Masters Changes Ex-Champ Policy

In a rare reversal, Augusta National Golf Club on Monday scrapped its policy banning former champions from playing in the Masters after they turn 65, instead allowing them to play as long as they feel competitive.

“We will count on our champions to know when their playing careers at the Masters have come to an end,” Chairman Hootie Johnson said.

Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, who have 10 green jackets between them and are the only Masters champions who are members at Augusta National, convinced Johnson to abandon his policy.

The Masters gives its champions a lifetime pass to play in the tournament, but Johnson became increasingly upset when some of them withdrew after the first round, or sometimes after playing only one hole.

The policy was to start in 2004.

Palmer, 73, plans to play next week in the Masters and also next year, which would give him 50 appearances in the major.

“I had it in the back of my mind ... that I want to play competitively in the Masters for 50 years,” Palmer said in a statement. “I am personally very pleased that will be possible now that the matter has been resolved as I hoped it would be.”

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Kirk Triplett’s closing round of 67 wasn’t just for show at The Players Championship. It got him into the Masters.

Triplett tied for eighth and earned just enough points to move up to No. 49 in the world rankings. The top 50 are invited to Augusta National. Jay Haas and Chad Campbell qualified by finishing among the top 10 on the PGA Tour money list after The Players Championship.

Monday’s additions put the field at 94 players for the Masters, to be played April 10-13.

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Martha Burk contends she was misunderstood when she said the all-male membership at Augusta National was an affront to women in the armed forces.

Burk, chairwoman of the National Council of Women’s Organizations, drew criticism for invoking the Iraq war in her efforts to admit women to the club.

She explained Monday she was trying to compare women returning from war and facing discrimination to the way blacks who fought in World War II came back to face segregation.

“Women are defending democratic values,” Burk said. “Those values don’t include discrimination. This same discussion took place during World War II. I don’t understand the criticism for us pointing out the truth.”

Jurisprudence

Kirby Puckett denied dragging a woman into a restaurant bathroom and groping her, testifying at Minneapolis that he had offered only to escort her there.

The Hall of Famer gave a markedly different account from that of his accuser on what happened Sept. 5 in a suburban Eden Prairie restaurant.

The woman testified last week that the former Minnesota Twin star forced her into a men’s room stall and grabbed her breast, causing bruises on her breast, arm and ankle.

The defense rested its case Monday. The case is expected to go to the jury Wednesday.

Pro Football

Free-agent defensive tackle Jeff Zgonina signed a four-year deal with the Miami Dolphins. Zgonina spent the last four seasons with the St. Louis Rams, the last three starting at defensive tackle.

Fullback Sam Gash agreed to a deal with the Bills, returning to Buffalo after spending the previous three seasons in Baltimore.

Tennis

Ansley Cargill ousted third-seeded Patty Schnyder, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, in the first round at the Sarasota Clay Court Classic in Florida.... Second-seeded Rita Grande advanced to the second round of the Grand Prix de SAR at Casablanca, Morocco, beating Adriana Serra Zanetti, 6-3, 7-5.

Changes in the tennis calendar mean that the Pacific Life Open at Indian Wells and the Nasdaq-100 Open in Key Biscayne, Fla., will be pushed ahead a week in March for at least the next two years. In 2004, the Miami event will run March 24-April 4, and Indian Wells starts the week of March 8 and ends March 21.