Henley is in his first Masters but has played Augusta National an estimated 10 times. (Badz/PGA TOUR)

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Nicolas Colsaerts and Russell Henley are among the 17 first-time Masters participants this week.

But this isn't the first time they've played Augusta National, however.

Colsaerts came here about a month ago. Henley, a Macon, Ga., native and University of Georgia product, has played about 10 rounds here through the years he estimates.

Still, this week is different. Both shared their early experiences and impressions on Monday.

"Coming to the golf course this morning (I was surprised) how many people were trying to get in," said Colsaerts, only the second player from Belgium to play in the Masters. "Course‑wise, it's so much more subtle than I thought. You think that after watching it for so many years, you have an idea of what it's going to be like, but everything is accentuated by a thousand times. Obviously the first time you walk around Amen Corner is quite special.

"Everything you look around, the first time you walk through the clubhouse and you get to see this piece of land in front of you, just how green it is, how clean it is everywhere, underneath the trees, I don't think there's any place like this."

Henley, meanwhile, drove in from Charleston, S.C. on Sunday night. When he arrived, he bumped into three-time Masters champ Phil Mickelson and his caddie Jim "Bones" Mackay in the parking lot. When he got inside, Ben Crenshaw was in line ahead of him to register for the tournament.

Asked who he'd like to play a practice round with, Henley mentioned Crenshaw's name and Tom Watson. The pro shop gave Henley Watson's phone number and the two teed it up on Monday along with Nathan Smith.

What advice did Watson give Henley?

"Just little stuff, like No. 1, we talked about how he thinks the center of the green there is a great play," Henley said. "And how when he was first walking the course and learning it, he found out very quick to not go left on that hole at any of the pins, and hit a lot of chips from the right.

"No. 4, when the pin is on the front left, he said, 'Don't ever hit it in the right bunker.' Just good, simple knowledge to just kind of go by. I feel a lot more confident knowing what he had to say."

And a little richer after apparently getting in Watson's pocket.

"It was crazy to me, you've got a legend of the game standing right next to me. I kept (thinking) he's right there, and he's sitting there asking me about my family, talking to me about how to help me with the TOUR and giving me advice," Henley said. "I'll always remember today and being in his group.

"We played some skins. Nathan won the most, but I won a few. Definitely had a few moments with him out there, but yeah, he was paying up."

Colsaerts is just the third player from Belgium to play in the Masters (Redington/Getty Images)

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Nicolas Colsaerts was hanging around the clubhouse at The Bear's Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., last week when someone noticed Jack Nicklaus Jr. in the room and asked him what advice he would give to someone playing his first Masters.

Nicklaus Jr., on the bag for his father Jack's win here in 1986, paused for a moments and said, "I would just talk to Dad."

Jack Jr. then turned to Colsaerts and asked if he'd like him to call the six-time Masters champion.

"I'm like, 'Yeah, if that's a possibility that would be awesome," Colsaerts exclaimed. An hour later, Colsaerts and the Golden Bear were having lunch.

What did the 30-year-old Belgian making his first trip down Magnolia Lane learn from Nicklaus?

Plenty.

"It's funny how when I spoke to Jack about the place, I felt like I had the place, you know, pretty good screened up for somebody that's never played here," he said. "So if you add some of the useful information he's given me, it's actually given me quite a confidence boost."

The last player to win the Masters in his first appearance was Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979. He is one of just three players to have done so (Gene Sarazen and Horton Smith were the others).

"We pretty much spoke about every hole," Colsaerts said. "He told me about a few pin positions and a few shots that you might need to hit and the ones you don't want to hit.

"Usually when you play courses, you don't really think about the shots you don't want to hit; not as much as here. Here, it takes such a bigger part of your tactical approach to the course."

MARANA, Ariz. -- Matt Kuchar birdied three of his first four holes and never looked back as he beat Nicolas Colsaerts.

Kuchar was 2 up after that early run, then won the seventh hole with a par and got up and down from beside the green at the par-5 eighth. His lead at the turn, though, was 3 up after he couldn't save par at No. 9.

The two opponents halved the next five holes with two birdies and three pars. When Colsaerts missed the green at the 15th hole along with a 9-footer for par, Kuchar had the win.

