AUGUSTA, Ga. — The Masters got started beneath wispy white clouds and a bright blue spring sky when Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson once again struck the ceremonial tee shots down the first fairway at Augusta National.
Well, mostly down the first fairway.
After the 90-year-old Player hit his shot down the middle, and celebrated with a big leg kick, the 86-year-old Nicklaus stepped up. His son, Jackie, placed his ball on the tee, and the Golden Bear offered a tongue-in-cheek warning to the patrons lining the tee box — “Oh, boy, watch out,” Nicklaus said, “and I don’t mean that facetiously” — and proceeded to hit a low hook right at them.
“I said, ‘Spread out on both sides because I don’t want to kill anybody,’” he relayed afterward. “If it’d been a little closer I might have.”
The ball cleared the heads of the patrons down the left side by a couple of feet.
Last up was the 76-year-old Watson, who used the tee Nicklaus had left stuck in the ground. “May I use your tee,” Watson asked? “It’s why I left it,” the six-time Masters champion replied, and Watson proceeded to strike his drive right down the middle.
With that, the 90th edition of the Masters was underway.
The honorary starter has been a tradition at Augusta National since 1963, when Jock Hutchinson and Fred McLeod hit their opening shots of the tournament. The idea had come to club founder Bobby Jones years earlier, and over time, it has become a treasured part of the Masters mystique, with 11 dignitaries and past champions having served in the role.
Byron Nelson, Gene Sarazen and Sam Snead were the longest-serving, performing the duty throughout most of the 1980s and ‘90s, while Arnold Palmer was joined by Nicklaus and Player for many years. When the King died in 2016, it left just Nicklaus and Player in a twosome, so Watson was asked to join them, and the trio continues to this day.
“When I first played the Masters as an amateur in 1970, I teed off early in the morning, playing with Doug Ford. I went to the honorary starters, and it was very special,” Watson said. “I remember seeing Gene Sarazen tee off. Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Jack and Gary. It’s something very special. I thought it was just part of the aura of the tournament, and I wanted to witness it.”
How much longer Player, Nicklaus and Watson take part is a big question surrounding the Masters these days.
So is who might take on the role next.
“I was a little worried. I had carpal tunnel surgery about five, six weeks ago, and I was worried about being able to hold onto the golf club and hurt somebody,” Nicklaus said. “I’m fortunate that I got it over somebody’s head. I didn’t hit it very well, but I got it over their heads and didn’t hurt anybody. As long as I can still hit the golf ball.”
Nicklaus said he doesn’t really play anymore. He did once all of last year, and once more this past February.
“But it’s such a nice ceremony, and it’s a real honor to be invited,” he said. “I hope to be able to do it as long as I can not kill anybody.”
