Nicklaus, Player hit opening tee shots, honor friend Palmer

Arnold Palmer sat in a white chair, gave a thumbs up and watched his longtime friends go to the first tee.

First, Gary Player, then Jack Nicklaus.

See today's photos of the Big Three 

For the first time since becoming an honorary starter in 2007, Palmer didn’t hit a tee shot at Thursday morning’s opening ceremony. But the Big Three were still together again at Augusta National Golf Club. The men stood arm in arm, wiped away years, shook hands, laughed and posed together for photos.

Player honored Palmer, 86 years old and a four-time Masters champion, on his tee shot.

After two practice swings, the 80-year-old Player hit his drive near the center of the fairway. Player won the green jacket in 1961, 1974 and 1978.

“To come here and to be on the tee with Arnold being a part of us, it was gratifying and sad, because everything shall pass,” Player said. “But it was nice to have him on the tee. I dedicated my first tee shot to him in respect.”

Nicklaus, the 76-year-old six-time Masters champion, went next and had to wipe away tears before his shot. His drive landed shorter than Player’s down the left side of the fairway — “Gary won his tournament this year. I hit a pop-up,” Nicklaus joked.

Nicklaus said he talked with Palmer at the Champions Dinner and wondered if Palmer would try to hit, even if only a putt off the tee. Nicklaus said Palmer told him he would think about it. This morning, Nicklaus said Palmer was OK with watching his friends tee off.

“I think he was delighted to be out there,” Nicklaus said. “I think we were delighted to have him there. I think both Gary and I felt it was more about Arnold this morning than anything else, and I think that was just fine.”

The Big Three combined for 13 Masters Tournament wins, including seven in a row from 1960 to 1966.

After Palmer became an honorary starter in 2007, Nicklaus hit with him beginning in 2010. Player joined them other in 2012.

“I think that we had a very unusual friendship amongst competitors,” Player said. “It was so fiercely competitive, and we made it very clear we wanted to beat the hell out of each other. And when we did, we looked the other man in the eye and said, “Well done.’ So we built a friendship, traveling extensively around the world. They came to South Africa to my farm. They went down gold mines, we went to game reserves, we stayed at his house, we stayed at Arnold’s house. We’ve had a unique friendship.”

Nicklaus remembers seeing Palmer for the first time when he was 14 years old, seeing him on the practice tee — the only one there — in Sylvania, Ohio for the Ohio Amateur.

“I had no idea who it was and I watched this guy, looked like Popeye hitting these drilling 9 irons that were going about 12 feet high,” Nicklaus said. “I said, you know, look at this guy. I said, ‘Man, this guy’s strong. Boy, can he hit.’ He’d really drill it.

“So I watched him for about 20 minutes or so and then I walked in the clubhouse and said, ‘Who in the world is that out on the practice tee?’ I said, ‘That guy looks some kind of strong.’ He says, ‘Oh, that’s our defending champion, Arnold Palmer.’ That’s my first recollection of seeing Arnold.”

Player kept returning to one word to describe the morning.

“I think the greatest event that exists in the Bible, the book of Judaism and the book of Quran, is the word ‘love,’ and it exemplifies it when you tee off before 8 in the morning and people at 7 in the morning are pouring in to watch one tee shot,” Player said. “So the respect and love they give us is something very, very special, for me.”

SHARING THEIR MEMORIES

Player, relating a story about the 1965 Australian Open: “I shot 62 the first day. Jack shoots 66. We are going back to the hotel and he says, ‘How the hell can I shoot 66 and be four behind?’ But he says, ‘Tomorrow, I’m going to get your little South African ass.’

So the next day I shoot 70, he shoots 63. He’s 129, I’m 132.

I said, ‘Now, wait a minute, let’s turn the shoe on the other foot. How can I shoot 132, it’s an average of two 66s and be three behind you?’ I said, ‘Tomorrow, I’m going to get your big fat, American lard ass.’ And I shot 62.

But we didn’t have these scoreboards like they have now. So his caddie runs across and says, ‘Jack wants to know how you’re doing.’

I said, ‘I’m 10 under.’

He says, ‘No, not for the tournament. For today?’

I said, ‘I’m 10 under.’

So Jack sees me, he says, ‘You damn liar, you’re trying to put me off.’

Player, on Nicklaus and him overcoming obstacles: “In fact, for me, the greatest sportsman I’ve played with in golf is this man right here. When you beat this man, he put his arm around you and said, he really meant it, Well done. Of course he knew he’d get you the next week. But he was an incredible sportsman. They would say ‘hit it here, Ohio Fats,’ and Arnold would hit 20 foot from the hole and they’d go, ‘Man,’ and Jack would hit it 10 foot from the hole, and it was half the applause.

“In fact, Jack might not remember, we were playing the third hole here at this golf course and they were giving the same kind of treatment, and Jack said, ‘The more they do this to me, the better I’m going to play,’ which he adhered to. And eventually, of course, Jack became this great icon, as well, but he had to beat him first. And it was tough for Arnold and it was tough for him.

“I lost The PGA of America at Dayton, Ohio by one shot. I will go to my grave knowing I won 10 majors. They threw ice in my eyes, telephone books in my bag. I had a putt this long, this long on the 9th hole, and they screamed as I took my putter back because they were on the edge of the green, I missed the hole by that much. They charged Jack and I. Jack and I were playing together. On the 10th hole, they came out of the galleries, charging and skidding on the green, threw balls between my legs when I was putting and I lost the tournament by one shot.

“So we all have difficulties to encounter in our career one way or another.”

Nicklaus and Player, joking about the tee shot:

“Hitting the ball off the first tee, Gary out drives me every year now, which is okay. He keeps himself fit and he practices hard for the first tee shot. He brought out a yellow ball today that was marked a little differently. I think it probably said illegal,” Nicklaus said to laughs.

“You better not tell Callaway that, you’ll get a lawsuit,” Player quipped.

Nicklaus on Bobby Jones: “I turned pro and about three or four days after I turned pro — the letter was obviously mailed before I turned pro. It was a letter from Bob Jones and it said: Jack, you have an opportunity to follow in my footsteps as an amateur and be — the world needs an amateur to lead the game, and there hasn’t been one since me that can do that. He says, ‘I see that opportunity that you have.’

“And he says, however, I understand with the lure of professional golf today, and what it might mean, and I can understand if that’s what you want to do because if you want to be the best, you have to compete against the best. However, I just want to throw in my two cents. He says, I’ve had a wonderful relationship with Spalding all my life, which I got a really big kick out of. He was giving me the amateur lecture and also giving Spalding a kick, which was kind of funny. So there was another side of it, too, that was fun.”