FIFTY years after Arnold Palmer won the Masters for the first time, he settled over the ball yesterday morning and hit a ceremonial tee shot that went so far he never saw it land.
Blame that on the thick fog that settled over Augusta National.
"Fifty years ago, it went a lot farther," said Palmer. "But the tee was a lot farther up."
It was the second straight year that Palmer, a four-time Masters champion, hit the ceremo
nial first tee shot. The tradition began in 1963 with Jock Hutchinson and Fred McLeod, but there was a five-year gap without an honorary starter until Palmer renewed it last year.
And in this new age of media at the Masters, even CBS Sports got in on the act, televising it live for the first time.
Palmer warmed up by hitting three shots on the practice range, and the applause grew louder with each step he took toward the tee. Masters chairman Billy Payne introduced him – as if Palmer needed it – as being synonymous with golf and the Masters around the world.
As for the tee shot? It was straight down the middle, as far as anyone could see.
"As a matter of fact, it went out of sight," said Palmer.
Good thing he hit only one shot. Palmer had 15 clubs in his bag, one over the limit. Of more concern to him was a cell phone in his pocket, which he removed, switched to silent and slipped into his golf bag.
"Don't let the boss see this," he said, as Payne stood next to him with a mock frown.
The most significant of Palmer's four Masters victories came in 1960, when he birdied the last two holes for a one-shot victory. He next won the 1960 US Open at Cherry Hills, and it was on his way to the Open that year when he cooked up the idea of a modern grand slam – winning the four professional major in the same year.
Until then, the grand slam related to Bobby Jones in 1930, when he won the US Open, US Amateur, British Open and British Amateur. Tiger Woods has talked this year about the slam that Palmer created being "easily within reason."
It starts with the Masters, and Palmer was curious how the week would play out.
"There's a lot of enthusiasm. You can see it and feel it," he said. "The golf course is going to be difficult early. Today is going to tell us a lot about the week."
But the King wasn't going to stick around to watch.
His wife, Kitt, developed an ankle infection and had two operations within the last week. Palmer said she was released from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center on Wednesday, and he was on his way to check on her.
In the curtain-raising par-three event on Wednesday, Palmer teamed up with Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player to provide a glorious threesome for those lucky enough to see it – and thousands of golf fans were, crammed into every nook and cranny of the nine-hole course.
Nicklaus and Palmer, who no longer play the Masters, still tee it up for the par-three contest, going wedge to wedge on the marvelous little 1,060-yard layout that was built on the edge of Augusta National in the late 1950s. It winds around DeSoto Springs Pond, Ike's Pond and the azaleas blooming in an explosion of white, pink and fuchsia.
Player joined the dynamic duo, making it a threesome with 13 green jackets among them. They posed together, arm in arm, a photo op for the ages.
"The most important thing is we've remained great friends," said the 72-year-old Player, who'll play in his record 51st Masters this year. "To have great friends in your life is something you can count on one hand, and these two men both go on my one hand."
The full article contains 674 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
