Anyway you slice it, the Masters is worth watching.(television coverage of the 2001 Masters golf tournament)(Brief Article)

I know, I know. Stories about golf rarely appear in THE SPORTING NEWS. But one tournament--the myth, the legend, the piano in the background--qualifies as must-see TV. Herewith: the Masters On TV For Dummies, starring your host, Jim Nantz.

Tradition. CBS has televised the Masters since 1955 (Thursdays-Fridays on USA since '82). "Tradition is a very large word for Augusta," says Nantz, a 16-year veteran who maintains that even when he's at Super Bowls or Final Fours, folks are talking Masters. "You don't have to know Ben Hogan's life story to appreciate it." An appreciation for azaleas and dogwood helps, though.

Mystery. Lesser tournaments get the 18-hole treatment, yet viewers supposedly won't see Augusta's front nine in their lifetimes because coverage officially begins at No. 10. Nantz debunks this because CBS' final-round coverage Sunday starts wherever the leader is at 4 p.m. Eastern. "We've started as early as the fourth hole. Last year after a rain delay, we showed all 18."

Reverence. The Masters is a religious experience: Ken Venturi gives papal blessings for shotmaking, and Augusta National is God. It dictates the time slot and tone, lest It be overexposed or blasphemed. CBS follows Its commandments, right down to cutting announcers' vocal cords. Jack Whitaker became untouchable for calling the gallery a mob; Gary McCord was banned after likening greens to bikini or mustache wax or something; even ...