Masters Insider
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WHERE TO GO: First tee
Arnold Palmer will serve as the honorary starter for the third consecutive year.
The four-time Masters winner will hit the ceremonial opening tee shot at 7:50 this morning.
Palmer, whose last year as a Masters competitor was 2004, won the event in 1958, 1960, 1962 and 1964.
His play in 1958 at Nos. 11, 12 and 13 inspired golf writer Herbert Warren Wind to name the stretch of holes Amen Corner.
MEET THE ROOKIE: Anthony Kim
The former University of Oklahoma star is making his first Masters appearance. The 23-year-old from California won twice on the PGA Tour in 2008 and comes into the Masters as the No. 14 player in the world.
Q: What was it like when you walked the course for the first time?
A: TV doesn't do it justice, and I've heard that from other guys. I knew I was in for a big surprise, and it certainly shows here.
Q: What would constitute success for you at this Masters?
A: I hate to say it this way, but you don't come to a golf tournament, even though it is about experience and knowing these greens and knowing the golf course, without feeling like you're here to win a golf tournament.
Q: Do you feel like you're 23?
A: When I'm off the golf course I feel like I'm 23. When I'm inside the ropes, I don't know how old I am. Sometimes I feel like I'm 6 when I miss a 3-footer, and when I make a bomb, I feel like I'm 23.
WHAT TO EXPECT: Obscure leader
The first round of the Masters has been known to produce a player who might not exactly be a household name.
Think Jeff Mitchell in 1980, whose 66 tied him with Seve Ballesteros and David Graham for the first-round lead.
Or Mike Donald in 1990, who followed his opening 64 with an 82. He finished 47th that year.
Chris DiMarco was relatively unknown in 2001 when he opened with 65, but his battle with Tiger Woods that year, and again in 2005, made him more recognizable.
Mitchell, Donald and DiMarco were making their Masters debuts in the years that they led after the first round.
