If today's final round is inconclusive and the Masters Tournament champion must be decided in a playoff, tournament Chairman Hootie Johnson is prepared.

On Wednesday, he announced the Masters would continue its sudden-death playoff format, but instead of beginning the extra holes on No. 10 and working down the back nine, the players will be carted to the 18th tee box to start the playoff. If the score still is knotted after they've finished on No. 18, the players will move to No. 10 and will rotate between 18 and 10 until a winner is crowned.

Retief Goosen (Stats | Bio) is satisfied with the new structure.

"All the playoffs should be like that," Goosen said.

"Since everybody is there waiting, why should we move the whole shebang?"

Impressive thoughts coming from a player who won the 2001 U.S. Open in a playoff that spanned 18 holes.

"If there's daylight left, the playoffs should be finished on the same day and be done," he said. "It should be decided right after the fourth round is over, straight away."

Said Stuart Appleby (Stats | Bio) : "It's the right format. Sudden-death is just cutthroat. I like the (four-hole playoff) idea of the British Open, but I don't know how you work that into every tournament you play. You can't expect 100,000 people to come here on a Monday. People have to go to work."

Mark O'Meara (Stats | Bio) has a different opinion. Although most golfers this week said they preferred the sudden-death format, O'Meara would like another structure in place.

"If I had to put my two cents in, I'd do a four-hole playoff like the British Open," said O'Meara, who beat Brian Watts in a playoff for the 1998 British Open.

"The problem is that time is not on their side. I know they'd have to tee off earlier, but what the heck."

Although the Masters is the only major that uses the sudden-death format - the British Open has a four-hole playoff; the PGA Championship has a three-hole playoff; and the U.S. Open uses an 18-hole playoff - that isn't likely to change.

One reason for Augusta National Golf Club's decision to start the playoff on No. 18 was so the fans who surround the 18th green on Sunday wouldn't have to pack their folding chairs and sprint toward the 10th and 11th holes to catch the end of the tournament.

"Playing the course seems to be the better option for me," Appleby said. "They are all strong holes. That's the tradition here. They've got cameras on every hole. It's not like we wouldn't know what's going on. If people want to walk, they'll walk."

O'Meara has another reason he'd like to end on 18. In the 1998 Masters, he birdied No. 18 to beat Fred Couples (Stats | Bio) and David Duval (Stats | Bio) by a stroke and win his only championship at Augusta.

"Certainly 18 is a worthy hole," said O'Meara, who bogeyed 18 on Saturday and finished the third round with a total of 2-over par 218. "Playing 18 as opposed to going right to 10 is probably a smart move."

Masters playoffs

There have been 12 playoffs in Masters history. The format was switched to sudden death in the 1970s, and the first one that started on No. 10 was in 1979.

1935: Gene Sarazen (144) def. Craig Wood (149) (36 holes)

1942: Byron Nelson (Stats | Bio) (69) def. Ben Hogan (70)

1954: Sam Snead (70) def. Ben Hogan (71)

1962: Arnold Palmer (Stats | Bio) (68) def. Gary Player (Stats | Bio) (71) and Dow Finsterwald (77)

1966: Jack Nicklaus (Stats | Bio) (70) def. Tommy Jacobs (72) and Gay Brewer (Stats | Bio) (78)

1970: Billy Casper (Stats | Bio) (69) def. Gene Littler (74)

1979: Fuzzy Zoeller (Stats | Bio) def. Tom Watson (Stats | Bio) and Ed Sneed with birdie on No. 11

1982: Craig Stadler (Stats | Bio) def. Dan Pohl with par on No. 10

1987: Larry Mize (Stats | Bio) def. Greg Norman and Seve Ballesteros (Stats | Bio) with birdie on 11

1989: Nick Faldo (Stats | Bio) def. Scott Hoch with birdie on No.11

1990: Nick Faldo (Stats | Bio) def. Ray Floyd with par on No. 11

2003: Mike Weir (Stats | Bio) def. Len Mattiace (Stats | Bio) with bogey on 10

Reach Josh Katzowitz at (706) 823-3216 or josh.katzowitz@augustachronicle.com.