Everything makes sense here. From crowd control to course conditions, Augusta National Golf Club gets it right or they get right on making it right.

Nothing at this year's Masters, though, will make as much sense as Thursday morning, because even Tiger Woods holding the lead after the last shot wouldn't be as natural as Arnold Palmer hitting the first shot.

He'll do that now, Augusta National Chairman Billy Payne announced Tuesday. Three years after playing his final official round at the Masters, Palmer has decided there is enough distance between his competitive and ceremonial roles at Augusta to leave one for the other.

He didn't want to make the switch right away, even if nobody has ever been better suited for the honorary position than the most popular golfer of all time. Now he is ready to take his place on the first tee on his own terms, however, and will do so Thursday in front of what is sure to be one of the most grateful galleries in Masters history.

"I'd rather be playing, but it's always a pleasure for me to be here," Palmer said Tuesday.

Augusta fans have been waiting for this announcement for years. They could never get enough of Palmer, not when he was winning four Masters titles and not when he was shooting scores so high that they weren't posted.

Getting to see him hit just one shot with his lashing, twisting swing at the start of another Masters will revive the emotions and renew the connection he built through 50 consecutive years of playing in Augusta.

In doing so, he also will restore one of the Masters' classiest and most unique traditions.

At most Masters since 1963, the year before Palmer's last win in Augusta, the tournament has had one or more honorary starters. There haven't been any since 2002, and there has been a hole in the week as a result.

It's not like the similar role at baseball games, when somebody throws out a first pitch and nobody but the team's staff photographer pays attention. In Augusta, people wake up before dawn and line up before the gates open Thursday just to have a chance to see a shot that won't count in the tournament.

This week, one of Augusta's greatest champions and golf's most beloved figures hitting that opening shot will be the most important thing that happens before Sunday afternoon. It could be a start to the Masters' future sharing one of the charms of its past.

This year, it's Palmer first on the first tee. Soon, maybe Jack Nicklaus will relent and join him in the honorary position he also has earned, and if Gary Player ever stops playing in the tournament, the Masters might eventually have the middle-of-the-order power leading things off the way it did for a decade and a half until 1999.

That was the last year that Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead and Byron Nelson batted lead-off. There has never been any doubt which three past champions could best replace them, who would make the most sense as the next honorary starters.

For now, it's just Palmer. As always at Augusta, though, just Palmer will be more than enough.