OPINION

By Tim Dahlberg

updated 11:06 p.m. ET April 9, 2008

AUGUSTA, Ga. - Times have changed in golf, as evidenced by the bulging biceps of Tiger Woods.

Hang around long enough under the big oak tree that shades the clubhouse lawn and chances are good you’ll hear old-timers reminiscing about the days when every blade of grass was mowed, everyone except Gary Player and Arnold Palmer had a belly, and lighting up Augusta National meant pulling out a carton of Winstons, not shooting a low score.

As hard as it might be to imagine now, there apparently was a time when players shaped their shots instead of their abs, and the idea of performance enhancement was cutting back the number of whiskey sours the night before.

Bulging muscles under a green jacket? About as much chance of finding that as a black golfer on the first tee.

Phil Mickelson would have fit in with the old school crowd. Give him a few Krispy Kremes and a good piece of persimmon and he might have had a bridge on the back nine named after him by now.

Until this Masters, that is. A new Phil showed up at Augusta National this week towing less subcutaneous fat than usual and pronouncing himself in great shape to win his third green jacket.

“I’ve worked out, yeah,” Mickelson said, puffing his chest out and pulling his belly in just a bit. “Worked out a little bit.”

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Miguel Angel Jimenez apparently didn’t get the memo. He stood on the ninth tee Wednesday with a gut hanging out in front of him, puffing away on a fat cigar he discarded only long enough to hit his tee shot.

The Spaniard might have been a throwback to another era, assuming, that is, that players of another era wore earrings and had ponytails tied behind their hats.

They didn’t, but most didn’t look much like athletes, either. Player may have prided himself on doing hundreds of push-ups, but there were 10 guys shaped like Julius Boros for every one who looked like he might have tossed the old medicine ball around in the gym.

That’s not to say they didn’t try. Billy Casper went on to win a Masters after he turned to buffalo meat to lose excess pounds, and Jack Nicklaus made a miraculous transformation from Fat Jack to the Golden Bear about the time he started collecting green jackets by the handful.

Which brings us to Tiger Woods, where every conversation about golf seems to end up these days. With good reason. He comes into this Masters as such a prohibitive favorite that bookies are taking even money bets on him against the entire field.

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