Big three not ready to quit yet

The Big Three of yesteryear were supposed to be marking time, not scores.

Arnold Palmer, 70, has aches and pains older than Tiger Woods.

Gary Player, 65, doesn't blush saying things like ``memories are the cushion of life.''

Jack Nicklaus is 60, trudging up and down Augusta National's hills on a ceramic hip. He was a candidate for laser eye surgery decades ago. It's been 14 years since his last lightning-in-a-bottle win against the youngsters on tour.

But when he walked off the 18th green late Thursday afternoon, you knew what was brewing in the back of Nicklaus' mind:

I can win this thing.

For all the cruelties it inflicts, golf is that rare game that still allows for a graceful exit. Palmer, who won four times in 45 previous Masters starts, and Player, who claimed three green jackets from his 42 starts, were only too happy to comply.

Not Nicklaus. He beat his two rivals for the ages -- or aged -- then drew a bead on the rest of the field.

``Nostalgia?'' he huffed. ``I don't pay much attention to it. I'm a funny duck, I suppose. I come here to play golf.''

That much was apparent from the 2-over-par 74 Nicklaus turned in on a windswept day when the heavily favored Woods shot 75, and the average score was almost a full stroke higher than that.

Palmer and Player came to play some, too, since they shot 78 and 76, respectively. But just like all those years when they battled one another for golf's biggest prizes, only Jack really believed he couldn't be beat.

And still does. Not by Palmer or Player or by Woods or anyone else. His old foes don't agree. But given all the times he produced miracles to beat them, both had trouble closing the door.

``I don't think so,'' Player said.

``It would be very tough,'' Palmer said. ``It would be great, but there's something about a few years going by that make a helluva difference.''

Nobody in their right mind would buy a ticket today to see Johnny Unitas plunked down one more time in front of the Tennessee Titans' pass rush. Or Willie Mays standing in the batter's box one last time against Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez. Or even to see Bill Russell try to stop Shaq from dunking a basketball.

But judging by the size of the gallery for Nicklaus, Palmer and Player, the hottest ticket for the opening round was to see three golfing legends for the price of one.

Mothers hoisted children on their shoulders to see above the heads of a crowd that had swelled to six deep alongside the first tee. Blue-haired matrons parked in canvas chairs felt comfortable to call out advice as the trio rolled past on the fairways. They got a standing ovation at every hole where a grandstand was in place.

``I think they enjoyed it,'' Palmer said. ``And I think they agonized with us a little bit when we didn't hit the shots they thought we should hit.''

At one point, Woods hit his tee shot to within 10 feet at the par-3 16th and, hearing a roar, doffed his cap. If he'd been paying attention, Woods would have realized that the ovation actually was for the game's triumvirate, making its way down an adjacent hill toward the No. 6 green.

Not that Woods would have objected.

``I'd love to watch them on TV, too,'' he said, ``but I'm not walking this course again.''

Too bad.

The kid could have picked up a trick or two.

What he would have seen were three men with thinner hair and thicker middles, making swings that are abbreviated versions of what they used to be. But Nicklaus, Palmer and Player have lost very little of the desire that made them champions, and none of the grace. They still take this business about being ambassadors for the game seriously.

On the first tee, they played the crowd like politicians, telling jokes, posing for photographs, making eye contact with as many people as time allowed. Palmer got off a funny line just before Nicklaus teed off and made everybody within earshot roar. When asked afterward to repeat it, he paused.

``I don't remember,'' Palmer said.

``Well of course you don't,'' Player kidded.

But for all the laughing, the most important lesson Woods can learn is simply to observe Nicklaus. Anyone who expected him to be content with Thursday's effort was in for a surprise.

``It was the best round of golf I've played here in quite a few years,'' Nicklaus said, before adding, ``and I got absolutely not very much out of it.''