AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The Masters is underway with three shots right down the middle of the fairway. Just not terribly far. Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus hit the ceremonial tee shots Thursday morning with fans already lining both sides of the first fairway. Still competitive even after all these years, Nicklaus went last and hit a drive that went about a yard past Players shot. The "Big Three" combined to win 13 green jackets, including seven in a row at the start of the 1960s. This Masters is far less predictable. Without Tiger Woods or a dominant figure, its seen as the most wide-open Masters in years. A bunch of brash Augusta rookies are eager to fill Woods shoes. And the last two dozen majors have been divvied up among 21 winners. Early Thursday, Stewart Cink, Ian Woosnam and Jonas Blixt were all 1-under-par, leading among the early starters. Ryan Moore, who won the Par 3 contest Wednesday, thinks it might be time to break the curse of that winner never winning the tournament. "You never know," he said. "Someone has got to break that (Par 3) curse at some point in time, so hopefully its me. Who knows? I might go shoot 8 under or something, make a couple of hole-in-ones." As unlikely as that sounds, pretty much everything else is up for grabs at this Masters. Recovering from back surgery, Woods is sitting out the opening major of the year for the first time since turning pro. Even as his dominance waned in recent years, he was always the clear-cut favourite coming into Augusta, where he has won four times. Now, as Moore said, who knows? Jason Day, Sergio Garcia and former Masters champion Zach Johnson are the only players from the top 10 who have won anywhere in the world this year. Only one of the past seven winners on the PGA Tour was ranked in the top 75. "I think if youre outside the top 50 in the world this week, youve got a great chance," U.S. Open champion Justin Rose said with a laugh. Woods is out of golf until the summer, but the show goes on at a tournament that rarely fails to deliver plenty of drama. "We miss Tiger, as does the entire golf world," Masters chairman Billy Payne said. "Nevertheless, this is the Masters. This is what we hope is the best tournament in the world, one of the greatest sporting events. And I think we will have a very impressive audience and have another great champion to crown this year." That could be Phil Mickelson, who last year won the British Open at age 42 and now has a chance to join Woods and Arnold Palmer with a fourth green jacket. It could be Adam Scott, trying to take over as the worlds No. 1 player and join Woods, Nick Faldo and Jack Nicklaus as the only back-to-back winners. While Woods last won a green jacket in 2005, he had finished out of the top six only once since then. Thats what made him such a compelling figure at Augusta. He always seemed to be there. "Its a huge loss," Scott said. "But, as every year here, this event produces something special no matter what. It just has a way of doing it. Its not going to involve Tiger this year, but it will involve someone else and it will be a memorable event anyway." Rose falls on the side of experience -- knowing where to miss, knowing where you cant afford to miss, where the hole locations tend to be on the contoured greens and using the slope to get the ball close. "Always you can have the unknowns," he said. "But I would say 15 guys are pretty strong favourites." Fuzzy Zoeller was the last Augusta rookie to claim the green jacket in 1979, and the only other ones to do it were the first two: Horton Smith and Gene Sarazen. Then again, there are 24 first-timers in the 98-player field, a record (except for the first tournament), and none of them will concede an insurmountable learning curve. Besides, no one is dominating golf at the moment. Jimmy Walker has the most PGA Tour wins (three) this season, but this is his first Masters. Scott had a chance to go to No. 1 three weeks ago at Bay Hill, but he lost a three-shot lead in the final round to Matt Every, who had never won in his career. "Doesnt matter if youve played here once or if youve played here 50 times," said Patrick Reed, who has won three times in the past eight months. "When it comes down to it, its just going to be that whoever is playing the best is going to walk away with the trophy." Who knows? Maybe it will be Moore. Hes certainly not fretting over a supposed curse. "Im not afraid of it," he said. Stan Smith Italia . Edmonton opened the season with 14 straight victories before falling Friday night 10-8 to the host Colorado Mammoth in National Lacrosse League action. Stan Smith Offerta .500. The Jets have now won nine of their last 11, and five of their last six road games. With the win they moved to within two points of Vancouver in the west, the Canucks holding down the eighth spot. Vancouver lost in Boston, while the other big game saw Dallas win in Phoenix. http://www.stansmithscontate.it/. On the day after Billy Horschel posted his 12th straight round in the 60s, won his second straight tournament against a world-class field and picked up an additional $10 million bonus as the FedEx Cup champion, Watson was kicking back in his seat at a Kansas City Royals game. Scarpe Stan Smith Scontate . Chris Heisey connected for his first grand slam and Devin Mesoraco homered and drove in a career high-tying four runs as Cincinnati took advantage of Tampa Bays depleted pitching staff for a 12-4 victory on Sunday. Scarpe Stan Smith Outlet . The third-seeded Bouchard, from Westmount, Que., was coming off a semifinal appearance at the French Open. She took the opening set before the unseeded American came back for the 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory.ENSTONE, England -- Lotus says Kimi Raikkonen has undergone back surgery in France and will begin his rehabilitation next week. The Finnish driver had the operation at the University Hospital of Strasbourg, and doctor Afshin Gangi says it was "totally successful." Lotus says in a staatement released Friday that "Kimi will now rest for a few days and he will start his recovery process as early as next week.dddddddddddd" The 32-year-old Raikkonen, who is joining Ferrari next season, will miss the season-ending races in the United States and Brazil. Wholesale HoodiesNFL Shirts OutletJerseys NFL WholesaleCheap NFL Jerseys Free ShippingWholesale Jerseys CheapCheap NFL Jerseys ChinaWholesale JerseysWholesale NFL JerseysCheap NFL Jerseys ChinaCheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '