AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Youth came to the Masters in a variety of ways this opening day, and it was served, and served most everything else.
Nice. Class all around at Augusta National. No bulletin there. But Thursday was sort of different. Juniors broke in on the dance.
Thousands of kids from 8 to 16 came in and very much minded their p's and q's. Augusta National let the youngsters in for nothing in a thoughtful nod to the future.
Maybe somebody told the tournament that golf might turn off the younger set by being relatively inaccessible in some places. Whatever, Augusta National threw open its gates to the less aged. And had a fine old time doing it while youngsters Justin Rose, 27, and Trevor Immelman, 28, were pretty much running the day's actual competition. They tied for the lead with 4-under-par 68s.
Meanwhile, all the kids who scored that rare free admission were feeling as though they had shot holes-in-one.
And their behavior! I don't know what deportment courses they have taken, but they gave one Thursday. Gary Player, 72, the old champion, said the whole crowd was ``unbelievable . . . full of love and kindness.''
So much for youth on the rampage.
We saw the rather striking picture of 8-year-olds walking jauntily beneath the massive 150-year-old oak by the clubhouse, and not an out-of-place squawk in the lot.
You would think this kind of miniature mob would require a headmaster carrying a stick. At the very least, some restriction would sound necessary. But here were the tykes, good as gold -- an impressive tribute to somebody back along the line.
The whole Masters scene this gorgeous day was, in the phrase of W. C. Fields, ''reeking of popcorn and lollipops.'' And an amazing lesson in conduct.
They came, frankly, to see Tiger Woods. He is 32, which would put most mortals at definite remove from any juvenile forms of worship. We all know Tiger is not ordinary.
His round of par 72 was ordinary, and still quite good on a day when nobody could shoot out the lights.
So, instead of Tiger, the smallish fans got Rose and Immelman and 27-year-old Brandt Snedeker, one stroke back with a 69. The early Masters is canting toward youth, but remember, everything except Sunday here is decidedly temporary.
Nevertheless, Rose was going over big. He would be a popular champ, especially with the teen clique.
''My fellow Americans . . . '' he began his news conference, actually testing the microphone rather than making jokes. He's a pretty easygoing guy.
The whole Masters is rather easygoing, so far. It will grow more serious, with some of the older gents, such as the doddering Woods. We shall enjoy this junior raillery while we may.
