Aside from heavy pollen, just like old times under the famous oak tree

PGATOUR.com's Melanie Hauser tells us about the famous oak tree behind the Augusta National clubhouse and writes, no matter what fancy additions are made to the course, there's no better place than under the oak tree to spend time during Masters week.

By Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.com Contributor

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- It was just like old times.

Ben Crenshaw was holding court on the lawn, stopping by to say hi to an all-star table of Curtis Strange, Mike Tirico, Bill Rogers and Jerry Pate to name a few. Raymond and Maria Floyd were a table away.

Tiger and Mark O'Meara zipped through the photo-line and into the Champions locker room to cool off after a practice round. Everyone who's anyone in golf was moving from one chat-up to another. Luke Donald was talking golf with a handful of reporters. Larry Mize was reminiscing about 1987 on camera. Someone was talking par-3.

Nick Faldo zipped back and forth, late for yet another meeting. CBS buddies Jim Nantz and Lance Barrow headed for their favorite table in the Men's Grill. Fuzzy Zoeller wondered aloud about the Champions Dinner and Angel Cabrera's five-course asado.

Pollen - thicker than any Georgia accent this fall - was dancing through the wind.

For one week each spring, the golf season kicks off under the tree. The famous sprawling oak tree that guards the Augusta National clubhouse. It was thinned a little this past year, but the suckers were in full-sprout, giving it that same full canopy look it's had for decades.

No one does old better than here. New practice range. New chalet village. A redone entrance to the Press Building. All of it looks as though it's been here for years. Maybe not back to Bobby Jones days, but close. Clean lines. Lots of white. Southern traditional. Filled with elegant details like wainscoting, chair railings and crown molding, which here, make all the difference in the world.

Such is the charm of a place where a simple Green Jacket handed out by the club chairman each April defines so many careers.

Or where the biggest sports story in a decade is important - overwhelming in fact for one day this week - but hardly the entire story.

When you're here mingling on the lawn, all the headlines fade. Yes, Tiger is still on everyone's mind, but not always front-and-center. You're catching up with former champions and talking subtle changes. Like the greens at the first and sixth. They're never announced, yet players know. They walk onto the green, look at the lines they've drawn and go to work figuring out that next little shot they'll add to the bag.

Outside the gates, Washington Road is bustling. John Daly has a tent. Entrepreneurs are hawking everything from paintings to badges. Helicopters and planes buzz close to the no-fly zone. Somewhere - you know it -- the paparazzi is waiting to pounce.

Inside, patrons scurry through the pro shop grabbing up 2010 souvenirs. Some line up for a photo in front of the clubhouse. Other snap pictures of photographers taking pictures.

Tiger is the buzz, but because of the future, not the past. He's sporting a new attitude, a little facial hair and a game that's good enough to win. Forget what the talking heads are babbling. No one immerses himself in a round as well as Tiger. He focuses on the shots, the chess-like challenge. It's him against the golf course. Nothing else matters.

Here, on a course where he's won four times, it's about feel. About knowledge. About falling back into a comfort zone and doing what he's done so many times before. About letting the week play out.

It's the first step back for him. And, layoffs, surgeries and even broken legs haven't stopped him before.

Yet, this is also about guys like Freddie Couples, who is turning back the clock. He's as cool at 50 as he was at 30. He's as confident as he was in 1992 when he plopped down on the airplane to Augusta Monday morning and said he wasn't thinking about a practice round, but rather having enough chips and salsa for the NCAA Finals that night.

Could he win? Absolutely.

Ditto for the Englishmen - Lee Westwood, Paul Casey, Donald and Ian Poulter, all of whom would like to become the first to win in 13 years. Yes, the last one was Faldo in 1996. Or South Africa's Ernie Els, who has started the year with two wins. Or Padraig Harrington. Or Adam Scott, who's coming on strong. Don't forget about David Duval.

It's also about the Molinari brothers - Edorado and Francesco. About whether two-time Masters champ Phil Mickelson will straighten out what's frustrated him so far this year. About Matt Kuchar and K.J. Choi, who'll share the spotlight with Tiger Thursday.

About the Par-3. Is it really a curse to win it? Or will someone finally put an end to the discussion and win both?

And finally, before anyone steps to the tee and tries to settle his nerves, before the cameras take aim on Tiger's every move, Augusta has a little something in mind to make remember that coming back here every year really is about old times.

Not so long ago, Gene Sarazen, Byron Nelson and Sam Snead met at the first tee every Thursday to hit the opening tee shots. Nelson stepped away and Sarazen and Snead played on - a ceremonial nine holes.

Tomorrow, Augusta gives us another opening moment to remember - Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus hitting the ceremonial opening shots. Strange yes, because they were still winning not so awfully long ago. But good. Comfortable. Just like a seat on the clubhouse veranda.

We'll tell stories about Arnie's charge and Jack's sixth. But mostly we'll reflect on how no matter how many things change at Augusta, it still has the feel of old times.