For golfers, spring begins with the Masters Tournament at the Augusta National Course in Augusta Georgia. The course is already getting ready for the 2009 tournament, to be held April 6-12. To get you in the spirit of the Masters, here are a few facts about the event:

The first event was held in 1934, with Horton Smith winning the tournament.

The Masters was originally called the Augusta National Invitational Tournament.

Horton won $1500; last year’s winner, Zach Johnson took home $1.3 million.

No tournament was held during WWII (1943-1945). Chickens and turkeys were raised on the grounds to support the war effort.

Jack Nicklaus has the most Masters victories (six); Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods both have four.

Jack Nicklaus was the oldest player to win the Masters (his sixth win in 1986); Tiger Woods was the youngest (in 1997).^{(photo © flickr user: pocketwiley/cc license)}

A specialized lab at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana is helping athletes and doctors do a better job. It’s where sports and science meet. Take a look:

According to the US Citizenship and Immigration Bureau, foreign citizens who come to the United States to participate in professional sports (and the entertainment industry) will no longer be limited to a ten-year career. In a memo issued last week, the bureau stated that such foreigners would be able to renew their visa as long as they left the country after ten years and applied for a new visa.

This is especially welcome news to golf fans. The ranks of the LPGA and PGA are increasingly peopled by foreign nationals and golf is one sport where ten years is a rather short career.

The move can only be good for competition in golf and other sports, such as baseball and basketball, that feature prominent foreign players.

Tiger Woods continues his comeback after knee surgery next week at the WGC-CA Championship at Miami’s Doral Country Club. Doral is a favorite course of Tiger’s; he’s never finished outside of the top ten at the course.

The WGC-CA tournament begins on Thursday. It will be Woods’ first 72-hole competition since he won the US Open last June at San Diego’s Torrey Pines. Woods debuted following surgery at the WGC-Accenture Match Play competition last week. He was eliminated in the second round.

(photo credit: Newscom)

Seve Ballesteros, three-time Masters British Open champion and two-time Masters champion, is staying strong through his second round of chemotherapy to treat a brain tumor. The 51-year-old Spaniard underwent three surgeries in the fall after fainting at Madrid’s Barajas International Airport on October 6. He is scheduled to begin a third regiment of chemotherapy next week.

Said Ballesteros to the Associated Press, “The results of the checkup were really positive. Better even than the first ones. I will start my third chemotherapy round shortly and hope it will be in the same line as the previous ones.”

(photo credit: Newscom)

Lorena Ochoa, the top-ranked woman golfer is the world, racked up her 25th LPGA career victory this past weekend as she won the Honda LPGA tournament in Thailand. Ochoa trailed third-place finisher Paula Creamer by three strokes going into the final round, but her six-under round of 66 was more than enough to secure her the trophy. Hee Young Park of South Korea finished second.

Said Ochoa to the Associated Press, “It has been a great week. My goal was to win the tournament. Here I am with the trophy and I am very pleased. I played especially well.”

The field at the Honda LPGA Thailand was the strongest group of women golfers ever assembled in Asia. The tour continues to Singapore this week for the HSBC Women’s Champions Tournament. Ochoa is the defending champion in that event.

(photo credit: Newscom)