Getting Ready for the 2007 Masters Tournament

Usually referred to as The Masters, it is one of the four championships in professional golf. The men's tournament is probably the first that happens every year. Final rounds usually occur in April, almost always on the second Sunday of that month. What makes this championship unique is that it happens at the same location, at the August National Golf Club in Georgia.

This tournament is particularly important because its champions are then automatically eligible to play in three other major tournaments: The PGA Championship, Open Championship , and the US Open. The Master's is open to players all over the world and all the players involved are invited to the event as guests. This tournament is so popular that this year's tickets to the Practice Rounds alone are already sold out! These tickets are limited and only those who apply for them can actually buy them in advance.

The tournament itself is over 70 years old and dates back to the 1930s in the US. Today, the Masters invites players from all over the world to vie for its prize. This year, the goal is set for players to take the championship from the current defending champion Phil Mickelson, who beat out Tiger Woods in the Masters 2006. In 2007, Tiger Woods will be playing again to try and win back the championship of which he has already 4 wins (for the years 1997, 2001, 2002, and 2005). He is probably one of the most popular gold players to date and is usually the favorite in any golf tournament that he participates in.

Players who have qualified for the Masters include the 10 leaders on the Official PGA Tour Money List that is published a week before the tournament and 50 leaders on the Official World Golf Ranking list also published a week before the tournament.

However, there are also special cases wherein International players can join. In December of 2006, 15 of the 16 new players that have qualified for the Masters Tournament 2007 are International. The list includes India's Jeev Milkha Singh who is the first person from India to participate in the Masters.

A total of 100 players have been invited to play in the Masters Tournament 2007. As announced, this year it will be contested from April 2 to 8. This year's prize assures the winner a free membership on the PGA Tour for the next five seasons as well as invitations to another championship for five years. The prizes in this tournament are so grand that the fund for it was reportedly up to US$7 million in 2006.