"I feel really good," Kuchar said. "Got off to a great start, birdied 1, 3, 4, and kept things going really well, put the pressure on. I tried not to give any holes away. Excited about the way I'm playing and looking forward to this afternoon."

Kuchar has reached the consolation final and quarterfinals the last two years. His record is now 12-3.

SCORECARD STATS: Kuchar made six birdies and two bogeys. Colsaerts made two birdies and two bogeys.

HOLES WON: Kuchar won six holes. Colsaerts won two holes.

NEXT OPPONENT: Robert Garrigus, who beat Fredrik Jacobson 3 and 1

MARANA, Ariz. -- There were a lot of red numbers posted in this match as Colsaets took down his Ryder Cup teammate. Interestingly, though, the only eagle was made by Rose, who gives up about 17 yards off the tee to Colsaerts, the No. 2-ranked player in driving distance on TOUR this year at 307 yards.

Rose drew first blood when Colsaets made his only bogey of the day at the first hole. But the Belgian evened the match with a 6-foot birdie putt on the second hole and never trailed again.

Colsaerts won three straight holes starting at No. 5 with two pars and his second birdie to take a comfortable 3-up lead. Rose then made a 14-footer for birdie at No. 9 and the 12-footer for eagle at No. 11 to get back to 1 down.

Rose made his fourth bogey of the day at No. 12, though, and Colsaerts' lead grew. He put his approach at No. 14 to 28 inches for the 3-up advantage and won the 16th with a par to end the match.

Colsaerts, who also beat Rose last year in the Volvo World Matchplay, feels his length will be an advantage this week.

"There's a couple of corners, a couple of carries I can take on, and if it works out, I have much shorter irons into greens than some of the other guys," he said. "So if I'm on, I'm going to give myself a lot of birdie tries.  Obviously match play you want to hole a few. And if that happens, you're probably going to come out on top."

SCORECARD STATS: Colsaerts made six birdies and one bogey.  Rose made four birdies, an eagle and five bogeys.

HOLES WON: Colsaerts won seven holes. Rose won three holes.
 
QUICK RECAP: There were a lot of red numbers posted in this match as Colsaets took down his Ryder Cup teammate. Interestingly, though, the only eagle was made by Rose, who gives up about 17 yards off the tee to Colsaerts, the No. 2-ranked player in driving distance on TOUR this year at 307 yards.

Rose drew first blood when Colsaets made his only bogey of the day at the first hole. But the Belgian evened the match with a 6-foot birdie putt on the second hole and never trailed again.

Colsaerts won three straight holes starting at No. 5 with two pars and his second birdie to take a comfortable 3-up lead. Rose then made a 14-footer for birdie at No. 9 and the 12-footer for eagle at No. 11 to get back to 1 down.

Rose made his fourth bogey of the day at No. 12, though, and Colsaerts' lead grew. He put his approach at No. 14 to 28 inches for the 3-up advantage and won the 16th with a par to end the match.

NEXT OPPONENT: Matt Kuchar, who beat Sergio Garcia 2 up in the second round.

MARANA, Ariz. -- Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium, a 10th seed, defeated American Bill Haas, a seventh seed, 5 and 4, in their first-round match at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship.

Colsaerts advances to play the Justin Rose-K.J. Choi winner in the second round of the Hogan bracket.

Colsaerts entered the day 3 up through eight holes. He parred all six of his holes Thursday. Meanwhile, Haas bogeyed the par-5 11th when he was forced to take a penalty stroke after an errant tee shot, then bogeyed the par-4 14th after a poor approach shot left him in the native area.

Haas had just one birdie against five bogeys on his scorecard.

"Bill didn't really play his best," Colsaerts said. "We've seen that. But I was just making sure that I was putting myself in position and maybe put a little bit of pressure on Bill. That seemed to have done the trick."

Colsaerts is making just his second appearance in this event. He lost in the first round last year but he won the Volvo World Match Play on the European Tour last year.

By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM

LA JOLLA, Calif. -- Nicolas Colsaerts made a name for himself at the Ryder Cup last September when he erupted for eight birdies and an eagle as he and Lee Westwood knocked off Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker.

The memory of what Colsaerts calls that "incredible" day never gets get old.

"Every time I think about it or I talk about it with friends of mine and everything, it's almost like I've got to pinch myself to realize what I've done,"  Colsaerts said.

