09an afternoon to remember
last month, when the big three reunited as honorary starters at the masters, many
wished that arnold palmer, Jack nicklaus and gary player would hit more than a single
tee shot. nostalgists got their wish saturday at the insperity championship outside
houston at the woodlands cc, where palmer, 82, nicklaus, 72, and player, 76, played
18 holes together in a greats of golf exhibition that also featured lee trevino, miller
barber, don January, david graham, gene littler and dave stockton. not only were
palmer, nicklaus and player the headliners of the scramble competition, they won
it by shooting 11-under 61 punctuated by palmer’s 25-foot birdie putt on the 18th
hole. smiles were the order of the day for the marquee threesome and the estimated
40,000 spectators in attendance. nicklaus had joked before the exhibition that “i think
our combined clubhead speed will be about what bubba watson’s [is],” but each leg-
end had his moments. nicklaus hit some drives far and sure, player stiffed his approach
at the 11th hole and palmer finished the round in style. “we didn’t make it too serious,”
palmer said, “but we didn’t want to come in second either.” if this turns out to indeed
be the last time palmer, nicklaus and player are paired together for more than their cer-
emonial drives at augusta national, it certainly was an afternoon to remember. —B.F.
darren carroll/getty images
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