Shhhh. Quiet please.

Do not utter a word. Suppress that urge to sneeze or cough.

And, most definitely, do not hit the shutter button on your camera.

That's the decorum that will be expected of the gallery when the world's best golfers tackle the Augusta National Golf Club at the Masters this week in Georgia.

Those who dare go against that rule of behaviour will undoubtedly find themselves sternly reprimanded by a marshal. Worst yet, a culprit could get a severe tongue-lashing from Tiger Woods.

The world's best player let loose with a profanity-filled rant as he walked off the par-3 ninth green during the final round of the recent World Golf Championships event in Miami.

"The next time a photographer shoots a f------ picture on my backswing, I'm going to break his f------ neck," Woods reportedly threatened.

Golfers, even duffers, have learned from day one that you are to remain quiet when someone is ready to hit their ball or attempt a putt. That tradition is exaggerated to the max on the pro tour and especially at the often-haughty country clubs where they perform.

Sports psychologists and others who have delved into the subject, believe pro golfers have become conditioned to allowing minor distractions to bother them.

One favourite argument is that a baseball player is asked to hit a ball travelling at 95 m.p.h. while fans are screaming and opposing players are chattering. Similarly, basketball players line up to sink a critical free throw while spectators behind the glass backboard are not only yelling, but waving towels or banging noisemakers.

Dr. Dana Sinclair, of Toronto-based Human Performance International, said the focus needed to hit a ball is no different in golf than in any other sport.

"In basketball (the PA system) is playing Kool and the Gang while the play is still going on and things are winging around in the stands," said Sinclair, a registered psychologist, who serves as a consultant for many pro athletes, sports teams and business organizations. "As a top-flight (basketball) player, you are used to this. It's a distraction for golfers only because they're not used to it."

Dr. Patrick Cohn, president and founder of Peak Performance Sports of Orlando, Fla., suggested that Woods' reaction might have had more to do with how he was playing than the clicking of the camera.

"When you're playing well and you're focused, I don't think those things bother you as much," he said. "But when you're not playing your best, you can find little things that distract or upset you. If you're completely dialled in, a gun could go off and you wouldn't hear it."

Woods was seeking his sixth consecutive PGA Tour victory, but his streak was snapped when he finished fifth behind Geoff Ogilvy.

Former Star sports reporter Michael Clarkson, who has written five psychology books, including Pressure Golf, finds irony in Woods' rant. "It's ironic because Tiger's father used to try to distract him as much as possible on the golf course; throwing a bag in front of him or yelling as he tried to putt," Clarkson said. "Tiger was able to block out all distractions, as all elite athletes are."

Clarkson said that if the rules were to be changed and professional golfers had to put up with cheering fans, they would soon adjust to it, just like baseball batters do every day against a pitcher like Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay.

Lyle Overbay, Halladay's teammate and an avid golfer, has no doubt that golfers could learn to hit the ball in a noise-filled setting given the opportunity to get used to the din.

"Absolutely," the first baseman said. "We've been doing it from day one and they've been doing the opposite from day one. It's something that might take a long time, though, for those guys who have been in the game for a while."

Overbay said once he steps up to the plate and stares out at the opposing pitcher he's able to block out all distractions.

"Not to dog Tiger Woods, because he does what he does and takes it very seriously, but when I'm zoned in all that noise just kind of goes away," he said. "I think I might be more nervous if people around me became quiet. Then you'd realize everyone's watching you. That would be more pressure than normal."

While he understands PGA Tour players are under extreme pressure, Overbay, who scores "between 80 and 90" on the golf course, said he doesn't have the same understanding for his golfing buddies.

"I just tell them we've got 50,000 fans screaming at us," he said, laughing. "They're hitting a still ball. I don't give them any sympathy."

Raptors forward Jason Kapono, another keen golfer, said he has learned how to block out the crowd when he's at the free-throw line. "It's all about focus," he said.

Kapono pointed out that when a group of friends are playing for fun there is usually some chatter among them. "I'm sure when (the pros) play with their buddies in a Nassau game, they're talking smack to each other," he said.

Canadian pro Mike Weir conceded that if golf had always been played in an atmosphere of noise, players probably would not have any difficulty hitting shots under those conditions.

"It's what you grow up with," said the Brights Grove, Ont., native, who won the 2003 Masters. "That's the tradition of the game. If we grew up with noise and people yelling on your backswing, we'd be playing golf that way. But that's not the way golf is."

And that's why "shhhh" will be the rule when Woods, Weir and company tee off Thursday at Augusta National.

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