AUGUSTA – When I first started covering the Masters in the early Sixties, the honorary starters were two ole timers, Jock Hutchinson and Freddy McLeod, both major champions in their younger days.

I recall that they played 18 holes.  Then it became nine holes and after then passed on, the honorary names changed, but the tradition remains entrenched at the Augusta National Golf Club which has always been at the forefront when it comes to innovation.

It is fun to see today’s honorary starters hit ceremonial tee shots at the first tee before sitting down for a long and engaging press conference: Jack Nicklaus, whom many believe is the greatest professional golfer ever  with his wife Barbara, serving as his caddie; Gary Player, who will celebrate his 90^th birthday on Nov. 1^st and full of testimony to his vegan diet, lifting weights, and including pushups in his daily exercise routine; and Tom Watson, who at one point seemed to own the Open tournament, winning the British championship five times.

Whatever was on the collective media minds, they were up for sprightly and insightful reaction to the questions they received.  It is great that Augusta brings back such former Masters champions who have won 35 majors altogether—an astounding number.

I have enjoyed conversations with each of these great champions on their turf over the years—North Palm Beach with Nicklaus, Kansas City with Tom Watson and with Gary Player at his ranch in South Africa.

Each is a man of varied interests.  You likely remember that it was a  baseball player who remined us that an athlete’s “legs were first to go.”  Nicklaus agreed with whomever first said that and played basketball constantly at the Benjamin School near his home when he was active on Tour.  His kids all matriculated at Benjamin, and Jack had his own key to the gym.

Jack was known as a great family man, often leaving whatever tournament he was entered and fly home for an athletic event of one of his five children Jackie, Steve, Nan (the only daughter), Gary, and Michael.  As an aside Nan played volleyball at the University of Georgia and her daughter, Kelly O’Leary, followed in her footsteps, matriculating in Athens which they visit as often as possible.

In addition to being the most traveled golfer at all time, Player spent years booking two first class tickets when he traveled the world from his home in South Africa.  He would take pillows and use the space to sleep on the long flights to wherever he was going.  

When I visited him at his ranch in South Africa, he told me that if he “could putt like I can sleep, I could have won twice as many majors.”   It was fun listening to him talk about such things as diet, exercise, and underscoring the importance of spending time outdoors.   When we arrived at his ranch, he rode up in a pickup truck in his work clothes and began speaking to his ranch hands in Afrikaans. 

His brother, Dr. Ian Player a wildlife pioneer, was given credit for saving the South African white rhino with his conservation initiatives. Ian’s son, Amyas, is a graduate of the UGA Forestry School.  He often visited our home while he was in Athens.

Tom Watson, early on had confidence that he would make it on the professional golf tour but never moved from his roots.  This meant that he often practiced in the harsh winters of Northwest, Missouri.  Maybe that is why he played so well in the Open championship all those years.

He had to practice in snow, ice and sleet much of his time as a youngster growing up.  The more challenging the elements, the better he liked it.

Watson is a very principled man.  When the late H&R Block chairman Henry Bloch, who was Jewish, was denied admission into the Kansas City Country, Tom resigned his membership.  

He has a great love of his community which can be graphically noted that when he put together an annual charity golf outing that brought the greatest names in golf—Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer., Lee Trevino and others—to join him in a one-day outing, the event raised millions of dollars for the Children’s Mercy Hospital.

Today, he spends much of his time at his farm in Bucyrus, Kansas which is 35 miles south of Kansas City.  There are multiple golf holes and a lake.  He is all about spirited competition.  When I visited his home years ago, there were video games everywhere. 

Each of these accomplished champions has distinguished themselves off the golf course and it is obvious that their lifestyle is the anthesis of any sedentary influence.