AUGUSTA, Ga. — It's easy to get carried away with Tiger Woods at Augusta National, or any other place, for that matter. Will he win a fifth green jacket? Will he get started on a Grand Slam?

But let's not forget another guy who knows his way around Bobby Jones' layout.

Over the last four years, Phil Mickelson has more Masters wins (two) than Woods (one). As play started today, Lefty probably has the best chance of anyone to stop Woods' seemingly inevitable march to a fifth title here.

Clear skies at dawn gave way to a soupy fog that allowed Arnold Palmer one small piece of satisfaction: He can say that his ceremonial tee shot traveled so far he never saw it land. The fog was so thick that visibility was only about 200 yards, leading to a delay of at least 30 minutes.

"As a matter of fact, it went out of sight," Palmer said with a smirk.

But even the King, who left for Latrobe, sensed an anticipation about this Masters.

"There's a lot of enthusiasm. You can see it and feel it," he said. "The golf course is going to be difficult early. Today is going to tell us a lot about the week."

Mickelson certainly feels at home at a course where he sank an 18-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to claim his first major championship in 2004, and followed it up with another green jacket two years ago.

"I love this tournament," he said, "and I love when I get here, how you don't have to be perfect."

He's describing his own game, of course, a perplexing mix of brilliant shots and indefensible gaffes. This is the guy who will attempt swings in the heat of a tournament that no one else would even try on the practice range. This is also the guy who said this about himself, "I'm such an idiot," after throwing away the 2006 U.S. Open and losing a chance to go for a Grand Slam of his own.

Which brings us to Augusta, as pristine a spot as you'll find on the planet, but pocked with all sorts of idiosyncrasies that reward creativity as much as consistency. Back when he was still the best player never to win a major, Mickelson always felt this would be the tournament where he broke through.

"You have to be able to miss it on the proper sides of the greens, and you have to have a great short game," Mickelson said, describing himself to a T.