Friday, April 07, 2000History walks fairways at Augusta
BY PAUL DAUGHERTY
The Cincinnati EnquirerAUGUSTA, Ga. — The three older gentlemen gathered at the first tee at 1:23 Thursday afternoon. Arnold Palmer had wondered about the late start. “We have to hurry,” he said. “I have to be in bed by 5.”
He was kidding. Maybe.
Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player. If this were the local muni course, who'd fill out their foursome? Dick Clark?
Only at the Masters. They don't roll back time at Augusta National. They don't roll with it, either. Call it a tradition or an anachronism. Probably, it's both. The magnolias bordering Magnolia Lane were planted before the Civil War, right around the time of Palmer's birth.
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But you don't get this anywhere else. When DiMaggio was living, you didn't go to the Kingdome expecting him to show. Bill Russell won't be appearing at Market Square Arena anytime soon.
It was the sort of thing you watch at Augusta so 20 years from now, you won't regret that you didn't. At about 6:45, Nicklaus and Palmer walked side by side up the 18th fairway and through the twilight, to a long and respectful ovation. Player, as lean as he ever was, followed just behind. It would have made a nice painting.
You took the mental picture instead and hoped to keep it awhile. And you wondered: How much longer?
“Memories are the cushions of life,” Player decided. This could only be understood by someone who has lived long and fully. Player, who is 64, qualifies.
Not about scores
They weren't thrilled with their scores: Nicklaus shot 74, Player 76, Palmer 78. But to everyone but them, it was barely about golf. The threesome teed off on a blue-perfect day, to Sunday-deep galleries and waves of appreciative cheers. The King and his court, out walking. You could go wherever you wanted with them.How about 1958? Palmer's first major championship came at the Masters. He was 28.
Player would recommend 1978, when he shot 64 on Sunday afternoon to win his third and last Masters.
Nicklaus prefers '86. Who doesn't? It's the mother of all golf memories, framed by the Masters-clinching putt at 17. The Eternal Jack at 46, stopping hearts and clocks.
The weekend at the Masters is for hardball. Spend it judging the gifts of Tiger Woods and the grit of Hal Sutton. This was for the good old days. This was a good old day.
No sport does memories better than golf. No golf course does memories better than Augusta National. Try this with any other sport, and somebody gets hurt. No one can hit a curveball at age 60, even Ted Williams. Jim Brown might look like he could run to daylight today. Tell that to Junior Seau.
Palmer, Player and Nicklaus are a combined 194 years old. They've won 151 tournaments, 51 majors and 13 Masters. This week, they'll settle for low senior.
On Thursday, Nicklaus missed five birdie putts of less than 10 feet. Palmer bogeyed three of the last four holes, Player two of the last five. Each raged against the dying light. “A few putts would have made a lot of difference,” Palmer maintained, though probably not.
It wasn't like watching tournament golf. It was like watching Casablanca for the 500th time. Which was fine.
Someone asked Palmer what prompted laughter at the first tee.
“I don't remember,” Arnie said.
“Well of course you don't remember,” Player said.
Nicklaus has never liked looking back. The view, for him, is flattering, but depressing. Jack missed most of the trio's news conference. He was on the range.
“I'm a funny duck,” Nicklaus said. “I come here to play golf.”
But even Nicklaus knows better now, at age 60. “I said to myself this morning, "Get realistic, Jack. They wouldn't have paired the three of us together if they thought any of us had a chance.'”
Memories are the cushions of life, Gary Player said. They made another one Thursday, soft and lasting.
Enquirer columnist Paul Daugherty welcomes your comments at (513) 768-8454.
