The Masters has been around for 77 years.

I've been writing this pre-Masters column for ESPN's Best Ball Challenge for five of those 77 years. I don't know whether it qualifies as "a tradition like no other," but I do know that if I'm putting fingers-to-keyboard in March, that means spring is here and the best golfers in the world are heading to Augusta National to play in the first major of the year.

In 2010, international players dominated the final three majors, with Graeme McDowell (Northern Ireland), Louis Oosthuizen (South Africa) and Martin Kaymer (Germany) each winning his first major championship. The Masters was the one tournament at which victory decided to buy American, with Phil Mickelson winning his third green jacket in emotional fashion.

Before we talk about the quest for the most stylish emerald blazer this side of the Lucky Charms leprechaun, let's talk about how the ESPN Best Ball Challenge works. The point of the game is to assemble a fearsome foursome of golfers who will work together to post the best round possible using "best ball" rules. Basically, your four players' scorecards are combined, and you get the lowest score of any of your four players on each hole. So if three of your pros bogey Amen Corner's devious par-3 12th, and the other one drops his tee ball in the hole for an ace, you get credit just for the hole-in-one and the bogeys are forgiven. Also, you have a budgetary limit of 50 million fantasy bucks to spend on your active roster, so you can't simply load up on as many top players as you want. Go over your budget, and you get no credit... MORE