By Doug Ferguson
The Associated Press

Tiger Woods saw no reason to go to Augusta National for a practice round leading up to the Masters because hardly anything has changed from last year.

No holes were lengthened. No bunkers were stretched and deepened. Greens were not reconfigured. Nothing but three dozen new pine trees planted down the right side of the 11th fairway.

"The only change is the tree line," Woods said.

The golf course might look familiar, but nothing else about this Masters looks the same.

For one thing, Martha Burk is all but forgotten. There hasn't been a peep of protest about the all-male membership at Augusta National, and Burk has said there is no point coming back this year if she can't picket outside the gates of Magnolia Lane.

Also missing is the dominance of the world's No. 1 player. Woods has rarely looked so mortal, especially coming into the Masters.

He is still No. 1 in the world, although the margin is shrinking. He is still the favorite to slip on the green jacket next Sunday afternoon at Augusta National, but the odds are no longer so staggering in his favor.

"I need some work, and I've been working on it," Woods said. "It's a matter of solidifying things I've done. It's getting out there and trusting it and hitting the right golf shots at the right time."

Woods comes into the Masters with the kind of pressure he hasn't faced in five years:

• He failed to win a major last year for the first time since 1998, and he hasn't won a major in his last six tries. Woods' longest drought was 10 majors (1997-99), half of those while overhauling his swing.

• His lead in the world ranking was so great last year that the point differential between No. 1 and No. 2 was equivalent to No. 2 and No. 126. Now, the distance between No. 1 and No. 2 is about the same as No. 2 and No. 6.

• He is coming off his worst finish in five years at Bay Hill (T46), which he had won the previous four years.

Woods followed that with a 75 in The Players Championship, and he had to rally to keep his cut streak alive at 120.

At the heart of the scrutiny is his severed relationship with swing coach Butch Harmon, with whom he worked for nearly a dozen years. It only intensified when Harmon's youngest protege - Adam Scott, 23, the Aussie whose swing is so similar to Woods - captured The Players Championship.

"That's Tiger Woods in the year 2000," NBC Sports analyst Johnny Miller said.

Ouch.

Woods did call Harmon not long after The Players Championship was over, but only to ask that the old coach pass on congratulations to Scott.

"Butch and I are still friends," Woods said. "I still talk to him when he's out here. As far as asking for help on my golf swing? No."

There isn't a player on tour who believes Woods' swing looks anything like it did during his record-setting romp through the 2000 season, when he won nine times and three straight majors.

Some think his swing resembles a blend of Harmon's philosophies and those of Hank Haney, the swing coach for Mark O'Meara.

"If he's not playing good, everybody thinks I'm teaching him," O'Meara said. "I watch him hit balls. I would tell him, he asks me, what I think. Sometimes he listens, and sometimes he doesn't."

Harmon was diplomatic when asked about Woods' swing, saying Woods will get it figured out before the Masters.

Has he ever seen Woods struggle like this?

"No," Harmon replied. "I've never seen him this inconsistent. And it's obviously got to be very frustrating for him."

The scrutiny will only go away if Woods can win his fourth green jacket, an opportunity that begins to unfold when the Masters begins Thursday morning.

IF NOT WOODS, THEN WHOM?

The list of challengers, if not rivals, for Tiger Woods at the 68th Masters Tournament is longer than ever:

Phil Mickelson

Coming off his worst season on the PGA Tour, he looks fit and hungry as he tries to shed the label as the best player to have never won a major. He won his first time out at the Bob Hope Classic, and has been a factor starting the final round every tournament he has played.

Mickelson has tightened his swing and toiled on his wedges, always the strength of his game.

A radio reporter wearing a Chicago Cubs cap recently asked Lefty if this might be the year he gets it right.

"It's only been 33 years that I haven't won a major," the 33-year-old Mickelson replied. "How many years since the Cubs won a (World) Series? I'm not quite in that big of a hole. But the Cubs' prospects look awfully exciting this year, and I've got to tell you, I've very excited about the four majors this year.

"I feel I've got the game now that I can play a major championship test without getting in nearly as much trouble."

Vijay Singh

He went 12 consecutive PGA Tour events in the top 10, two short of the modern record, and won in dominant fashion at Pebble Beach. He has not finished in the top 10 since his streak ended with a rare missed cut, although the '00 Masters champion has been gearing toward another green jacket.

Ernie Els

Els won twice early in the season, including a 60 at Royal Melbourne when he won the Heineken Classic.

Also ...

• Defending champion Mike Weir already has made one successful title defense at Riviera, while Davis Love III has two runner-up finishes.

• Chad Campbell, a 29-year-old Texan, made the game look simple in strong victories at the Tour Championship and at Bay Hill.

JUST THE FACTS

Event: The 68th Masters Tournament

Dates: April 8-11

Site: Augusta National Golf Club

Length: 7,290 yards

Par: 36-36-72

Changes: Three dozen pine trees added to the right of the 11th fairway.

Format: 72 holes of stroke play, sudden death playoff if necessary.

Purse: To be determined ($6 million in 2003).

Field: 93 players, including five amateurs.

Defending champ: Mike Weir

Last year: Weir became the first left-hander and the first Canadian to win the Masters, beating Len Mattiace on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff. Weir made par putts from 5 and 6 feet on the last two holes to shoot a bogey-free 68, then won the playoff with a bogey on No. 10.

Farewell to the King: Four-time champion Arnold Palmer is playing his 50th and final Masters.

Missing in action

Martha Burk, who led the campaign against Augusta National's all-male membership, says she will not return to protest this year.

Tiger tales

The last time Tiger Woods was coming off a season with no majors, he failed to break 70 all four rounds at the Masters and had his worst finish at Augusta National, a tie for 18th.

Noteworthy: Augusta National has not played firm and fast since the course was revamped for the '02 Masters.

Quoteworthy

"It used to be the fun tournament. I don't think it's as fun as it used to be." - Brad Faxon.

Television

Thursday-Friday, 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., 8 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. (replay), USA Network. Saturday, 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., CBS. Sunday, 2:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., CBS.