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AUGUSTA, Ga. Daniel Jones Womens Jersey . -- One after another, some of the worlds best players and favourites to win the Masters trudged up the hill on the opening hole to start their practice rounds. Phil Mickelson. Rory McIlroy. Adam Scott. It was typical of any Tuesday at Augusta National, except for the scoreboard to the right of where they were walking. The board has the names of all 97 players in the field, with blank boxes to put their scores when the tournament begins. On the far right side of the board is a list of this years noncompeting invitees. Tommy Aaron. Doug Ford. Tiger Woods. "Its a weird feeling not having him here, isnt it?" said Phil Mickelson, a three-time Masters champion and the chief foil for Woods over the years. "Hes been such a mainstay in professional golf and in the majors. Its awkward to not have him here. I hope he gets back soon. I hope hes back for the other majors. As much as I want to win -- and I know how great he is and tough to beat -- it makes it special when hes in the field and youre able to win." Woods hasnt been the same all year, even before back surgery last week. He is missing the Masters for the first time. His presence looms as large as some of the Georgia pines lining the fairways, though it will be forgotten when the opening shot is in the air Thursday, and a green jacket is awarded Sunday. Even so, Woods brings a buzz to any tournament, even at Augusta National. And this year, his absence has brought talk of the most wide-open Masters in nearly 20 years. Las Vegas has installed Scott and McIlroy as the betting favourites at 10-1, followed by Mickelson, Jason Day and Matt Kuchar at 12-1. McIlroy had his own version of a betting sheet on the table where he sat during his interview -- the tee times for the opening two rounds. Told that 97 players were in the field, the 24-year-old from Northern Ireland figured 70 had a chance to win. "Theres a few past champions that play that might not be able to compete. There might be a few first-timers or a few amateurs that wont compete," McIlroy said. "But then youve got the rest. Im just looking down the list here. Stewart Cink. Tim Clark. Ian Woosnam -- no." The room filled with laughter as McIlroy smiled and said, "Sorry, Woosie," referring to the 56-year-old former champion. "Youve got a lot of guys that can win, a lot of guys that have won PGA Tour events," McIlroy said. "OK, were playing at Augusta. Because its the Masters and because its so big and so hyped up or whatever you want to say, you ought to remember that youre still playing against the same guys you play with week in and week out. "Ive beaten them before," he said. "Theyve beaten me before." The PGA Tour is 21 tournaments into the season, and only one player (Zach Johnson) won while he was in the top 10 in the world. McIlroy and Scott each had comfortable leads going into the final round and lost to players outside the top 100. "I think in the past, certainly thats been easy to go to events and look at a guy who is the guy to beat," Scott said, not naming Woods because he didnt need to. "I think that scope has kind of broadened now. Theres a lot of guys with the talent and the form that arent necessarily standing out above the others. But on their week, theyre going to be tough to beat. "Id like to think my name is one of those guys," Scott said. "And I feel like Im going to be one of the guys who has got a chance if I play well this week." Scott had one more occasion to wear his green jacket Tuesday night as host of the Champions Dinner. Then, he sets out in a bid to join Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Woods as the only players to win back-to-back Masters. For years, the Masters was seen as having the smallest group of contenders, and not just because it had the smallest field of the four majors. Augusta National is a puzzle that can take years to figure out. The roars that reverberate through the trees and from deep in Amen Corner on Sunday can be unsettling. Scott won two years after he was a runner-up. Jason Day has completed two Masters and has yet to finish worse than third. As for Mickelson? Theres no telling what he might accomplish next. Even though he has withdrawn from two tournaments with different injuries this year, Augusta invigorates the 43-year-old Mickelson. All of them would love to be near the top of the leaderboard Sunday afternoon. By then, no one will be thinking about anything except a green jacket. "No matter who is in contention or who is going to win this week, the Masters always provides a great finish," McIlroy said. "Regardless of who is there." Julian Love Womens Jersey . The stress, the waiting, the whispers about whether he doped during his stellar cycling career, all of it ended when - after nearly two years - federal prosecutors closed an investigation of him last week without bringing any charges. Michael Strahan Giants Jersey . And by all indications, the team is expected to select phenom Connor McDavid with their selection. The Buffalo Sabres, who were knocked down to the second overall pick after finishing with the worst regular season record, are expected to take the other generational player in Jack Eichel. http://www.authenticnygiantspro.com/Darius-slayton-giants-jersey/ . As TSN reported Thursday, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport is under intense pressure from the federal government to focus drug testing on athletes who compete in international events representing Canada. Since funding for the tests has been frozen and the cost of testing can eclipse $1,000 per test, university athletes in a number of sports are being tested less often.PITTSBURGH (8-5) at ATLANTA (5-8)Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBSOPENING LINE — Steelers by 1 1/2RECORD VS. SPREAD — Pittsburgh 6-7, Atlanta 7-6SERIES RECORD — Steelers lead 12-2-1LAST MEETING — Steelers beat Falcons 15-9, OT, Sept. 12, 2010LAST WEEK — Steelers beat Bengals 42-21; Falcons lost to Packers 43-37AP PRO32 RANKING — Steelers No. 11, Falcons No. 23STEELERS OFFENSE — OVERALL (2), RUSH (8), PASS (2).STEELERS Defence — OVERALL (19), RUSH (9), PASS (23).FALCONS OFFENSE — OVERALL (8), RUSH (23), PASS (5).FALCONS Defence — OVERALL (32), RUSH (21), PASS (32).STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES — Falcons are assured of second straight non-winning season, but lead NFC South with a tiebreaker edge over New Orleans (5-8). If Atlanta wins out, it would win division and host first-round playoff game. ... Steelers are half-game behind Cincinnati in AFC North. ... Pittsburgh RB LeVeon Bell has three straight games of at least 200 yards of total offence, joining Walter Payton aas only players in NFL history to accomplish feat. Daniel Jones Jersey. ... Falcons tied for last in league with just 15 sacks. Osi Umenyiora and Kory Biermann share team lead with minuscule 2 1/2 sacks apiece. This would be a good week to turn those numbers around. Steelers can be vulnerable to strong rush, having allowed 31 sacks. ... After three subpar games, Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger threw for three touchdowns in last weeks victory over Bengals, including a 94-yarder to Martavis Bryant. Roethlisberger guides NFLs second-rated passing offence against leagues lowest-ranked pass defence. ... Two of past three games between teams have gone to overtime. They settled for a 34-34 tie in 2002 after failing to score in extra period, and Steelers won 15-9 in 2010 season opener on Rashard Mendenhalls 50-yard touchdown run. In between, Falcons won another tight game, 41-38 in 2006.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL ' ' '