The PGA Tour's first and arguably biggest major of the year kicks off at Augusta National. Bubba Watson will try to win The Masters for the third time in four years when play begins April 9.

Need to Know

• Tiger Woods announced that he would indeed take part in this year's Masters. Woods played a practice round previously and obviously felt competitive enough to enter his first tournament since February. Woods made sure to let everyone know he worked his ass off to get back for the Masters.
   
• Kevin Streelman emerged victorious in the annual Par-3 contest in a playoff with Camilo Villegas. Although Tiger Woods took over the spotlight, turning the contest into a family affair. The real star though was Jack Nicklaus who not only sunk a hole-in-one, but predicted he would do so before hand.

• Rory McIlroy has never won at Augusta. But he credits his 2011 collapse with his rise to being the top-ranked golfer in the world.
   
• There was some celebrity fun at the Par-3 contest with One Direction's Niall Horan and former NHL superstar Teemu Selanne serving as caddies for Rory McIlroy and Mikko Ilonen respectively.

• Woods' fall from golfing elite has him out of the top 100 for the first time since 1996. He's currently ranked 104th.

• Tim Clark will miss The Masters with an elbow injury. That means Augusta will have less than 100 golfers on course for the 49th straight year.

Masters Breakdown

• The Green Jacket has always carries extra significance on the PGA Tour, mostly because it can turn grown men into little boys.
   
• Need to know exactly how the course is set up? Check out an in depth look at both the front nine and back nine at Augusta.
   
• While Augusta National is unmatched in its beauty, the course has gone under significant changes to keep up with current players. The evolution of the course's par-5s is worth an in-depth examination.
   
• The Masters is known for magical finishes perhaps more so than any other tournament on the tour. Here's a look at six of the best.

Further Reading

• There's a unique sound to Rory McIlroy's swing. That's one of the details revealed in a comprehensive profile of McIlroy by Charles Siebert of The New York Times. A must-read for any golf fan. [The New York Times]

• Kyle Porter of CBS Sports ranks golfers over the age of 50 who have the best chance of winning The Masters. Sixty-three-year-old Ben Crenshaw is on the list! [CBS Sports]

• Membership at Augusta is as exclusive as it gets. But if playing Amen Corner is on your bucket list, Golf Digest's Luke Kerr-Dineen has seven ways to make the cut. [Golf Digest]

• Play or rest? There's no one way players agree on to prepare for The Masters as Golf Channel's Will Gray writes. [Golf Channel]