A round-up of today's stories from Augusta

Obama enters controversy over ban on women members

THE WHITE House has stepped into the brewing controversy over the ban on women members at Augusta.

Barack Obama believes women should be allowed to join the club, press secretary Jay Carney said yesterday when questioned by reporters at the daily White House briefing as the tournament teed off. “His personal opinion is that women should be admitted to the club,” said Carney.

“The president answered quite clearly to me that he believes Augusta should admit women. It’s kind of long past the time when women should be excluded from anything.”

The president himself would have been barred from joining Augusta a little over 20 years ago. The club barred African-American members until 1990, just seven years before Tiger Woods scored his first victory there aged 21. The issue is especially thorny this year because the tournament is being sponsored by IBM, whose new chief executive is Virginia Rometty. Traditionally holders of that position have been invited to join the club, but no invitation has been issued to Rometty so far. Guardian Service

Hard to see but all three drives hit the fairway

THE SO-CALLED “Big Three” – Jack Nicklaus, Arnie Palmer and Gary Player – performed the ceremonial opening of the 76th Masters with three tee-shots that all found the fairway.

“Congratulations,” said one observer of the drives, only for the Golden Bear to respond: “Thanks, but I don’t think any of us can see that far.”

The moment was made even more special by the presence of Phil Mickelson on the tee box. The three-time Masters champion had booked an early alarm call to stand with the legends on the first tee . . . all of six hours before his own scheduled tee time.

What did they make of Lefty’s gesture?

“Very nice,” said Nicklaus.

“Remarkable,” said Player.

“Wonderful,” said Palmer, who was able to perform his ceremonial duties just a fortnight after suffering a health scare which required his hospitalisation on the day of Tiger Woods’s win in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.

Palmer has been given the all-clear after what he termed was “a little blood pressure scare”.

O'Meara forced to withdraw before the start

FORMER MASTERS champion Mark O’Meara – who had been in fine sprits in the practice days when he accompanied Tiger Woods around the course – was forced to withdraw before the start of his scheduled first round, citing an unspecified injury. He had been due to compete in his 29th Masters, with the highpoint being his 1998 success. O’Meara’s injury reduced the starting field to 95 players. His fellow-American Dustin Johnson was forced to withdraw with a “tweaked back” earlier in the week.

A programme for the first Masters Tournament at Augusta could fetch as much as €8,000 when it is sold next month. The booklet, which includes a plan of the course and each hole from the 1934 competition, is part of a collection of golf memorabilia which goes on sale at Christie’s in London on May 30th and includes paintings, clubs and balls dating back hundreds of years.

Donald dons a McIlroy wig just to put everyone at ease

LUKE DONALD does quite a good imitation of being the quiet man on the golf course, preferring to let his golf clubs do the talking. But he turned out to be quite the comedian on Wednesday night when he accepted the Golf Writers’ Association of America player of the year award for his endeavours in 2011, when he topped the money list on both the US Tour and the European Tour. When Donald had a press conference here on Tuesday in the build-up to the Masters, the room was half-empty. That Rory McIlroy had played to a packed house only a hour earlier told of the contrast in popularity.

Rather than get moody Donald opted to get witty when he went up to accept his award. “It’s a strange feeling to be in a room full of people,” he remarked, before pulling out a frizzy black wig to take on the persona of Rory McIlroy. “That’s better, it’ll put you at ease,” he added.

Legendary trio look to stop balls travelling so far

THE GALLERIES whoop and cheer when the likes of Bubba Watson drives the golf ball out of sight, nodding their heads in amazement at the incredible distances modern professionals now reach. For some of the game’s elder statesmen, however, those nods are being replaced by frowns and concern that technology is ruining the sport.

The “Big Three”, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player, believe the time has come to try to limit the distances players can hit the ball. Course designers have responded by lengthening their layouts and adding more hazards to combat advancements but Nicklaus said the changes were only widening the gap between the professionals and amateurs. “They need to figure out how to bring the average golfer and the professional golfer a little bit closer together.” All three men said golf authorities should consider changing balls to stop them travelling so far.