Some thoughts on the 2007 Masters, in no particular order:

Zach Johnson is a great story. Congratulations.

This Masters had the highest winning score since the 1950s. It wasn’t a lot of fun to watch, even with the multiple lead changes on Sunday. The problem was that the lead changes weren’t from players making charges, but from other players making mistakes.

There are a lot of disappointed players after this tournament. Going into the final round, there probably were ten to twelve with a real chance to win. And each of them can rightly say that they gave it away.

Tiger, Goosen, Rose and Appleby may be most disappointed. Each had a legitimate chance with three or four holes to go.

This Masters wasn’t about winners. It was about survivors.

Tiger is still having problems with that swing.

Zach Johnson is this year’s Ben Curtis. He’s a good player, but I don’t see this as his “coming out party.”

Tiger does not seem to be comfortable coming from behind.  There were times when I was sure he was going to cry from frustration.

Tiger was really telegraphing his moods with his body language. When he grabbed the lead, he was springing down the fairway. On the final holes, his shoulders were slumped and he was slinking along.

The local paper had a quote from a guy who lives in Tecumseh, Michigan and who is at The Masters:

My golfing weather is 40 degrees. I’ve golfed in snow six inches deep. I don’t know what the temperature was, but probably below freezing.

Mike Misiak, a Tecumseh resident who is at the masters. He wore a t shirt, turtleneck, sweater and jacket. He wore black pants “to soak up the sun” and tundra-worthy black gloves.

Gary Player played in his 50th Masters this year. And as the network was giving him a tribute, the question of who is the longest serving Masters caddy came to mind.

Apparently, I’m not the only one to wonder. The answer appears to be difficult to research because the names of the caddies have mostly been lost to history. But ESPN suggests it may be Carl Jackson, who first toted a bag in 1961. Jackson has caddied for Billy Burke, Bruce Devlin, Gary Player and others, but now is most famous for his relationship with Ben Crenshaw. He also lays claim to being the first official black guest at Augusta.

I hope the men in the Green Jackets are happy. The leader at The Masters after three rounds is two over par. Players who are six and seven shots over still have a chance to win.

It wasn’t much fun to watch. It was embarrassing for the players.

In fact, there were times I thought I was watching the US Open and not The Masters. Players were struggling to make par; they accepted a bogey as good enough. The course was punishing.

But that’s not what I want to see at the Masters. The US Open is about survival; the Masters is for swashbuckling. The US Open calls for patience and caution. The Masters calls for bold charges and gambling.

The two were as different as night and day, and that’s what made the two premier American golf majors so much fun. But after today, I’m not sure I could tell the difference between the two.

What the course needs is a good rainstorm tonight to soften it up and allow the players to take those gambling shots at tightly placed pins.

Fred Couples shot a four over 76 at the Masters on Friday, matching Gary Player’s 23 consecutive years of making the cut. Couples won the Masters in 1992.

On an Augusta Course that was taking down some of the best players in the world, Couples birdied the 13th, and then parred the last five holes to finish right on the line at eight over.

Player made his run of 23 Masters between 1959 and 1982.

Starting in 2008, PGA Tour winners from the previous year will automatically get an invite to the Masters.

It’s an old idea, revived. PGA Tour winners were invited between 1972 and 2000. Then, the winners exemptions were repealed and replaced with players from the top 50 spots in the World Golf Rankings. That added an international flair to the tournament, but according to Augusta Chairman Billy Payne the tournament lost something in the exchange.

“I can remember innumerable times where winners of tournament events would be more excited to hear that they had automatically qualified for the Masters than to receive the first-prize money check,” Payne said. “So it was an exciting component of golf that really only the Masters could offer, and we all thought it appropriate that we bring it back.”

Winners of tournaments opposite the WGC events will not be invited, nor will winners of tournaments held after the PGA.

Invitations based on the previous year’s money list will be reduced from the top 40 to the top 30. The Masters has eliminated the invites for the top 10 players on the money list published the week before the tournament.

The final change grants exemptions to the 30 players who qualify for the previous year’s tour championship. The newly instituted FedEx Cup points system determines those spots.

I think it’s great for the Masters to return to the old system. But it’s not so good for THE CORPORATE SPONSOR OF THE WEEK. Now players getting a winner’s check will stand there, accept the CORPORATE SPONSOR OF THE WEEK trophy and check and say “I’m going to the Masters!”

Kind of puts it all in its place.

I just heard on the Masters webcast that Vijay Singh will—for the first time—carry a hybrid at this year’s Masters.

Now, when TIGER starts carrying one ...