Tiger Woods takes a drop at the 15th hole during Round 2 of the Masters. (AP)AUGUSTA, Ga. – Walking down the front veranda of the Augusta National clubhouse, Ernie Els was like everyone else here on a glorious Saturday morning, looking for the latest on Tiger Woods and his disputed drop on the 15th hole Friday.

As the sun rose over the famed course, most people expected Woods to be disqualified after he violated a drop rule on the 15th and then signed what turned out to be an inaccurate scorecard.

Instead, the Masters assessed him a two-shot penalty, allowing him to continue to play because tournament officials originally ruled the drop was fine. At that moment, however, Els was told that the ruling was based on intent. Confusion reigned everywhere.

"Did they change the rule?" Els, a four-time major championship winner, asked.

When offered further clarification, Els just broke into a smile, waved his hands in the air to signify "whatever" and walked off, chuckling.

[Masters 2013 leaderboard: See how Tiger Woods and others are doing]

And that

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Tianlang Guan approached his soon-to-be infamous second shot on the 17th fairway of Augusta National and found company. Ben Crenshaw's ball was a few yards back and to the right. Matteo Manassero's was a little ahead and to the left.

Which ball was which was, perhaps, confusing. Guan appeared concerned about violating one of golf's key rules: You can only play your own ball. The problem was, his ball landed with its logo face down into grass, making easy identification impossible.

Since another rule says you can't pick up or move the ball – even slightly – he crouched down multiple times, even going to all fours, in attempt to look under the ball and make sure he had the right one. Then he did it again, even if Crenshaw and Manassero expressed no such concern over where they landed.

The 14-year-old from China, the youngest player to ever compete in the Masters, was in position to do what many believed impossible – make the cut.

And he was

AUGUSTA, Ga. – John Paramor stood beside the 18th tee just moments after assessing a controversial one-stroke penalty for slow play to 14-year-old Chinese golfer Tianlang Guan and tried to explain his decision.

The British scoring official said he had advised Guan about slow play after both the 12th and 16th holes. When the eighth grader was again slow to hit a fairway shot on the 17th, Paramor, known for his diligence concerning slow play, immediately pounced. A player has 40 seconds to swing after initially addressing the ball.

"In keeping with the applicable rules, [Guan] was penalized … when he again exceeded the 40-second time limit by a considerable margin," the Masters said via a statement.

The ruling is a rare one in tournament golf and moved Guan to 4-over par, putting his chances to make the cut for the Masters – a remarkable accomplishment – in jeopardy. All Guan could do was wait as the final players trickled in, setting the cut line. When Jason Day

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Hongyu Liu had purchased a Masters tote bag, and early Thursday morning she dutifully filled it with supplies.

There was a small, blue insulated lunch box, which she decided would be good for keeping some juice boxes cold. There were a couple of energy bars, two bananas and a fresh towel, in case it rained. She also was carrying three umbrellas.

This was a mother's care package, a portable support system for Tianlang Guan, who was about to become the youngest Masters participant ever. For Hongyu, the idea her son might duff his first tee shot was not a concern. Everything else was.

"He forgets to eat," Hongyu said as she watched him take some final putts on the practice green of Augusta National. "He gets so focused he forgets. So I’m carrying this stuff."

Tianlang hails from Guangzhou, China. He qualified for the Masters last fall by winning the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship. He's a 5-foot-8, 140-pound prodigy who should be in an

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Whenever Jack Nicklaus is asked about the possibility of Tiger Woods surpassing his record of 18 major championships, it's common for The Golden Bear to shoot the slightest bit of trash talk.

It always starts positive:

"I still expect him to break my record. I think he's just too talented, too driven and too focused on that …"

And then winds up with a cautionary barb:

"… Still, he's got to do it."

Or later when Nicklaus was told it's been nearly five years since Tiger last won a major – the 2008 U.S. Open:

"Really?" Nicklaus said. "A bit further away. I mean it's been awhile. He's going to have to figure it out."

Or when Nicklaus notes the importance of seizing every opportunity, such as this very weekend at the Masters:

"If he doesn't figure it out here, I think it will be a lot tougher for him."

All good and harmless stuff from a 73-year-old who has no other means of defense. None of this was new when Jack broke into routine this week at

Tianlang Guan hits from the 15th tee during practice round play at Augusta National. (USAT Sports)AUGUSTA, Ga. – Tianlang Guan is 14 years old. Thursday he will compete as an amateur in the Masters, the youngest player in the event's history.

"I mean, this kid can't play high school golf," Tiger Woods said Tuesday. "He's not in high school yet."

Tianlang is 5-foot-9 and only about 140 pounds, although growing quickly. He can't drive the courtesy car given to all players for the week. He can only drive a golf ball around 250 yards. He was born in China after Tiger won his first Masters in 1997. It doesn't matter. Last fall he won the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship and earned an automatic bid here.

Did we mention he should be in the eighth grade?

The story is partly absurd, except Woods played a practice round with the kid and says he saw the future. The praise has been relentless across the course. The galleries have been huge during his practice rounds. Woods, who once hit golf balls on national television at age two, first met golf's latest prodigy in China at age

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Some want to say Tiger Woods is back – back to being happy, back to being comfortable in his own swing, back to a stable love life.

Others want to say nothing's changed, that he's still mostly ego, still putting out bold Nike commercials, still probably the same arrogant guy they enjoyed watching fall the first time around.

For most though, after all these years of watching Tiger's magical rise and this long winter of winless Masters – porn stars and Perkins waitresses aside – there is only one question that has eyes focused again on Augusta National: Can he win? Can he win right now? Can we please get to see that once-in-a-generation talent in full again?

"I feel comfortable with every aspect of my game," Tiger said Tuesday. "I feel that I've improved and I'm far more consistent."

It's a waste of time trying to hope Tiger will be what people want him to be because he never was what people wanted him to be. And even if he was, we wouldn't know it. And since

ATLANTA – The opening bars to One Shining Moment were echoing through the Georgia Dome, the first highlights kicking in on the huge screens in each end zone, and Joanne Pitino wasn't going to miss it without being by her husband's side.

So she ran through the Louisville Cardinals national championship confetti on the floor, took a spot next to Rick and threw her arms around him. Together, the two embraced, leaned on one another and looked up to enjoy the song. Thirty-seven years married and still celebrating the good times.

"I'm so proud of him," Joanne said. "Just so proud."

Louisville head coach Rick Pitino with his wife Joanne as the Cardinals celebrate. (AP)Soon her lips were pressed tight as she fought back welling tears at the entire deal, the swings of emotion of a forever day for the family.

Postgame, there was a bit of everything. There were moments of silliness and joy, such as Pitino laughing about how he was going to live up to a deal he made with his players about getting a tattoo if they won the national title. With an 82-76 victory over