Brett Quigley Blog: Picking the brain of a legend

It was no coincidence that Masters rookie Brett Quigley wore all black during his practice round on Monday. He got the chance of a lifetime and played with -- and picked the brain of -- the legendary Gary Player.

Editor's note: Brett Quigley will be writing a daily blog this week for PGATOUR.com as he plays in his first Masters Tournament. The Masters rookie played a practice round on Monday with Gary Player, who is making his 50th appearance at Augusta National.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- I'd met Mr. Player a couple of times through my uncle Dana, and it was really kind of him to play with me today. I wore black, and as soon as I walked on the range, he said, "I like the outfit." I said, "I did it for you, Gary." So that was nice. But I have to admit I was a little nervous on the first tee this morning. The fact that he's playing in his 50th Masters is unbelievable. He got an ovation on every tee, especially around Amen Corner. It was incredible. All the people all stood and clapped for him there. It was really special. Gary had to go do a press conference at noon, so he ended up playing the first 14 holes with us. It was really something. Literally, every hole he stood there and he told me: You know, you have to hit it here, you have to putt it from here, you can't hit it here. And that's something that I couldn't do just going around playing a practice round -- even playing for a week, you couldn't get all that stuff. He'd say, this is what I did when I beat Palmer, this is what I did when Palmer beat me, whatever it was. The wealth of knowledge, his enthusiasm for the game, still, at this stage, and for life, is just amazing. He's got incredible energy and is always up, always positive. Today was a special experience.

I was wearing a wireless microphone on the back nine because I'm hosting Tuesday's edition of "INSIDE the PGA TOUR." I was pretty conscious of the mike over the first few holes but I never really thought about it after that. So it will be interesting to see how much they have to bleep out -- just kidding. I think I was pretty good. But this is a pretty amazing place. I mean, everything about it, it just lives up to its billing. Not many places can do that but this place does.

We teed off at 8 o'clock. The spectators were all waiting at the gates and kind of let loose when they opened. Just to see that energy was amazing. You could hear this hum. All of a sudden there were people everywhere. People are hurrying down to No. 12 to get a spot for the day. Not to mention, Tiger teed off right before us. There was a buzz all around the course. It definitely exceeded my expectations. For a Monday, it's unbelievable. I was here last Thursday to play a practice round, but with all the energy and the excitement, it was so different today. We came back last night with half of my entourage. We had eight last night, and another six or so are coming tomorrow. We're still trying to talk my uncle Dana into coming up. I think he'll be more nervous watching in person than he could stand -- not to mention, he would have to give up playing golf for a week, and he's not going to do that. That's a big sacrifice for him. So I know he'll be playing all morning at home and then he'll watch in the afternoon when the coverage comes on.

I'd have to say I was most surprised by the undulation of the course. You don't get a feel on TV of how much up-and-down there really is. From the 10th tee down to the green and walking down the 18th fairway, there are some pretty big slopes out there. Probably the second thing I noticed was that the greens are a lot smaller than they look on TV. The ninth green looks enormous and then when you walk on it, you go, where's the rest of it? I was also surprised at how long the course is playing. I mean, it seems to me I remember watching guys hitting, say, 3-wood and a pitching wedge at the seventh hole. Today I think I hit driver and a 7-iron. So I didn't expect it to have that much length overall, which is actually beneficial to me. The greens are pretty amazing, too. It's such a great golf course tee-to-green, and then when you get on the greens, that's when the challenge begins. You know, there are so many places where you could hit a pretty good second shot and have a really difficult two-putt. I am glad I was able to pick Gary's brain today.