Augusta, Ga.

Late Tuesday afternoon, after the Masters practice-round crowds had thinned out considerably, I sat for a while near the first tee contemplating the glory of Augusta National. The view from this high spot is surprisingly open; you can see all or part of half the course's holes. It struck me that probably no other spot on earth -- the White House lawn? The Versailles gardens in France? -- has been so intensely worked, reworked and publicly scrutinized as these 365 acres.

In...