Tom Watson Enjoys the Cap to a Masters Career as Honorary Starter
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- "The long goodbye" is what Augusta National Golf Club chairman Fred Ridley bestowed on Tom Watson when he called the two-time champion on a Monday in his office in Kansas City, to ask if he would be the 11th honorary starter at the Masters.
With a tournament full of tradition that includes the Champions Dinner and the Par 3 Contest, honorary-starting the Masters would never be considered a goal but a culmination of a career, as well as Augusta National’s way of thanking past major champions and saying goodbye, hopefully a long goodbye.
Fred McLeod and Jock Hutchinson were the first Masters Honorary Starters in 1963, but in truth, they had been the first two players to start the Masters for years and would play a couple of holes before withdrawing and enjoying a drink at the clubhouse, and receiving a check for $400.
Neither Hutchinson, 79, or McLeod, 83, was a Masters champion, but with McLeod winning the 1908 U.S. Open and Hutchinson the 1920 PGA and the 1921 Open Championship, their excellence in golf would do.
“I've seen many opening tee shots during the Masters over my years, from Fred McLeod and Jock Hutchison, when I was an amateur in 1970, to Arnie's last event when he sat down and sat on the chair there,” the 72-year-old Watson said after his tee shot found the middle of the fairway. “I've seen several in the middle with Sam Snead and Byron Nelson, Gene Sarazen.
"It's just part of the heritage of the tournament that I personally very much like, and to be a part of it, as I said, I'm very humbled to be a part of it.”
Nelson and Snead started their farewell in 1981, lasting 18 consecutive years for Sarazen and 20 non-consecutive years for Nelson.
Once Snead joined the group in 1984 to create a trio of five green jackets, the Honorary Starter role was cemented in Masters lore.
The addition of Arnold Palmer in 2007, Jack Nicklaus in 2010 and Gary Player in 2012 built on the triumvirate of Nelson, Sarazen and Snead, seemingly forcing the Masters to always keep the positions filled as they have now done after losing Palmer in 2016.
As you look at the names of past starters, Watson was unsure he belonged, especially with what he affectionately called the "two old goats," Nicklaus, 82, and Player, 86, sitting next to him.
Watson came later than Nicklaus and Player, having his successes against the two when they were winning majors and then, after their less-competitive points of their careers, Watson took up the mantle for a short time before others took it from him.
After his duties were done on Thursday, Watson took an honest reflection of his career, which saw eight major titles including the 1971 and 1981 Masters.
“Life is a process,” Watson said. “When I look back at my career, I had about a seven-year run where I really played well, but it's a process. Up until that time I had trouble finishing golf tournaments, then I learned how to finish golf tournaments, then I struggled with my game, then I reinvented my game basically, changed my golf swing.”
Watson still seems a reluctant honorary starter, still believing today he does not belong in the same trio with the two old goats, but like everyone who has filled the role, you seem to grow into it over time.
“I had a pretty good career,” Watson said. “Not like these guys, but I had a pretty good career. Just kind of the culmination of it.”
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