Even big shots like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are obligated to play, though they are usually reserved for the tourney's biggest sponsors. (Woods even had to play in pro-ams last year after his personal life became tabloid fodder.) The rest of the players are entered into a random draw.

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Unseeded players are slotted into the draw by a computerized random number generator.

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"The photo booth is always a draw, stuffing as many random people in a tight space as possible -- I think the record is seven -- and taking goofy group shots, " said Austin.

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David Donahue, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State who oversees the program, said the original draw was voided because it "did not represent a fair, random selection of entrants as required by U.S. law, " according to a State Department website.

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The 2011 GEM report is based on a survey of 140, 000 adults in 54 economies, including 6, 000 just in the U.S. Researchers looked at responses from a random sampling of participants, as well as population data for each of the countries represented, to draw conclusions about entrepreneurial activity in those nations.

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