The Masters - Countdown: Practice Rounds Underway

Players young and old, grizzled and green, technical and instinctive, will join forces to tour Augusta National. The three- or four-man groups are essentially a meeting of the minds, with players and caddies exchanging tidbits of information about where to miss, how putts break and why different wind directions affect club selection. Even Spieth, who at 21 became the youngest Masters champion since Woods, needed some help along the way. Last year, he played nine holes with two-time champion Ben Crenshaw and Woods. Spieth’s caddie, Michael Greller, spent 45 minutes with legendary looper Carl Jackson (who was on the bag for both of Crenshaw’s titles) before the weekend rounds, talking about every hole. Greller compared it to meeting Michael Jordan and breaking down the NBA Finals. “Certainly picked his brain a little then,” Spieth said of his time with Crenshaw. “As you could imagine, with any of us when we’re out there playing with someone else, you don’t want to just get questioned about every single hole and this and that. So it was kind of light, just here and there.” So what would it be like for a first-timer to be mentored by a Ben Crenshaw or Tiger Woods? Share your comments with us at the Pro Golf Channel: http://progolftournaments.blogspot.com/