Now it's time for the big-hitting Belgian to introduce himself to the PGA TOUR as he makes his debut as a member at Torrey Pines this week. He calls this point in his career "pretty exciting times."

The confidence Colsaerts gained that day at Medinah will certainly be a plus, but he says he didn't make the decision to play the PGA TOUR because of that performance.

"When you play golf professionally, you just want to play with the best," Colsaerts said. "You want to play on the biggest division -- just as much as when you play basketball, you want to play in the NBA. That's what you see on TV. It's what's exciting about the sport."

Colsaerts, who is a two-time winner in Europe, played eight events on TOUR last year with his best finish being the ties for seventh at the U.S. Open and Wyndham Championship. He's been very impressed with the condition of the courses, the pleasant weather and the way the players are treated which he calls "quite phenomenal."

Colsaerts, who is sure to attract attention after averaging 318 yards off the tee last year, says he feels like he's 15 years old again.

"I'm just very curious to see how I'm going to fit in, and how my game is going to evolve with the conditions of play over here, playing with probably the best players in the world week in and week out and on probably the best prepared courses there is ever,' Colsaerts said.
 
"So this is going to be pretty easy to raise up your game, considering you're playing in these fantastic conditions every week against good guys."

Colsaerts said he plans to spend his off weeks in West Palm Beach, Fla., a place many TOUR players -- Americans and ex-pats alike -- call home. He spent last week there getting ready for this early stretch of tournaments that will see the 30-year-old remain in the U.S. at least until after the Masters.

"I'm not going to base myself here yet," he said. "I have other things on my plate. I don't really want to waste time on looking for a place or anything like that. I've lived out of a suitcase for the last ten years of my life, and I'm quite happy doing so.
 
"It might take a bit more time to look around. I mean, this country is so big and it has so much to offer, it's difficult for somebody like me who hasn't really been everywhere to find out where I want to live. ... That's just going to work out good for me now."

Franklin/Getty Images

To preview the 2013 PGA TOUR season, PGATOUR.COM is counting down the Top 100 Players to Watch in 2013. For an archive page with the top 100 players and for an explanation on how the list was compiled, click here .

MORE TOP 100: Back to No. 34 | Forward to No. 32 | Top 100 archive

2013 PREVIEW: Nicolas Colsaerts posted a pair of top 10s in nine starts on the PGA TOUR in 2012, earning enough money as a non-member to finish among the top 125 on the money list to secure his card. The big-hitting man from Belgium has won twice on the European Tour in as many years, including the 2012 Volvo World Match Play where he beat Graeme McDowell in the finals, so he's proven to be a quick study.

2012 DEFINING MOMENT: This will be Colsaerts' first season on the PGA TOUR but the 30-year-old will hardly need an introduction to golf fans in the United States. Not after he made eight birdies and an eagle in his match with Lee Westwood as the two beat Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker in the Ryder Cup. –- Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM

ALBERS’ QUICK TAKE: Now here's a player that will be fun to watch in 2012. He averaged 315.2 yards per drive and made enough money for PGA TOUR membership in just nine events. Colsaerts has the rare combination of length and a good touch around the greens. -- Fred Albers, SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio

BOLTON’S FANTASY OUTLOOK: Having accepted membership in 2013 via the top 125 in non-member earnings, he'll be able to set his schedule. However, it remains to be seen what route he'll take as it concerns his agenda abroad. Gamers that have attended this rodeo before understand that it's one thing to emerge amid few expectations, but it's another to reset and do it all over again in the spotlight. I love his swagger, which is to say that he seems to have a short memory, and that's valuable in our world. If your salary game doesn't raise his minimum, plug him in at $677K and collect. -- Rob Bolton, PGATOUR.COM Fantasy expert

SOCIAL MEDIA: Find him on Twitter

2012 QUICK REVIEW

Regular Season ranking N/A

Final Playoffs ranking N/A

* -- Statistics unofficial because Colsaerts did not play enough qualifying rounds

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN

What is your prediction for Nicolas Colsaerts in 2013? Fill out the form below and let us know

By PGATOUR.COM staff

Five top international players will be joining the PGA TOUR for the 2013 season after playing as non-members in prior seasons.

