Masters 2014 honorary starters: Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Gary Player lead off at Augusta

There are Masters traditions that are absurd and there are traditions that are pretty cool. One of those annual moments at Augusta National that is always fun to take in is the ceremonial start by the legends of golf and the Masters. Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, and Jack Nicklaus will do the honors for the third straight year as they’ve become “the big three.”

The honorary starter tradition started in 1963 with Jock Hutchison and Fred McLeod, but it became entrenched and popular in the 1980s with Gene Sarazen and Byron Nelson. Ken Venturi, who never won the Masters, filled in for Nelson and joined Sarazen in 1983, but the next year it was Sam Snead who became the third member of a group that would popularize the traditional start. Sarazen, Snead, and Nelson would take the honors for the next 15 years until 1999.

There would be a gap getting from those three legends to the current three, with Palmer, Nicklaus, and Player still competitively cashing in those lifetime invites. After three years of no honorary starter, Palmer took the tee in 2007. Nicklaus joined him in 2010 and then Player rounded out the trio in 2012. They were the subject of my favorite photo so far in this 2014 Masters week. Here’s a shot of the three on the first tee Thursday morning:

Player said Wednesday on ESPN’s Mike and Mike that he was determined to outdrive Jack. “I’ve outdriven Jack twice [and] I want to do it a third time,” he said (via Luke Kerr Dineen). “I’m going to be a little keyed up. In fact, when I went to the gym this morning I did an extra 200 sit-ups to make sure I outdrive him.”

Well, reports on the ground indicate that Player could not edge Jack, as the Golden Bear beat him by a yard.

We’ll wait to get an official measurement, but right now, we’re just happy the Masters is underway.