AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Eighty-three-year-old Arnold Palmer punched the air on an overcast
morning.The Masters was under way.Threeof golf’s greatest players — Palmer, 77-year-old Gary Player
and73-year-old Jack Nicklaus — struck ceremonial tee shots to begin thefirst major of the year
Thursday.Palmer was clearly pleased withhis effort, which settled right in the middle of the fairway. He
pumpedhis right fist as the crowd roared."The only nerves are to make sure you make contact,"
Nicklaus quipped. "It doesn’t make a diddly-darn where it goes."SandyLyle, John Peterson and
amateur Nathan Smith followed the formerchampions to the tee, beginning their rounds under gray skies
afterthree warm, sunny days of practice. There was a chance of rain in theafternoon.Lyle and Smith both
left No. 1 with bogeys. Larry Mize,the 1987 winner, was the very early leader with birdies on the
firstthree holes.Four-time Masters champion Tiger Woods came into theweek as the overwhelming favorite.
He already has three wins this yearand reclaimed the No. 1 spot in the world rankings."I
feelcomfortable with every aspect of my game," Woods said. "I feel that I’veimproved and I’ve
gotten more consistent, and I think the wins showthat."But Woods hasn’t won a major since 2008, and
he has goneeight long years since his last win at Augusta. He was scheduled to teeoff at 10:45 a.m. with
Luke Donald and Scott Piercy."Obviously,Tiger is Tiger," Piercy said. "He’s always going
to be that target. Heknows it, and that’s how he wants it. But there’s a lot of peoplegetting closer.
And the golfing gods, or whatever you want to call them,have a lot to do with winning. A bounce here, a
bounce there. A lip in,a lip out."Angel Cabrera got one of those bounces off a pinetree and back
into the 18th fairway in 2009 that helped him save par andwin a playoff on the next hole. Sure, he was a
former U.S. Openchampion, but the big Argentine was No. 69 in the world that year, thelowest-ranked
player to win the Masters.The hole got in the waytwice for Charl Schwartzel in 2011, once on a chip
across the firstgreen that fell for birdie, another a shot from the third fairway thatdropped for eagle.
He finished with four straight birdies to win.ZachJohnson was just a normal guy from Cedar Rapids, Iowa,
who would notseem to fit the profile of a Masters champion. He wasn’t very long,didn’t hit the ball very
high and didn’t go for the green in two on anyof the par 5s. He won by two shots in 2007."The
favorite is allmedia-driven, all public-driven," Johnson said. "There are no surprisesout
there. There’s probably 70 or 80 guys that you would not besurprised one bit if any of them
won."Three-time Masters championNick Faldo didn’t name them all, but his list kept growing when
hetalked about 20 players who could win the Masters, all from what hereferred to as the second tier and
described as "pretty darn good."Justin Rose, Ian Poulter and Luke Donald. Brandt Snedeker and
Bill Haas. Louis Oosthuizen and Schwartzel.Not to mention three-time winner Phil Mickelson, defending
champ Bubba Watson and former world No. 1 Rory McIlroy."Yes,Tiger is the favorite," Faldo
said. "He’s strong. He’s determined. Wewill see. But he’s going to be chased by a lot of really
good players."AugustaNational chairman Billy Payne held his annual "State of the
Masters"news conference on Wednesday, where of course the subject turned to theclub’s first female
members, former secretary of state Condoleezza Riceand South Carolina financier Darla Moore."I hope
the experiencefor Condi and Darla, as members of our club, has been every bit asenjoyable for them over
the last eight months as it has been for theirfellow members," Payne said. "It’s just
awesome."While AugustaNational had long resisted female members, with a former chairmanfamously
declaring the club wouldn’t change its all-male membership "atthe point of a bayonet," Payne
said his membership was now eager to leadthe sport into a new era."What we’ve done is do what
we’resupposed do," he said, "and that is to be a beacon in the world of golfand do our best to
influence others to want to be a part of it."While claiming to look forward, Augusta National is
about tradition more than anything.Thatwas never more apparent than during the Par 3 Contest on
Wednesday, achance for the sport to embrace its past and give the players anopportunity to unwind before
the shots that really count.Everyonefrom moms to small children — some barely old enough to walk — took
oncaddying duties. The greats of the game, long past their prime, thrilledthe patrons with a few more
swings. Technically, they kept score, buteveryone knew it was all for fun. No need to get worked up
about thesenine holes. That’s for Thursday, after everyone moves over to "the
bigcourse.""It’s a good way to unwind before the stress of thetournament starts," Brandt
Snedeker said. "This is a great way to relaxand spend time with your family."This picturesque
spot — nineexquisite little holes tucked into the northeast edge of AugustaNational — provides another
of those quirky trademarks that sets thefirst major apart from the next three.Where else can you see
athreesome that includes Nicklaus, Palmer and Player? Where else can yousee former top-ranked tennis
player Caroline Wozniacki on the bag forher boyfriend, McIlroy? Where else can you find 91-year-old Jack
Fleck,who won the 1955 U.S. Open in one of golf’s greatest upsets, taking afew whacks?"It’s fun
down here," Fred Couples said. "It’s a good little spot."Especiallywhen Nicklaus, Palmer
and Player — with 13 green jackets and 34 majorchampionships among them — stroll around the "little
course" for an houror so, providing a running commentary on the deteriorating state oftheir
once-mighty games.After Palmer sliced one into the water, he joked, "That was my last
ball.""I can loan you one," Nicklaus quipped, as he hunched over to tee up his
ball."Is my credit good?" Palmer asked."Good with me," Nicklaus said.Noone has ever
won the Par 3 Contest and gone on to win the Masters,which doesn’t bode well for Ted Potter Jr. He beat
Mickelson and MattKuchar in a three-way, two-hole playoff after they tied at 4-under 23.Ernie Els and
Nick Watney also shot 23, but they had already left theclub and didn’t take part in the
playoff.___Follow Paul Newberry at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963Copyright
2013 The Associated Press.