Masters officials no doubt approve of the changes they made to Augusta

AUGUSTA, Ga. (PA) -- After his second consecutive major championship victory, there were some memorable celebrations for Phil Mickelson on Monday.

But the scale of those celebrations could well have been dwarfed by those in the clubhouse he had just left behind at the end of Magnolia Drive.

After a week of almost unprecedented speculation -- and strident criticism from legends such as Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer -- about the changes to the course, the powers-that-be at Augusta National no doubt wore similar grins to that sported by Mickelson throughout Sunday's final round.

Aside from the weather delay to Saturday's third round, the Masters had once again lived up to its stellar reputation, providing some stunning golf and a world-class winner to supplement a most impressive list of former champions.

And what is more, Mickelson was far from alone in terms of the world's best in occupying the upper echelons of the leader board.

Four members of golf's "Big Five" -- Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Retief Goosen and Ernie Els -- finished in the top nine. The only one absent, Els, was only four off the lead before a poor final round dropped him down the leader board.

Also, after all the furor surrounding the lengthening of six holes -- adding a total of 155 yards and making it the second-longest course ever used for a major -- South African Tim Clark and Spain's Jose Maria Olazabal finished second and tied for third, respectively, and neither could lay claim to be among the game's big hitters.

That did not prevent Olazabal from shooting the best round of the week with his 66 on Sunday, which also featured perhaps the shot of the tournament -- a 5-wood to 18 inches for a brilliant eagle 3 on the par-5 15th.

"The guys are basically having to hit the same second shots that Jack Nicklaus had to hit [in his prime]," Gary Player admitted after playing the course in practice. "With the exception of the fourth, it's identical to how it was 30 years ago in terms of what clubs Nicklaus hit then."

The 2003 champion, Mike Weir, also praised the new layout.

"The changes are better than I thought," said the Canadian. "I would like to see them shorten the rough just a little more, especially on No. 11. Other than that, the changes are great."

Weir would certainly seem to have a point about the 11th. There was just one birdie all weekend at the 505-yard par 4.

Rocco Mediate's disastrous 10 in the final round at the dreaded 12th proved length is not the only way to protect a course. At 155 yards, the 12th is the shortest hole on the course by some 15 yards.

And let's not forget Augusta's famous lightning-fast greens.

How different would the outcome have been had Fred Couples not three-putted the par-5 eighth for par -- 570 yards in two shots, and three shots from 15 yards -- and also three-putted from four feet on the 14th when poised to cut Mickelson's lead to one?

Or if Olazabal had not gone birdie-birdie-eagle on 13, 14 and 15, only to promptly three-putt the 16th?

So did Masters officials get it right?

They will look at Mickelson's 7-under-par total -- tied for the highest since Nick Faldo won the first of his three titles in 1989 -- and answer in the affirmative.

And until the game's governing bodies do something about the constantly improving technology threatening to make some courses obsolete, the men of Augusta National will have little choice but to "protect" their course however they can.

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