Ceremony kicked it off
The Masters’ pageantry is back in force — the honorary starters and opening rituals set the tone and remind viewers this week is as much about tradition as competition. (The tournament’s video of the honorary starters captures the formal opening that signals the week officially began.) (youtube.com)
Before a single competitive shot counted at Augusta National on Thursday, three men in their 70s and 80s hit the first balls of the week and turned the opening minutes into the main event. Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, and Tom Watson served as the 2026 Masters honorary starters and opened the 90th playing of the tournament at the first tee. (sports.yahoo.com) That ritual is not a side show at the Masters; it is the switch that turns the tournament on. The honorary starters ceremony happened on the morning of April 9, just before the 91-man field began the first major championship of the 2026 season. (upi.com) The three names were chosen for a reason that even casual fans can read in one number. Nicklaus, Player, and Watson own 11 Masters titles between them, with Nicklaus winning 6, Player 3, and Watson 2. (usatoday.com) Nicklaus is 86 now, and Augusta still treats him like the center of the room because nobody has won the Masters more times. Gary Player is 90 and Tom Watson is 76, which means the first swings of the week came from men whose Masters victories stretch from 1961 to 1981. (dispatch.com) (usatoday.com) The ceremony itself is old enough to be one of the tournament’s permanent landmarks. The honorary starter tradition dates to 1963, which is why Augusta can present it less like a pregame introduction and more like a yearly roll call of its own history. (upi.com) This year’s version looked exactly how Augusta wants the world to see itself: first tee, green jackets nearby, caddies in white coveralls, and a quiet gallery waiting for three ceremonial drives. The tournament’s own video framed the moment as the formal start of four days and 72 holes at the smallest field in men’s major championship golf. (youtube.com) The players did not just appear for nostalgia and wave. Gary Player hit the first unofficial shot of the 2026 Masters, and Jack Nicklaus joked with the crowd before his swing, giving the ceremony the mix of reverence and looseness that Augusta has polished for decades. (golfchannel.com) (dispatch.com) Then the tournament moved straight from memory to competition. Once the honorary starters finished, the 2026 Masters shifted to a field chasing the same Green Jacket those three men helped turn into golf’s most recognizable prize. (youtube.com) (espn.com)
