“You don’t have time to daydream, which I usually do on golf courses.”

That’s Bubba Watson’s take on Augusta National. Watson, a Masters rookie, has played the course a couple of times over the years, but never under tournament conditions. “It’s totally different,” he said yesterday afternoon. “In the old days I was hitting pitching wedge into 17. Today it was an 8-iron. I used to hit pitching wedge or lob wedge into No. 7. Now it’s a 7-iron from 185.”

And Bubba, if you need reminding, led the PGA Tour in driving distance in 2007 with an average of 315.2 yards.

“On 18,” he continued, “a lot of the guys aren’t getting it up the hill and around the dogleg. They’re having a dogleg on their SECOND shot. That’s kind of different.”

“The course hasn’t dried out yet,” Watson added. “It will firm up.”

Bubba’s take on the televising of today’s par-3 tournament: “It’s a good idea because it’s something the fans love to watch. It shows that the players are having fun, even though we sometimes look serious and mad when we’re playing.”

Watson planned to play the par-3 with Aaron Baddeley and Woody Austin, a couple of daydream believers. (Update: He played the par-3 round with Baddeley, J.B. Holmes and Padraig Harrington)

(Photo: Robert Beck/SI)