Jose Maria Olazabal claims every time he sets foot inside the grounds of Augusta National he feels "blessed".

But the Spanish star, like so many others, is concerned what he might find when he returns there next week.

The Masters course has been stretched to 7,445 yards and Olazabal believes only about ten players will be happy about that - the ten longest hitters, of course.

"They have the biggest smile. From ear to ear, to be honest," said the 1994 and 1999 champion, who first of all will try to win the BellSouth Classic starting today in Atlanta - the event in which he lost a play-off to Phil Mickelson last year.

"It doesn't matter to me if they make the course 9,000 yards. The week is very special for me and I've done what I've done there. The two majors I've won, I won there. Golf has given me a lot and that place has given me most of it.

"I'm not going to complain about the course being that long, but they have to be sure they are going in the right direction.

"The boys that have played the course already say it's very, very tough. With all the lengthening some of the pin positions we played all through the years are not going to be accessible except maybe for ten players.

"Pretty much everybody agrees that the longer the golf course the better it is for the long hitters."

Asked how he thinks he might fare as a result, Olazabal added: "I've learnt not to think too far ahead. "I've done well there when I've played well the previous tournament and I've done well there playing badly before.

"And I've had the opposite - not doing well there when I've played well before. Like last year."

There were extenuating circumstances on that occasion, though. The play-off with Mickelson was late on the Monday because of rain delays.

"The practice rounds were a little rushed. Maybe I didn't have enough time to really mentally prepare myself for it." He shot 77-76 and so missed the cut by five strokes.

"It's a week where you have to go there with a calm attitude. It takes a lot out of you, you have to be patient and you have to really control how much energy you are using in the practice round."

Mickelson defends the BellSouth title against a field which includes not only Olazabal, but also Luke Donald, Padraig Harrington, David Howell, Ian Poulter, Justin Rose and Graeme McDowell.

Donald, Harrington and Howell are looking for a preMasters boost, but the other three have missed out on the first major of the season.

If ever there was a player who wants to pick up exactly where he left off at the Masters it is Donald.

Donald finished the strongest of anyone in the field, two eagles and two birdies in his last eight holes catapulting him into a tie for third place. In the previous 68 years there had been only four better performances by a Masters debutant.

It left the 28-year-old from High Wycombe eager for another chance. "You just get those moments when you feel like you are going to hit the shots how you want and nothing can go wrong," Donald said. "Coming third made it feel even more special."

Donald, who just two weeks earlier had finished joint second in the Players Champion-ship, was only one behind leader DiMarco after his opening 68.

A second-round 77 ruined his dream of becoming the first debutant winner since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979 - and he was the first since Gene Sarazen in 1935 - Donald came back with two 69s.

"You can always wonder 'What if?', but if someone had given me three rounds in the 60s on my debut I'd have taken it," he added. "The motto was 'Never give up'. I chipped in at the 11th, holed from about 20 feet on 13, chipped in again at the 15th and on 16 must have been close to a one."

Donald accepts stretching the course does him no favours, but his confidence is such that he stated: "I am going to have a chance on any course if I'm playing well. The extra length is going to make it harder, but accuracy is very important at Augusta."