After I returned from the Masters last month I wrote an open letter to Billy Payne, the chairman of Augusta National, suggesting that the set up of the course had been made too difficult and that something of the tournament's unique qualities had been lost as a result. In particular I said that the lack of atmosphere on the Sundays of 2007 and 2008 was not good for the tournament.

It has always been said that the Masters only begins over the back nine on Sunday. These used to be the days at Augusta when cheers echoed through the pines as the crowds acknowledged the last nine surge of Jack Nicklaus in 1986, say, or Phil Mickelson in 2004.

Used to be are the operative words. There was no similar noise on Sunday of the 2007 Masters or the Sunday of this year's event. The length of the course and its difficulty when a wind was blowing made the tournament seem like a US Open. In fact, I said in my letter that golf did not want two US Opens, one in April and another in June.

I knew that mine was a common view and this was endorsed when I spoke to a leading European Tour player recently. "I entirely agree with you but I couldn't possibly say so in public" he said.

Now comes good news from an unexpected quarter suggesting that our views have been noticed . "I hear the club might be making some changes next year to give us a break," a player wrote on his website. "We'll see what happens."

Thanks Tiger.