<p>Gary Player isn't ready to quit.</p><p>The 69-year-old, three-time Augusta champion was back on the course Wednesday, getting ready for his 48th Masters and eyeing the longevity record held by Arnold Palmer.</p><p>After practicing in a group that included Jack Nicklaus, Charles Coody and amateur Ryan Moore, Player was asked how much longer he intended to play at Augusta National.</p><p>"One more than Arnold," Player replied, meaning he'll need to keep going through 2008. "We're all competitive, always have been, and we've always been great friends. He's played the most, and I'd like to beat him."</p><p>The 67-year-old Coody has no such plans. The 1971 winner hopes to play one more Masters after this one, then call it quits.</p><p>"The hills are getting taller, the holes are getting longer and I'm getting shorter," Coody said. "That doesn't add up to a good number."</p><p>The Masters gives a lifetime exemption to anyone who wins the tournament, though the club was criticized a few years ago for gently encouraging older players such as Doug Ford and Gay Brewer to quit playing.</p><p>This year's field also includes Ray Floyd, 62; Nicklaus, 65; Tommy Aaron, 68; and Billy Casper, 73, who's back in the field after sitting out the last three years.</p><p>Spain's Seve Ballesteros is only 47, but he hasn't played well in years and decided to sit out the Masters for the second year in a row.</p><p>___</p><p>TOUR WINNERS RETURN? For years, a win on the PGA Tour meant a trip to the Masters. That policy could be making a comeback.</p><p>Augusta National chairman Hootie Johnson said Wednesday the club may reconsider its qualifying procedures, which removed the automatic invitation for tour winners beginning with the 2000 Masters.</p><p>"We will give serious consideration to the possibility of tournament winners receiving an invitation," Johnson said during his annual pre-Masters news conference. "This will probably be a couple of years off."</p><p>Eight Tour winners from the past year didn't qualify for the Masters: Joey Sindelar, Jonathan Byrd, Vaughn Taylor, Woody Austin, Bart Bryant, Brent Geiberger, Andre Stolz and Heath Slocum.</p><p>Since the change was made _ giving more weight to yearlong performance through the world rankings and the PGA Tour money list _ the number of non-American players has risen dramatically. In 1999, there were 29 foreign-born players in the 96-player field for the last Masters that included tour winners. This year, it's 44 out of 93 _ a nearly 52 percent increase.</p><p>But Augusta National has always striven for a worldwide feel to its signature event, so there's no concern about having nearly half the field comprised of non-American players.</p><p>"The fact that international players have qualified in great numbers would not be a factor in re-evaluating our qualifications," Johnson said.</p><p>___</p><p>PAR-3 CONTEST: The "Par-3 Jinx" is assured of lasting another year.</p><p>Jerry Pate won the par-3 contest Wednesday at 5-under par, the highlight of an always-entertaining event that featured holes-in-one by Ben Crenshaw, Raymond Floyd and amateur Luke List.</p><p>Pate, the 1976 U.S. Open champion, took part in the event as one of the non-competing invitees to the Masters. Anyone who has won a U.S. Open, British Open, PGA Championship, U.S. Amateur or British Amateur can attend the Masters, play practice rounds and take part in the lighthearted tournament held on the club's nine-hole, par-3 course.</p><p>The par-3 winner has never gone on to win the Masters _ and he won't this year, either.</p><p>Crenshaw had his hole-in-one at the 70-yard second, while List aced the 115-yard seventh and Floyd knocked in his tee shot on the 135-yard ninth.</p><p>"I hit it real close, about a foot past, and it spun back in," Floyd said. "It was a real nice way to finish the day."</p><p>Crenshaw finished one stroke behind Pate.</p><p>___</p><p>DIVOTS: Ernie Els has a new golf bag for the Masters. Some large raccoons got into his garage in Orlando, Fla., making a mess of his old bag. "I must have had some food in there," Els quipped. ... Free-spirited Englishman Ian Poulter sure stood out during his practice round: lime-green shirt, matching hat and belt, and plaid pants crisscrossed in orange, black and a dash of green. "Maybe I'll wear another shade of green on Sunday," Poulter said, a not-so-subtle reference to the winner's green jacket.</p>
