Change is not welcomed here at a private club where the sandwiches are still homemade, corporate advertising is banned, US television is kept from showing the front nine holes live and tradition rules.

"We wouldn't make changes because of a single player or tournament," Augusta National chairman Jack Stephens said. "All the changes are the result of long-range planning. It has stood the test of time."

But will it stand up to manufacturing advances in clubs, balls designed to fly farther and players who develop greater upper-body strength than those of earlier generations?

"We're beginning to see the flaws in the golf course," Zimbabwe's Nick Price said. "They have got to start looking at how the game is changing. They are going to have to change it. Everyone is hitting it farther."

Only minorchanges, not "Tiger-proofing" moves, were made here after Woods won last year. Many rivals claim the ball-bashing length of his drives will keep Tiger in the hunt here for decades.

"Even if he plays his worst golf, he will still be in contention," US Open champion Ernie Els of South Africa said. "The course was made for him. It must be like playing in heaven for Tiger."

Added American Paul Stankowski: "If he drives it well and putts well, he's going to have a really great shot for the rest of his life...even if he drives it bad. Well, he can't drive it bad here."

Augusta has no rough to discourage long drivers. Woods hits farther than most rivals, allowing him to loft easier approaches to the greens and land in prime putting areas. He never three-putted in his title romp.

"My game is suited for the course," Woods said. "If I play the way I should, then I should be in contention. If I do the same thing I did last year, that would really be something."

Woods sees Augusta's sloping and speedy puttingsurfaces as the great equalizer, even though 13 strokes of his 18-under par run came on 16 chances at par-five holes in Augusta and he averaged 323 yards a drive.

"The greens are the protective mechanism," he said. "No matter how long we get, we have to play those greens. At the speeds they are now, I don't think the course is going to become obsolete."

There is little room for lengthening the course, even if designers like Australia's Greg Norman wanted to do so. "You're not going to change a course for one individual," Norman said. "If I designed a course for Tiger Woods, 98 percent of the people couldn't play it."

Nick Faldo, a three-time winner here, sees no great problem with the status quo but suggests two-inch rough be used to shrink fairways at strategic points.

"I'm not saying there should never be changes but to suddenly panic because of one victory is over reaction," Faldo said. "Augusta National might experiment by introducing rough to reduce the width of some of the fairways. This wouldmake the big hitters think twice."

Grand Slam predictions after last year fell apart fast. Jack Nicklaus predicted Woods would win 10 Masters. But only time will show where Woods ranks here compared to legends such as Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer.

"Tiger is very confident," Palmer said. "He will win a lot of Masters. The question is how many and by how much."