MASTERSNOTEBOOK

AUGUSTA – Talk of the Friday afternoon set-to in the Masters champion’s locker room between Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh, two of the game’s heavyweights, was still buzzing around Augusta National yesterday afternoon as many watched the leaderboard in hopes of seeing the two paired together in the third round.

As Mickelson and Singh teed off for their respective third rounds yesterday afternoon, Singh, who lodged a bush-league, gamesmanship complaint about Mickelson’s spikes during Friday’s round, was at 3-under and Mickelson was at 2-under.

So the possibility of a final-round pairing between the two warring pros remains a possibility, depending on how and in what order they would finish the third round last night.

Singh, who was confronted during the Friday rain delay by Mickelson in the champion’s locker room – reserved for former Masters champions only and off-limits to the press – typically brushed off inquiries yesterday when asked about the controversial incident he started.

Singh, who rushed away from the media on Friday, said curtly yesterday when asked what his side of the story was, “There is no side. You know it all. Let’s talk about my golf game.”

Mickelson, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, said when asked about his spikes, “I tried to be as careful as I could today.”

The consensus among players and caddies around the grounds was that Singh’s psych maneuver was hardly within the spirit of the game and he came out of the situation looking not only petty, but like a bad guy.

Mickelson, meanwhile, who on Friday spoke frankly about his confrontation with Singh, which nearly came to blows, came out looking completely innocent of any wrongdoing – particularly since he broke no rule whatsoever.

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Fred Couples and his caddie, Joe LaCava, are football Giants fans and, through an intermediary, asked members of the Giants’ equipment staff, Ed and Joe Skiba, Ed Wagner and Tim Slaman, for some Giants T-shirts and shorts, which were delivered here earlier this week.

In return, the equipment crew wanted a Masters flag signed by Couples to them so they could hang it in the Giants Stadium equipment room, to which Couples said, “No problem.”

Instead of signing it by himself, though, Couples went upstairs to the champion’s locker room during a rain delay on Thursday and got 13 fellow former Masters champions to sign it as well, including Singh, Mickelson, Jose Maria Olazabal, Ian Woosnam, Mark O’Meara, Bernhard Langer, Gary Player, Sandy Lyle, Ben Crenshaw, Tom Watson, Raymond Floyd and, for good measure, Jack Nicklaus.

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Woosnam said it was “disappointing” Masters officials wouldn’t let the players play lift, clean and place in the fairways with their golf balls because of the wet and muddy conditions. “They’ll allow women in (as members of Augusta National) before they allow lift, clean and place,” Woosnam quipped.

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Mark Hensby, who’s been around the top of the leaderboard all week, is playing in his first Masters, hoping to become the first champion as a first-timer since Fuzzy Zoeller. Asked about the lure of Magnolia Lane, which leads to the Augusta National clubhouse, Hensby was nonplussed, saying, “I know there’s a lot of history and I’m excited to be here, but I don’t get too wrapped up in those sort of things. It was nice driving down Magnolia Lane, but it’s just another road.”