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Augusta - Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player hit the ceremonial opening tee shots on Thursday morning to signal the start of the 79th Masters at Augusta National Golf Club.
The famed trio of golfing elder statesmen and past Masters champions were collectively known as the "Big Three" since their glory days of the 1960s.
Palmer, 85, teed off despite a sore right shoulder that had been dislocated. He has been a ceremonial starter since 2007. Nicklaus, 75, joined him in 2010 and South Africa's Player, 79, completed the line-up in 2012, three years after his 52nd and final tournament appearance.
United States duo Charley Hoffman and Brian Harman began play in the first round at 13:45 SA time.
Groups for Thursday's opening round of the 79th Masters golf tournament at par-72 Augusta National:
All times SA
13:45: Charley Hoffman (USA), Brian Harman (USA)
13:56: Larry Mize (USA), Danny Willett (ENG), Byron Meth (USA)
14:07: Tom Watson (USA), Gary Woodland (USA), Camilo Villegas (COL)
14:18: Mike Weir (CAN), Ben Crane (USA), Corey Conners (CAN)
14:29: Vijay Singh (FIJ), Russell Henley (USA), Darren Clarke (NIR)
14:40: Jose Maria Olazabal (ESP), Brendon Todd (USA), Kevin Na (KOR)
14:51: Jonas Blixt (SWE), Kevin Streelman (USA), Stephen Gallacher (SCO)
15:02: Patrick Reed (USA), Keegan Bradley (USA), Ian Poulter (ENG)
15:13: Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP), Lee Westwood (ENG), Anirban Lahiri (IND)
15:24: Bubba Watson (USA), Justin Rose (ENG), Yang Gunn (KOR)
15:35: Adam Scott (AUS), Dustin Johnson (USA), Antonio Murdaca (AUS)
15:46: OPEN
15:57: Morgan Hoffmann (USA), Steve Stricker (USA), Matt Every (USA)
16:08: Ben Crenshaw (USA), Bill Haas (USA), Jason Dufner (USA)
16:19: Webb Simpson (USA), Hideki Matsuyama (JPN), Paul Casey (ENG)
16:30: Charl Schwartzel (RSA), Joost Luiten (NED), Bae Sang-Moon (KOR)
16:41: Phil Mickelson (USA), Rory McIlroy (NIR), Ryan Moore (USA)
16:52: J.B. Holmes (USA), Martin Kaymer (GER), Brandt Snedeker (USA)
17:03: Ian Woosnam (WAL), Erik Compton (USA)
17:14: Trevor Immelman (RSA), Kevin Stadler (USA), Scott Harvey (USA)
17:25: Ben Martin (USA), Robert Streb (USA), Cameron Tringale (USA)
17:36: Sandy Lyle (SCO), Noh Seung-Yul (KOR), Bradley Neil (SCO)
17:47: Bernhard Langer (GER), Bernd Wiesberger (AUT), Geoff Ogilvy (AUS)
17:58: OPEN
18:09: Zach Johnson (USA), Jim Furyk (USA), Ernie Els (RSA)
18:20: Angel Cabrera (ARG), Louis Oosthuizen (RSA), Matias Dominguez (CHI)
18:31: Mark O'Meara (USA), Chris Kirk (USA), Shane Lowry (IRL)
18:42: Padraig Harrington (IRL), Ryan Palmer (USA), Thomas Bjorn (DEN)
18:53: James Hahn (KOR), Mikko Ilonen (FIN), Hunter Mahan (USA)
19:04: Matt Kuchar (USA), Brooks Koepka (USA), Graeme McDowell (NIR)
19:15: Jordan Spieth (USA), Henrik Stenson (SWE), Billy Horschel (USA)
19:26: Fred Couples (USA), Branden Grace (RSA), Thongchai Jaidee (THA)
19:37: Luke Donald (ENG), Victor Dubuisson (FRA), John Senden (AUS)
19:48: Tiger Woods (USA), Jamie Donaldson (WAL), Jimmy Walker (USA)
19:59: Jason Day (AUS), Sergio Garcia (ESP), Rickie Fowler (USA)
Golf's 'Big3' - Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player (AFP)
