Augusta, Ga. (AP) – Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson crossed the grass soaked in dew outside the Augusta national clubhouse to heat applause, and when they reached the first time box shortly after sunrise Thursday, customers who had won the places of vision with their folding chairs.
Then, the three lights transformed the traditional honorary starting strokes which open the masters In a sketch of comedy on their aging bodies.
“The tee is yours,” said Masters’ president Fred Ridley, Nicklaus.
“Maybe,” said Nicklaus. “If I don’t fall by putting this (tee) in the ground.”
Nicklaus pumped his fist after having managed to assemble his golf ball, then felt the need to warn the spectators: “Oh my boy. Woo! Attention.”
Nicklaus, 85, later said that a primary thought in his head was not to kill anyone with a wandering shot. He struck it solidly and found the left edge of the sea olive fairway, the picturesque opening hole.
The player, 89, kicked his leg after his starting kick, and Watson, 75, was suspended from both with a swing that resisted over time. The national employees of Augusta placed themselves along the Fairway rushed to recover the three golf balls of ceremonies, and The masters were in progress. The first official pairing was Davis Riley and Patton Kizzire, who leaves in a two before three groups of three the rest of the day.
Thirty-nine years after winning his last green jacket, Nicklaus was joined by his wife, Barbara, widely known as the first lady of golf. She was dressed in the traditional bibs of the White Caddy of the Masters, and totaled her husband’s little bag with the only club he needed for his ceremonial tasks – a driver with a purple head.
The tradition of honorary starters began in 1963, when the co-founder of the Bobby Jones club asked the Scottish Pros Fred McLeod and Jock Hutchinson to lead the first round. They played the role in the 1970s, when the custom was interrupted for a few years. In 1981, Gene Sarazen and Byron Nelson assumed work. Sam Snead joined a few years later. And their opening shots have become as much part of the experiences of masters as these pimento cheese sandwiches.
Arnold Palmer was a starter from 2007 until his death in 2016. Nicklaus joined him in 2010 and the player two years later. Watson made a group of three again three years ago – a trio with 11 combined green jackets and 35 major championships with their names.
After obtaining a cold air relief in the morning, the honorary starters put on their green jackets and asked questions about a variety of subjects at a free and sometimes clumsy -wheel press conference.
“I have a young girlfriend (who) changed my life. What would you say, at 90, to find a girlfriend. Tom is not as old as me, but he also found a new one,” said the player.
When he was asked if he wanted to weigh on this subject, Watson raised his hands, smiled and shook his head.
The player, Nicklaus and Watson have agreed with two subjects: they think that Rory Mcilroy will win the masters of this year Finish the Grand Chelem careerAnd they believe that players should always speak to the media after their turn, even if they played badly – something McILroy did not do to Pinehurst n ° 2 after his grief in US Open from last year.
“He has the best golf swing, without question. He is the most suitable golfer. He is a lifting of 400 pounds,” said the player. “It’s just the right time for him to win now, and the golf course, there is no golf course that is better for a man than for Rory.”
Nicklaus said he had lunch with McILroy last week and that the second -ranking player explained how he planned to play every time.
“He finished with the turn. I didn’t open my mouth. I said:” Well: I wouldn’t change anything. This is exactly how I would try to play the golf course “”, said Nicklaus.
As for players who speak to journalists – a subject that has resumed this spring when Collin Morikawa Said to the media: “I don’t owe anything to anyone” – Nicklaus said that players could choose not to speak after their round, but he does not remember having made this choice itself. The player said the competitors should be required by the PGA Tour to speak.
“I think there should be a PGA rule, that if you are asked to participate in a turn, it is our obligation to do so,” said the player. “If you ask someone to go to the press room, you were shooting 90 or you were getting 60, you should go.”
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