the;big;three;reunite
eight years have passed since Jack nicklaus, arnold palmer and gary player participated in the same masters, all three missing the cut in 2004 in what would be palmer’s
last appearance as a player. Jack stopped playing a year later, and player hung on until
2009. but the big three were reunited thursday as gary joined arnie and Jack as honorary starters at augusta national. they teed off in front of a large gallery, including phil
mickelson who was at the course more than six hours before his 1:53 p.m. start for an
early practice session with coach butch harmon. all three found the fairway off the tee,
with player’s low stinger going farthest. afterward, the trio reminisced about watching
05
previous opening tee shots by Jock hutchison and fred mcleod in the early 1960s. at
one point the honorees played on, but nicklaus, realizing the ceremonial starter thing
only lasts so long said, “ok guys, now let’s get out of their way” referring to the first
group. still it was good to see them together again, even if they never left the tee. palmer
agreed. “we have played golf all our lives together,” he said. “the press, you people, have
made an issue of the big three, and we kind of had a pretty good run at augusta. so today was very appropriate for the starting of the tournament. and i hope it continues for a
while.” so do we, arnie. so do we. —John Antonini (@johnantoninigw)
charles laberge
coVer //contents // big pictures// 5 things // twitter //scores // tee times // daVe shedloski
