April sees the first of the golf majors of the year, with The Masters Tournament. Unlike the other major championships, the Masters is held each year at the same location, Augusta National Golf Club, a private golf club in the city of Augusta, Georgia, USA. The Masters was started by Clifford Roberts and Bobby Jones. Jones designed Augusta National with course architect Alister MacKenzie. The tournament is an official money event on the PGA Tour, the PGA European Tour, and the Japan Golf Tour. The field of players is smaller than those of the other major championships because it is an invitational event, entry being controlled by the Augusta National Golf Club.
The first winner of the Masters Tournament was Horton Smith in 1934. He repeated his win in 1936. The current champion, winning in 2010, is Phil Mickelson, who won by three strokes over Lee Westwood. The player with the most Masters victories is Jack Nicklaus, who won six times between 1963 and 1986. Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods have each won four, and Jimmy Demaret, Gary Player, Sam Snead, Nick Faldo and Phil Mickelson have three titles to their name. Gary Player also became the tournament's first overseas winner with his first victory in 1961. Other notable winners include Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, Tom Watson, Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, Ben Crenshaw and José María Olazábal, who have all won the Masters twice.
As with many other courses, Augusta National's championship setup has been lengthened in recent years. In 2001, the course measured approximately 6,925 yards (6,332 m) from the Masters tees. It was lengthened to 7,270 yards (6,650 m) for 2002, and again in 2006 to 7,445 yards (6,808 m); 520 yards (480 m) longer than the 2001 course. The changes attracted many critics, including the most successful players in Masters history, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Tiger Woods. Woods claimed that the "shorter hitters are going to struggle." Augusta National chairman Hootie Johnson was unperturbed, stating, "We are comfortable with what we are doing with the golf course". After a practice round Gary Player defended the changes saying, "There have been a lot of criticisms, but I think unjustly so, now I've played it.... The guys are basically having to hit the same second shots that Jack Nicklaus had to hit [in his prime]
