At the Masters, memories are everlasting from 2023 honorary starters

They have played countless rounds at Augusta National Golf Club, combined to win 11 Masters titles and provided some of the tournament’s most treasured moments.

Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson added to the collection of memories one more time Thursday morning, performing their honorary starter duties by hitting the ceremonial tee shots that begin the 87th Masters.

“I think the word is gratitude,” Player said Thursday. “Particularly for me, this is my 65th appearance here, and you walk on the first tee and you say, well, this might be last one. So I think gratitude is the one for me.”

The on-and-off tradition that began in 1963 with Jock Hutchinson and Fred McLeod leading off the year’s first major and, after an interlude, gained traction with Gene Sarazen and Byron Nelson on the tee in 1981.

Sam Snead joined the team, Ken Venturi subbed one year and then Arnold Palmer took the stage. Nicklaus and Player would follow before Lee Elder joined in and now Watson.

Their shots weren’t the greatest. Nicklaus and Player are in their 80s, and Watson, 73, is recovering from shoulder surgery. But that won’t make their shots less noteworthy or less memorable.

“To be here and be part of what’s going on is pretty special, and we’ve just been very blessed to be part of it,” Nicklaus said.

Think about the Masters, and their contributions are everywhere. Somehow, the tournament just would not be the same had Tommy Jacobs or Gay Brewer edged the Golden Bear in a 1966 playoff, or had Dave Stockton and not Player prevailed in 1974.

Said Watson: “I had a chance to play with Arnold Palmer when I was 15 years old and with Jack as an amateur when I was 17 years old and got paired with him in my first Masters in 1975. The dream was there, but just the ability to play a game for a living. ... Can’t be any better than that.”

Their histories over the venerable Augusta course are intertwined and worth one more look in connection with the 87th Masters.

Their triumphs

Player won in 1961, ’74 and ’78, the latter thanks to a scintillating Sunday. Watson prevailed in 1977 and ’81, both times warding off a guy named Jack.

Nicklaus owns six titles, ranging 1963 to 1986 and including his record-breaking show in 1965, perhaps the greatest Masters in 1975 and his “Olden Bear” conquest in ’86.

Some of their moments did not result in victory, but they still took a place in the tournament’s hall of memories.

For one, return to April of 1991, the year Nick Faldo sought his third-straight Augusta win. By then, Nicklaus, at 51, and Watson, 41, no longer commanded the pre-tournament spotlight and went out together in a late pairing Friday.

By the time they had reached the 16th green, the large galleries had dwindled significantly, and those who left early missed what the headlines called a duel of the old masters.

Watson took the tourney’s 36-hole lead with a 4-under-par 68 in the second round, and Nicklaus posted a 72 despite a quadruple-bogey 7 on No. 12. But the moment — the real moment — unfolded on the devilish 16th green.

Nicklaus rolled a 35-foot putt into the hole for his fourth straight birdie after his 12th-hole nightmare, and Watson bowed to salute his opponent. Nicklaus bowed in return and looked skyward in an offering of thanks.

Then, Watson countered with the ultimate in one-upsmanship, topping Nicklaus’ putt with a monster of his own. Nicklaus acknowledged with a bow, and Watson said afterward, “I’ve tried that putt at least 100 times in practice rounds and that’s the first time I’ve made it.”

Alas, Watson would go to the final hole on Sunday tied for the lead — and made double-bogey.

Watson obviously needed a better finish, and the one Player provided in 1978 would have been one to emulate.

Player trailed Hubert Green by seven shots headed into the final round, but he birdied seven of his final 10 holes and matched the then-course record with an 8-under 64.

Playing well ahead of Green and the other contenders that included a guy named Watson.

“Agony, sheer agony,” he said at the time.

Green missed a short putt that would have forced a playoff, and finally Player could exhale.

Watson got the best of Nicklaus in both of his Masters victories, both by two strokes.

In the first, Nicklaus charged from behind to pull even, but Watson sank a 20-foot birdie putt on 17 and Nicklaus bogeyed the last. Four years later, Watson overtook Nicklaus in the third round, and a final-round 71 got him home with two strokes to spare.

Memories, moments and history

The good times outweigh the bad ones for Nicklaus. His 1986 win, at the age of 46 and forged with a back-nine 30 on Sunday, remains unforgettable. Yet, his triumph in 1975 in a sizzling duel with Johnny Miller and Tom Weiskopf might be the most memorable of all Masters.

Three stalwarts at their best. A major championship at stake. What could be better?

Nicklaus started fast, then Weiskopf took the 54-hole lead by one shot over Nicklaus and four over Miller.

Down the stretch they came, and Weiskopf’s birdie on No. 15 sent roars echoing through the pines. Said announcer Ben Wright, “That will be evil music in Nicklaus’ ears.”

Jack retaliated, of course. He holed a 40-foot birdie putt on No. 16 — where have we heard that before? — and dashed across the green with his putter raised, an uncharacteristic show of emotion. Weiskopf watched from the tee.

British commentator Henry Longhurst marveled at the putt and said, “And now Weiskopf will have to take it just as he dished it out before.”

Miller, on the tee with Weiskopf, said afterward: “I wasn’t paying attention. They asked me later if I saw the putt go in the hole and I said, ‘No, I just saw the bear tracks ...’ ” on the green.

There are many others, not the least of which is the year the aging Nicklaus made eagle twice in the first three rounds on the par-4 fifth hole. In the final round, a mass of media joined the gallery to see if he could work his magic again.

With a mischievous grin, Nicklaus looked at the assembled members of the fourth estate and asked, “What are you guys doing here?”

He missed securing another “2” that day, but he added to the Masters legend.

So many tournaments, so many moments, and on the tee one more time at the start of the 87th Masters. Hit ’em well, gentlemen, and thanks for the memories.