Golfers come out to see honorary starters

Keegan Bradley arrived at the No. 1 tee at 7:40 a.m., 82 minutes before his tee time.

He was simply there as a fan.

Bradley, along with Bubba Watson and Rickie Fowler, watched Thursday morning as honorary starters Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player began the Masters Tournament.

“I’ve always wanted to do it, but I just decided to get up a little early and come watch,” Bradley said. “It was so special and very emotional being out there. It’s something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”

The gesture by the three players did not go unnoticed by Palmer, Nicklaus and Player, especially since Fowler was in the final group to tee off Thursday.

“It shows they have respect for the game,” Player said. “I can tell you that as a competitor that’s played in it a lot of times, I appreciated it very much indeed. I remember when Jock Hutchison used to tee off here, I used to go watch him, always.”

Nicklaus countered Player’s comment by joking, “I never got up that early.”

Bradley said each of the honorary starters approached the current players on the tee, thanking them for making an effort to show up.

“I was very surprised and even a little nervous when they were coming over,” Bradley said. “I mean, they should be the ones getting thanked.”

Bradley said the moment helped put his career in perspective.

“This morning just shows how far I’ve come,” he said. “To be able to go out and witness something like that is incredible. I can’t express enough how cool it was. I thought it was going to be cool, but it was times 10 of what I imagined it would be. I don’t plan to miss it again.”