By Frank Pingue
AUGUSTA, Georgia, April 9 (Reuters) – Jack Nicklaus issued a word of warning to the gallery packed along Augusta National’s first hole for the Masters honorary starters ceremony on Thursday, then sent his tee shot straight into them.
The 86-year-old Nicklaus, a record six-times Masters champion who has served as an honorary starter since 2010, had the caddie tee up his ball before addressing it and offering a heads-up to those who had arrived early for the occasion.
“Oh boy, watch out,” Nicklaus said. “And I don’t mean that facetiously.”
He meant every word. Nicklaus hooked his shot hard left and into the gallery lining the first hole, a delayed cry of “fore!” following the ball — and him laughing as he hollered it.
Nicklaus then moved to retrieve his tee, thought better of it, and laughed off the incident.
“I didn’t kill anybody,” he said. “I barely didn’t kill anybody.”
Gary Player set a rather more elegant tone earlier, the 90-year-old South African stepping up first in his signature black attire, coolly striping his drive and punctuating it with an exuberant kick of his right leg.
Tom Watson, 76, had the final word — and the diagnosis — before taking the last ceremonial tee shot.
“You didn’t take a practice swing, that was your problem,” Watson told Nicklaus.
“I forgot,” Nicklaus replied.
Between them, the three greats have won 11 Masters titles and made 140 appearances at Augusta National.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Augusta, Georgia; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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