Gary Player Heads to the Masters as Honorary Starter Drama Lingers
gary player is back in the Masters spotlight this week as the ceremonial opening tee shot returns to Augusta National, with the focus again on his long role in the tradition and the controversy that followed his son’s 2021 stunt. The 90-year-old Hall-of-Famer remains one of the event’s most recognizable figures, and his presence keeps Gary Player in the middle of a Masters story that is both celebratory and unresolved. The opening tee shot is set for Thursday at 7: 25 a. m. ET, with Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson joining him as honorary starters.
Honorary starter duties return at Augusta
The Masters’ honorary starter tradition has become one of the tournament’s most familiar rituals, and Gary Player is once again part of it. Player has been a fixture in the ceremony since 2012, and this year marks his 15th time on the opening tee. Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson are also back for the ceremony, continuing a lineup of golf legends that has defined the morning start to the tournament.
The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 7: 25 a. m. ET on Thursday, April 9, and it will lead into the first competitive group of the day at 7: 50 a. m. ET. Player, Nicklaus and Watson will each step forward as honorary starters before the field begins its march through Augusta National.
The ban that still hangs over the moment
The last time Gary Player’s Masters role drew wider attention, it was because of his son Wayne. During the 2021 ceremony, Wayne Player, who was serving as his caddie, drew criticism for a marketing stunt while Augusta National was honoring Lee Elder, the pioneering African-American golfer who was the first of his race to compete in The Masters in 1975.
Wayne Player later described the episode as “a tacky thing” and said it was not premeditated. Augusta National revoked his tournament credentials and imposed a permanent ban from the course after the incident, and the ban was not overturned despite an apology letter. Gary Player later recalled the club’s response as a firm refusal to change its position.
Gary Player and the Masters stage
Gary Player’s place in the Masters ceremony reflects the broader weight of his career at the tournament. He is a three-time Masters winner and has nine major championships in total, which keeps him in a rare category among the game’s most accomplished figures. The honorary starter role has turned him into a recurring part of the tournament’s opening image, even as the 2021 episode ensured the family name would remain tied to controversy as well as tradition.
That contrast is what makes Gary Player such a central figure this week: reverence on the tee, lingering memory off it, and a Masters setting that rarely lets either fade for long. For Augusta National, the honorary starters remain a showcase of history, and Gary Player will again be there when the first shot of the week is struck.
