I had the pleasure of broadcasting one of the greatest games played in Allen Fieldhouse on Feb. 27: Kansas vs. Oklahoma State. About two and a half hours before the game, my partner, Jimmy Chavez, and I got a chance to talk with one of our favorite broadcasters — Verne Lundquist.

He told us about his favorite college basketball venues, including Allen Fieldhouse.

I also asked Lundquist what his next golf assignment would be because I had not heard him all year long.

“My first golf tournament this year won’t come until Augusta,” Lundquist said.

Wow, you could do a lot worse for the first golf assignment of the year. But Lundquist is surely as good as it gets when it comes to golf.

Today, the 68th Masters Tournament begins play at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga. This weekend, 93 players will have the opportunity to play for the coveted green jacket in the season’s first major tournament event, and Phil Mickelson is ready to defend it.

Other than Lefty, the favorites this week are the rest of the Big Four: Tiger Woods, Ernie Els and the world’s top player, Vijay Singh. Last year’s tournament will be a tough act to follow. The lovable loser, the Chicago Cub of golf, Mickelson broke his curse and won his first major tournament title. It didn’t come without drama, either. He drained an 18-foot birdie putt on the 72nd green and won the Masters by one stroke.

Mickelson is heading into the first round of a major tournament as the defending champion for the first time of his career, and he is not trying to change anything from last year. Mickelson said that returning to the Masters this year as the defending champion would be a special feeling.

“When I walk on the premises knowing that I’ll be back every year for the rest of my career, it’s a special feeling, to be part of the history,” Mickelson told the Associated Press.

Ernie Els remembers the 2004 Masters. Els finished second behind Mickelson, his second second-place finish in the last five Masters. He has finished in the top 10 in the last five Masters.

Els is coming into this year’s event playing some of the best golf of his career, and he is ready to win one of two majors that has eluded him. Vijay Singh, 2000 Masters champion, is playing in his first major tournament as the world’s top-ranked player, and he knows it.

“I’m pretty comfortable with the position that I’m in. I should be, you know?” Singh told the Associated Press. “What could be better? I’m here at the Masters, best player in the world right now and ready to go win another one.”

And then there’s three-time Masters champion Tiger Woods, the best golfer in the game for the past eight years.

Woods hasn’t won a major tournament since the 2002 U.S. Open Championship, and he is ready to prove to the world that his “slump” is over. The stage is set for what will be another memorable tournament at Augusta National. Verne Lundquist will be in for a real treat this year, as he is every year in Augusta. So enjoy it, Verne, and have a great call.