Arnold Palmer will not hit the ceremonial first tee shot at the Masters next month for the first time since 2007.
The 86-year-old Palmer said he plans to attend the Champions Dinner on the night before the first round at Augusta National and will be on hand to see Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player hit their ceremonial tee shots on the first tee the next morning.
“I plan to go out to the first tee with the chairman on Thursday morning and watch Jack (Nicklaus) and Gary (Player) sweat it out and hit the shots,” Palmer said in a Q&A with a pool reporter at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.
“Am I disappointed by that? Well, sure, but time moves on. I stopped playing in the Masters in 2004, I stopped playing in the Par-3 (Contest) last year, and now it’s time to end this part of my Masters career. I would love to go on doing it forever, but I don’t have the physical capability to hit the shot the way I would want to hit it.
“So I’ll have to be content to watch.”
Palmer, a four-time Masters champion, said he also plans to stop by his locker in the Champions Locker Room, where he will share space this year with defending champion Jordan Spieth.
Spieth revealed after a visit to Augusta recently that Palmer is his locker mate.
“I did know that he and I are sharing a locker, which is nice,” Palmer said. “Jordan’s play was very good last year, especially at Augusta. He’s done a great job in a short period of time.”
Palmer underwent back surgery after the 2014 Masters and hit his ceremonial first shot last year despite sustaining a dislocated shoulder in a fall a few months earlier.
Before going public, Palmer called Billy Payne, chairman of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament, to inform him on his plans not to hit the ceremonial first tee shot.
“I spoke with Arnold … and we certainly understand his decision,” Payne said in a statement. “It makes no difference whether he actually hits a drive. He is a true legend in golf and will be welcomed as usual on the first tee with the other Masters Honorary Starters. It will be a great day.”
Palmer won the Masters in 1958, 1960, 1962 and 1964, and played in the first major of the year 50 times before his last one in 2004.