Japan's Ryo Ishikawa, Belgium's Nicolas Colsaerts, Sweden's Peter Hanson and England's David Lynn have committed to the TOUR next year after qualifying through the top 125 non-member money list.

In addition, Germany’s Martin Kaymer is joining the TOUR through his five-year exemption as the 2010 PGA Championship winner.

Colsaerts, Hanson, Kaymer and Lynn will be considered PGA TOUR rookies in 2013. Ishikawa’s 2012 season is considered his rookie season as he played in more than 10 events after joining the TOUR as a Special Temporary Member on March 19.

Here’s a quick look at each player:

	NICOLAS COLSAERTS Belgium	Has made 11 starts on the PGA TOUR, nine in 2012. Has two top-10 finishes. Leads European Tour in driving distance
	PETER HANSON Sweden	Has made 45 starts on the PGA TOUR, 11 in 2012. Has seven top-10 finishes. Tied for third at this year’s Masters
	RYO ISHIKAWA Japan	Has made 44 starts on the PGA TOUR, 18 in 2012. Best finish on TOUR was second this year at Puerto Rico Open
	MARTIN KAYMER Germany	Has made 47 starts on the PGA TOUR, eight in 2012. Has two wins – 2010 PGA, 2011 WGC-HSBC Champions
	DAVID LYNN England	Has made two starts on the PGA TOUR. Finished second at the PGA Championship

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- One player can secure a  PGA TOUR card for the 2013 season without hitting a shot in this week’s Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Classic.

Special Temporary Member Nicolas Colsaerts has $677,011 in non-member earnings this season (a large chunk from seventh-place finishes at the British Open and Wyndham Championship), which puts him just over $57,000 inside the current No. 125 on the money list, Billy Mayfair.

While Mayfair is in the field (and without an exemption for 2013), Colsaerts is not. If Colsaerts’ earnings are equal to or better than whoever finishes 125th, he’ll earn a card for next year, presuming he wants one.

“When you get a chance to play this TOUR with all these players, the courses you play on on such a big stage, it would be stupid not to consider it,” Colsearts said last month at the Frys.com Open, his last start on TOUR. “I've always played in Europe for a lot of years. It's an unbelievable tour to play on and get your grades up, but once you get a taste of what the possibilities here are they get you pretty excited.”

A handful of other players in the same situation as Colsaerts, meanwhile, have already locked up that opportunity coming into this week (see chart).

*includes PGA TOUR and World Golf Championships official money events

As for Mayfair, he has just one top 10 in 27 starts this season. But he also hasn’t missed a cut since July, and he tied for sixth here a year ago, moving from 127th to 109th.

Laberge/Getty Images

Nicolas Colsaerts is 9 under through two rounds of the Frys.com Open.

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

Nicolas Colsaerts grew up in Belgium but soon might be playing in the United States on a regular basis.

“This is all new for me, but every bit of taste that I get when I come over here and play is wonderful,” he said. “It would be stupid to think that I wouldn't like to play over here.”

He’s moving closer to doing so, too.

Last week, Colsaerts accepted special temporary membership to the PGA TOUR -- meaning he is eligible to receive unlimited sponsor exemptions for the remainder of the season. He’s now hoping to turn that into a TOUR card for next season.

The Belgian has earned $652,886 in eight starts this season, which includes three World Golf Championships starts. To earn his card for next year, he needs to remain inside the top 125 on the 2012 money list (currently Jeff Maggert is 125th with $598,994).

Colsaerts was originally a sponsor exemption in the Frys.com Open but ended up getting in on his number after the last reshuffle on September 24.

Fast forward to this week’s Frys.com Open and Colsaerts is just another step closer to locking up his card for next year.

Colsaerts opened with a 65 and Friday shot 68 to get to 9 under and in contention for his first win on this side of the pond.

A victory would give Colsaerts a two-year exemption.

It’s also probably not the last time Colsaerts will be in contention, either. Despite growing up overseas, Colsaerts, whose great grandfather represented Belgium at basketball and water polo at the 1920 Olympics, says the courses in the U.S. suit his game better.

”The conditions of the courses are just unbelievable to what we're used to,” he said. “It's a kid's dream to play on courses as immaculate as these.”

How do you think Colsaerts would fare on TOUR? Discuss below.