AUGUSTA — It's been more than a decade since Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player all teed it up at the Masters as competitors, but that hasn't stopped them from having a massive impact on the tournament festivities. The trio - responsible for 13 green jackets, including seven straight from 1960 to 1966 - officially opened play Thursday with their ceremonial tee shots as Honorary Starters.
The Masters has had Honorary Starters since 1963, with Jock Hutchison and Fred McLeod. Since then, it's been customary for Masters legends to officially open the tournament with tee shots on hole No. 1. The current group was formed when Player joined Palmer and Nicklaus in 2012 to reunite golf's "Big Three."
For Palmer, who hadn't hit a golf ball in five months due to a shoulder injury suffered in a fall at home, the thought process leading up to the shot was simple.
"I said, 'Don't fan it,'" he said.
"I don't think he's kidding," Nicklaus quickly added. "He said exactly the same thing to me."
And who hit the longest drive?
"I did," Palmer said, as Nicklaus silently pointed to Player.
After years of being the players that often hit the final shot of the Masters, now the tournament can't start without them. A large crowd gathered around No. 1 for the 7:40 a.m. start time, and it included more than just badge-wearing patrons of the tournament - players like Rickie Fowler, Keegan Bradley and defending champion Bubba Watson were all present to see the legends tee off. Bradley and Watson were both slated to tee off before 9:30, while Fowler came out despite having the last tee time of the day.
"Whoever it was there, I can tell you that as a competitor that's played in it a lot of times, I appreciated it very much indeed," Player said. "It shows that they have respect for the game."
"I never got up that early," Nicklaus quipped. "I think that's a nice gesture to do what they did and come out, but I think the important thing for them today is (to) play well, and that should be their focus. It shouldn't be us, but I think it's a nice gesture on their part."
The laughs flowed freely during the trio's press conference, starting with their recollections of the 1965 Masters, in which the three of them were tied for the lead after the second round.
"I remember what the third round was," said Nicklaus, referring to his Saturday 64 that put him five shots ahead of Player and eight clear of Palmer.
"I remember it - the wrong man won," Player said. He and Palmer tied for second, nine shots behind Nicklaus' then-Masters record score of 17-under-par 271.
"I don't remember anything," Palmer said, drawing the biggest laughs of all.
Nicklaus grabbed headlines at Wednesday's Par 3 Contest, when the 75-year-old made his first career hole-in-one at Augusta. Even that illustrated the level of friendly competition between the three.
"Every year I came here to the Par 3 Tournament, I said, 'I've got to get another hole-in-one,'" Nicklaus said. "Arnold and I have been tied for I don't know how many years on 20. Gary was tied with us at 20, but he goes and plays a lot of par 3 courses."
"Well, you're counting yours, I notice," Player fired back.
They offered a glimpse into what it's like to be in the hunt on the back nine on Sunday and how they faced the challenge. Player, Mr. Fitness himself, pointed out the physical preparation it takes and praised Rory McIlroy's workout regiment. In addition to fitness, Player added that patience was a key, while also throwing a jab Nicklaus' way.
"I think Jack exemplifies the patience side," he joked. "Thanks a lot. The fitness side I didn't represent, OK," Nicklaus said.
Nicklaus spoke of confidence and preparation, and simply knowing what to do when the situation arises. In that case, he said, there's no chance to worry or get nervous. For Palmer, it was all about basic fundamentals.
Of course, all three of the players had stories to tell about the others from years past.
Nicklaus talked about watching Palmer performing his own equipment adjustments when he first started on the PGA Tour, carving away at his driver with a file, changing grips and bending shafts in a hit-and-miss attempt to find what worked.
"It was all guesswork by all of us in those days," Nicklaus said. "And if you found one, then you try and stay with it."
Player told another story about a trip Palmer took to South Africa to illustrate the strength of Palmer's hands. The two went to a gold mine and were watching gold bars being poured. A challenge was issued to see who could pick up a bar of solid gold; whoever picked it up could keep it.
"And Arnold goes and picks it up, and these guys' eyes went this big," Player said. "He says, 'I only work here.' Arnold says, 'You did work here.'"
When it was time for some closing thoughts from the three - Palmer was ready to go home, Nicklaus to breakfast - Player gave his thoughts on the trio's friendship over the decades.
"First of all, I think of people that are involved in an ambassadorial role, and I think Arnold and Jack are two of the greatest ambassadors America has ever had," he said. "They have been remarkable. They have behaved unbelievably well. They have been adored all around the world."
Player spoke of maintaining that friendship despite often being involved in intense competition with them.
"Never in the history of golf have there been three people that have basically lived with each other all those years and have such respect and love for each other," he said, telling of a time he stayed at Nicklaus' home while they were tied going into the last round at the PGA Championship."
"Now (Nicklaus' wife) Barbara is giving the breakfast, and I'm thinking, 'Hell, I'm a bit worried about this; we're tied.'
So when she put the eggs on the table and she went to the kitchen, I swapped them around. But it didn't help because he beat me anyway."
After the laughter finally died down, Player offered one final thought.
"But words can't express - you can have love for a woman and you can have love for a friend, and I think the greatest word that exists in any book of note is love. And I think this is what we've had for each other."
Kyle Dawson covers sports for the Aiken Standard.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.