• by June 22, 2001

The front nine at Augusta National no longer will be the best-kept secret in golf. The Masters is expanding its weekend TV coverage so all 18 holes can be broadcast during the final round.

"We know that many fans of the Masters want 18-hole coverage, and we expect the expanded broadcast to be consistent with the quality we have had in the past," Augusta National chairman Hootie Johnson said Thursday.

CBS Sports will televise the final two rounds for the 47th straight year.

Typically, the weekend at the Masters is televised from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. EDT on Saturday, and from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. EDT on Sunday.

The new contract with allow CBS to go an extra 30 minutes on Saturday to 6:30 p.m., with final-round coverage starting at 2:30 p.m. to pick up the leaders as they tee off.

The front nine of Augusta National is rarely seen in its entirety because the leaders are on the sixth hole when coverage begins.

Masters officials were not trying to keep that part of the course from being shown on television; they wanted to keep the telecast at three hours. The front nine was televised last year in the third round when the leaders teed off two hours late because of a storm delay.

The extra television coverage is the latest significant change under Johnson, who took over as chairman of Augusta National three years ago.

Since then Augusta has gone public with its charitable contributions; added rough and lengthened two holes (Nos. 2 and 17); and is in the process of toughening some of the par 4s for next year's tournament.

The additional TV coverage brings the Masters in line with the other three majors, which televise all 18 holes the final groups play.

The U.S. Open featured 6 hours of coverage for the final round, the PGA Championship had eight hours of coverage and the British Open typically has 4 hours of coverage.

The Masters traditionally is the highest-rated TV event in golf.

When Tiger Woods won the Masters in April for his fourth straight major, the final-round rating was 13.3, second only to the 14.1 rating in 1997 when Woods won the tournament by a record 12 shots to become its youngest champion.

While coverage will be expanded, Johnson said commercials will remain at only four minutes per hour.

"Minimal commercial interruption is an integral part of the Masters telecast," he said.