The 2011 Masters got underway at 7.40am local time with Augusta National Chairman, Billy Payne introducing ‘ceremonial starters’ Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus onto the first tee.

Palmer and Nicklaus were applauded the second they left the clubhouse.

The tee sign had both player’s names in place:  Palmer – 81 & Nicklaus – 71 reflecting the age of each player.

Payne said:  “I’m Billy Payne and welcome to the 75^th playing of the Masters.  This is a special day as we welcome back two of our greatest champions.  Our first starter has been golf’s greatest ambassador for the last 50 years.  Ladies and gentleman, please join me in welcoming four-times Masters champion Mr. Arnold Palmer.  Arnold the tee is yours.”

To the roar of those gathered around, Palmer hits the middle of the fairway and then ‘high fived’ Payne.

Payne then said:  “Next we welcome back a true legend of the game.  A man who thrilled us all with his emotional victory here 25 years ago.  Ladies and gentleman please join me in welcoming six-times Masters champion Mr. Jack Nicklaus.  Jack the tee is yours.”

Nicklaus also hits the middle of the fairway some 50-yards ahead of Palmer and stood there waving his ball forward to the delight also of the crowd.

Payne – “The 2011 Masters is now officially begun.”

Nicklaus later spoke to the media and www.golfbytourmiss.com was there to record ‘The Golden Bear’s’ comments. 

Qn:   Where you still a bit nervous?

Nicklaus:  “No, I wasn’t nervous and it’s just that I couldn’t see it (laughing).

Qn:   Your thoughts about being here this week with a lot of talk about you winning here in ’86?

Nicklaus:  “I would like to go back some time when I could play.  But obviously 25 years later I am not playing very much, and I’m not playing very well but you stand of the first tee and you sort of say:  ‘Hey!  I used to be here and this was fun, and we enjoyed it.  Arnold and I both looked at each other when we were on the practice tee this morning, and he said to me:  ‘You know it was 1955 was the first time I hit it out here’.  I said that I wasn’t far behind you.  That was 1959 so 52 and 56 years that’s a long time. I guess it is still kind of fun to knock it off the first tee and be part of a great event.

Qn:  Your competitive fire has never died since the minute you started playing golf?

Nicklaus: “I hope not. I hope not.  That’s what keeps you alive.”

Qn:      Was one shot good enough for you today?

Nicklaus:  “Yes, I was happy to take my glove off after that tee shot.”

Qn:      What time were you up this morning?

Nicklaus: “Oh, about an hour ago.  I got about 6.30am went to the practice tee, hit a couple of shots and came here.”

Qn:      These last couple of days have been a lot of fun for you. Did you think 10 years ago you would do this?

Nicklaus:  “Five or 10 years ago I wasn’t ready to do this. First of all, I wasn’t ready then and second when Arnie was doing it, I wanted to give Arnie his space and let him have his day. Then Billy came to me and asked me to do it and I said ‘well, you know I am not going to play any more so I said it would be fine, and I’ve enjoyed it.

Qn:      There has been so many stories told about you and I am curious at what point did you go for doing most of the listening to telling most of the stories?

Nicklaus:  “I’ve always told stories and it’s just that I didn’t have time to tell them when anyone was going to listen (laughing).  I pretty much stopped playing here once I got past 60 years old.  I thought I was playing pretty well when I was 58.  But then you come here and you realise how short you hit it as compared to the rest of the field that you know it’s past your time.

Qn:      Did the juices start flowing when you get out there and tee it up?
Nicklaus:  “No, they don’t flow very far (laughing).  Not for very long, anyway.  It was kind of fun and at least I hit the ball on the face.  Looking down there I don’t know if I could hit it past the shadows but I actually hit it out of the shadows.  So that was good.

Qn:      Was yesterday just as fun with Player and Palmer?

Nicklaus:  “We had a good time yesterday.  None of played particularly well .  No, actually Arnold played pretty well and we were kidding Arnold that he played 9 holes last year and didn’t hit a green and when he finally hit the third green yesterday Gary and I both turned around and said ‘nice going Arn’ and then he played really well. And was kind of nice to see him do that as he has struggled in recent years whereas Gary played pretty well starting off. I didn’t start off very well but we all had a good time. We always have fun.  We don’t get together very often but do get to play here and maybe once or twice elsewhere during the year.”

Qn:      Jack, are you enjoying the ceremonial role more than you thought you would?

Nicklaus:  “Well, there is not much more I can do because that’s it so that’s what you do.  I enjoy it a lot and I’m having a good time with it, and people enjoy it.  It’s Augusta’s way of honouring it’s past champions with people such as Arnold and myself and it’s quite nice that they allow us to do that.”

Qn:      Plans for the weekend?

Nicklaus:  “I’m going fishin’.  I don’t want to sit around and watch golf for the next four days.  I wanted to do something different.  There is no business happening this week.  Everybody in the game of golf is here this week, so I could go sit in the office and wait for no phone calls or I go fishin’ and go do something, and that’s what I am going to do.”

Qn:      Jack.  Do you have a favourite this week?

Nicklaus:  “No, not really.  I think there is probably half-a-dozen guys that are probably playing better than the other guys and it is a pretty obvious bunch.  Obviously Phil and Tiger are going to be playing well.  I’ve felt Nick Watney has played very well.  There’s Luke Donald and Westwood has played a lot of great Majors and hasn’t quite pushed one over the top.  Kaymer is your world’s No. 1 and you can never count out him anytime he plays. You’ve got McIlroy  and you’ve got Dustin Johnson and Bubba Watson is playing well.

“You’ve got of guys playing pretty darn good golf and they’ve been playing well every week, and you’ve got Luke Donald who you would not normally put into that list because of his length but Luke Donald has been playing so well that you have to throw him in.  It has to be good weather for him because if it is fast, he will be able to play it. So you have a variety of guys that have a pretty good chance this week.  I do think it’s a pretty wide open tournament, frankly.

Qn:      Do you still think about the first time you played here?  Does it keep flashing back?

Nicklaus:  “That’s a pretty long time ago.  That was 52 years ago in 1959 and I was a 19-year old kid and I remember coming in here the week before the tournament. I had a friend with me, and I had no idea you couldn’t ride in with anybody.  Actually, they never said a word to me. The gentleman’s name was Osbourne. We arrived here and I took my friend over and they never said a word to me.  He played with us and I never even thought anything about it until a few years later when I realised that you just can’t bring people out here.  But they really treated us nice, and it was really great, and it was the week before the tournament.  Well, almost two weeks before tournament and I got the great thrill of driving down Magnolia Lane the first time and I still get the same feeling driving down Magnolia Lane.  It’s something neat and something special. It’s something in the game of golf I don’t think any place else has.  So 52 years later you are still doing it and still enjoying it, and they still allow me to hit a tee shot.  It’s pretty good.”

 

 

 

Bernie McGuire at Augusta National.