating and 2.8 million viewers from a year ago.

Senior warm-up

Fifty-four-year-old Fred Couples is the latest senior to commit to the Greater Gwinnett Championship, which will be held next weekend at TPC Sugarloaf in suburban Atlanta, about a two-hour drive from Augusta National. Also going straight from the Masters to the Greater Gwinnett Championship are Ben Crenshaw, Bernhard Langer, Sandy Lyle, Larry Mize, Mark O'Meara and Miguel Angel Jimenez, who will make his Champions Tour debut at Sugarloaf.

- Associated Press

(China Daily 04/13/2014 page12)