Jack Nicklaus absolutely shanked his ceremonial tee shot at The Masters on Thursday morning, leading the Golden Bear to explain he hasn’t been playing following a recent surgery.
Nicklaus, 86, told reporters in Augusta he underwent carpal tunnel surgery, which prevented him from hitting the links leading up to his annual tournament opener. In fact, he later admitted, he only played once all of last year and followed that with a single round in February.
‘I don’t know. I was a little worried. I had carpal tunnel surgery about five, six weeks ago,’ Nicklaus said. ‘I was worried about being able to hold onto the golf club and hurt somebody. That was my issue today.’
So, all things considered, the errant tee shot wasn’t really that bad because everyone survived unscathed.
‘I was fortunate I got it over somebody’s head,’ the 86-year-old told reporters. ‘I didn’t hit it very well.’
Nicklaus was admittedly nervous heading into the tee box. After the 90-year-old Gary Player drove down the center of the fairway, the Golden Bear asked the gallery to give him a wider berth for his tee shot.
Jack Nicklaus absolutely shanked his ceremonial tee shot at The Masters on Thursday morning, leading the Golden Bear to explain he hasn’t been playing following a recent surgery
Nicklaus’ tee shot cleared the gallery by a few feet, which came as a relief to the Golden Bear
Jack Nicklaus, chairman Fred Ridley, Tom Watson, Gary Player pose before the ceremonial tee shot on the first hole during the first round of the Masters golf tournament on Thursday
‘I said, “Spread out on both sides because I don’t want to kill anybody,”‘ Nicklaus said afterward. ‘If it’d been a little closer I might have.’
Nicklaus’ tee shot did clear the spectators’ heads by a few feet.
The 76-year-old Tom Watson followed by politely asking to use Nicklaus’ tee.
‘It’s why I left it,’ the six-time Masters champion told Watson, who proceeded to hit his drive down the center of the fairway.
Asked if he hopes to continue the tradition of opening the Masters alongside fellow former Masters champions Player and Watson, Nicklaus seemed open to the idea, provided he can straighten things out off the tee.
‘It’s such a nice ceremony, and it’s a real honor to be invited,’ he said. ‘I hope to be able to do it as long as I can not kill anybody.’
