In the field

FRIENDLY ROUND: The man believed to be the oldest rookie in Masters Tournament history is making up for lost time.

Randal Lewis, 54, played a spur-of-the-moment practice round with three-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson last week and has another lined up this morning with Tom Watson, a two-time Masters champ.

The financial planner from Alma, Mich., said Watson’s run at the 2009 British Open title at 59 served as an inspiration as he won last year’s U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, which was his ticket into the Masters.

Lewis is still on “cloud nine” after playing with Mickelson at Augusta Nat­ional. They met for the first time last Tuesday on the range.

“He just walked by after we were done hitting balls and said, ‘Hey, you got a game tomorrow?’ and I said no, ” Lewis said. “He said, ‘You want to play?’ and I said, ‘Oh yeah, definitely.’ ”

“He couldn’t have been nicer. He took the time to show me around the greens and said, ‘I want to show you this and I want to show you that,’ ” Lewis said. “I don’t think there is anybody else on the PGA Tour, a week before the Masters, who would reach out to an amateur like that.”

Lewis turns 55 on May 8, so he will be the first Mid-Amateur champion to play in the U.S. Senior Amateur (for golfers 55 and older) a year after winning the Mid-Am title, which is for golfers 25 and older.

Now Lewis gets to play with Watson this morning.

“I got my (Masters) invitation Christmas Eve, which was the best Christmas present I ever got,” Lewis said. “I wrote him a letter that night and mailed it out the day after Christmas. He wrote me back and said, ‘8 o’clock a.m. first tee, Augusta National, Monday, April 2, be there.’”

TOP OF THE WORLD: Matt Kuchar won’t be surprised if he’s paired with Luke Donald, the world’s No. 1-ranked player, in the first two rounds.

It would be the third consecutive year the former Georgia Tech star has played the first two rounds of the Masters with the No. 1-ranked player. In 2010, Tiger Woods was in Kuchar’s group. Last year, he was paired with Martin Kaymer.

Pairings will be released Tuesday.

“I never really thought about it, other than those are some good guys to play with,” Kuchar said Sunday.

TOUGH SHOT: After his first visit to Augus­ta National in early March, Keegan Bradley left the grounds shaking his head about the 495-yard 10th hole.

“The second shot is the hardest second shot to a par-4 that I’ve ever seen,” the PGA Championship winner and Masters rookie said.

In his March practice round with Mickel­son and Dustin Johnson, Bradley said, he was on the downslope off the tee, not the flat area at the bottom. That made the second shot even tougher.

“You have to be so precise,” he said. “If you miss long anywhere, you’re in big trouble. If the pin is on the right and you’re right, you’re in big trouble.”

MASTERS HOSPITALITY: A new hospitality venue at Augusta National Golf Club will be partially open for this year’s Masters.

Berckmans Place, which will offer food and beverages in an air-conditioned venue to watch golf, is inside the club’s back entrance at Gate 9 on Berck­mans Road. It is a short walk from the fifth and 13th greens.

The facility was set to open next year, but an Augusta Na­tion­al spokesman said “a portion” will be in operation this year.

Badges granting access to the venue won’t be available to the general public.

MIZE’S MILESTONE: Larry Mize can’t believe it has been 25 years since he became the only Augusta native to win the Masters.

“Wow, it still feels good,” he said Sunday before a practice round with his son, Robert. “It’s great to be back, as always. It’s just amazing that it’s 25 years. That’s a long time. It doesn’t seem like that long.”