Masters is tailor-made for Woods, Mickelson

Woods and Mickelson both averaged more than 300 yards per drive last year, ranking among the 17 longest players on Tour. Obviously, with the minimal rough at Augusta National, Woods' lack of direction doesn't hurt nearly as much as at other major-championship venues. He and Mickelson ranked 139th and 160th in driving accuracy in 2006.

"The distance has really been the biggest factor, because I swing as hard as I ever swang for any tournament during the week of the Masters," said Mickelson, who used two drivers last year.

Swing, swang, swung -- however you conjugate the word, he and Woods have a distinct momentum-changing advantage in another crucial area, too. It's not as easily quantifiable as their length off the tee, but it's familiar to anybody who has seen them play over the years.

"Both of them are very underrated as putters and are top-five putters in the world, without a doubt," DiMarco said. "Short-game-wise, they both have shots that nobody else has. They make up-and-downs that you just don't see from other guys. You have to have that there."

That's the long and short of it. Said Mickelson: "The thing about Augusta is not so much the length that minimizes who can really win the tournament. I think it's the challenge around the greens."

Counting their amateur appearances, Mickelson and Woods have played in the Masters a combined 26 times, gleaning experience and insight that only a handful of other veterans can claim. For example, Mickelson played a practice round with another pro last year when they came to the 11th hole, at the elbow of Amen Corner. Mickelson dropped a ball in the corner of the green and asked his partner to plot the putting path to the hole location at the front of the green. The Masters rookie, whom Mickelson declined to identify, misjudged the line by 20 feet.

"I mean, that just happens at Augusta," Mickelson said. "The first time I played it, I saw what he was seeing. It takes years of repeatedly having this happen over and over before you finally grasp it."

Similarly, Woods said one of his Masters keys revolves around knowing where the safe scrambling zones are located when missing greens.

"That golf course is one of the very few where we can utilize our imagination and creativity," Woods said. "You look at most of the guys who have gone through there and won, they've all got wonderful short games. You've got to bump-and-run, you've got to use different spins -- high, low.

"It's just one of the great golf courses to play. I think once you understand how to play it and you can build your misses into some short-game situations, you start seeing the same guys up there at the top of the board."

Two guys, specifically. Forty years ago, it was the same theme. Mickelson and Woods share the same attributes as predecessors Palmer and Nicklaus in Augusta National's two most crucial regards: length and short-game savvy.

"They are long and they can hit it high," Nicklaus said. "They both have great imagination around the greens, which is what you need."

A year after their under-the-radar banter at the championship ceremony in '05, Woods last April was asked to slip the jacket back onto Mickelson, who cruised to a two-shot win over Tim Clark as Fred Couples and Woods were unable to keep up on the back nine.

If Woods was gritting his teeth at the ceremony he wouldn't admit to it. But maybe the cloak of mystery makes the green-jacket rivalry even sweeter, eh?

"Hey, he deserved it -- he beat us," Woods said. "I just happened to be the past champion."

Happenstance, it clearly wasn't.