Gene Sarazen hits off the No. 1 tee to open the 1999 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Thursday, April 8, 1999. Sam Snead watches in the background. (Jeff Janowski/The Augusta Chronicle)
Honorary starters Sarazen, Snead and Nelson fail to find fairway
Web posted 04/09/99
With three drives -- all of which found the new Masters rough -- off the first tee at the Augusta National Golf Club, the three honorary starters began the 1999 tournament.
``It's an honor to be invited to come here and start it,'' the 87-year-old Nelson said. ``Of course, I play no golf at all. And the hardest thing I ever do is to hit off down there (bottom of first fairway). In golf, that's the hardest thing I've ever done.''
Nelson, walking with assistance of a cane, is bothered by a bad left hip on which he has had two operations.
``I can't pivot through, so I top a lot of balls,'' he said. ``Even when I practiced (Wednesday), I hit some good ones and I topped some.''
Nelson, known as ``Lord Byron,'' won Masters title in 1937 and 1942. In 1945, he won a record 18 tournaments, including 11 consecutively.
But this year may have been the last for Nelson as an honorary starter.
He didn't say who the ``younger blood'' might be.
The 97-year-old Sarazen, nicknamed ``The Squire,'' hit the ``shot heard 'round the world'' in 1935. He made double eagle from 220 yards out on the par-5, 15th hole to force a tie with Craig Wood in the final round. He won the Masters in a 36-hole playoff against Wood the next day.
Snead, the 86-year-old ``Slammer,'' is a three-time Masters champion with titles in 1949, '52 and '54. He holds the record for most PGA Tour victories with 81.
Since 1963, honorary starters have officially opened the tournament. Jock Hutchinson and Fred McLeod were the first honorary starters, while Ken Venturi made a lone appearance in 1983.
Nelson and Sarazen started in 1981, while Snead began in 1984.
