Masters, Tiger Now Linked Via Video Game

   The Masters is coming to a video game near you.
 
   The tournament and Augusta National Golf Club will be featured in the new Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 game scheduled to hit the market on March 29. It is the first time the club has been included in a video game.

   The goal, according to Augusta National chairman Billy Payne, is to expand the game worldwide and to use the club's net proceeds from the game to help fund the Masters Trust Foundation, which invests in golf development programs worldwide.

   "Our desire to help grow the game of golf throughout the world is sincere, and it is that commitment that first led us to EA Sports more than three years ago," Payne said in a statement. "EA Sports, Tiger Woods and the PGA Tour have developed an extremely successful franchise that responds to one of the popular entertainment choices of kids today.

  "We hope our inclusion will foster an appreciation for the history and traditions of the Masters and inspire the next generation of golfers. Equally important is its ability to help further the mission of the Masters Tournament Foundation with the entirety of its proceeds."

   In his time as chairman, Payne was worked aggressively to expand the game worldwide, using the Masters as a way to help raise awareness and interest, particlarly among young people. By including the Masters in Woods' enormously popular video game, it's another way to reach a younger audience.

   It also speaks to Woods' status that Payne and Augusta National chose to work with him and EA Sports after the chairman's pointed remarks about Woods' behavior last spring following the scandal in his personal life.