Nicklaus handed Masters role

It has been announced that Jack Nicklaus will join Arnold Palmer as an honorary starter for the 2010 Masters.

Six-time champion granted honorary starter status

It has been announced that Jack Nicklaus will join Arnold Palmer as an honorary starter for the 2010 Masters at Augusta National. The six-times Masters champion last played the tournament in 2005. Nicklaus revealed he accepted the invitation after learning that Palmer had embraced the idea. "I have always had great respect for Arnold and his legacy at the Masters, and I did not, in any way, want to infringe on the opportunity for Arnold to have and enjoy this Masters tradition for himself," Nicklaus stated. "He is so deserving of this honour, and thus I felt it was his time, not mine." He added that because Palmer "enthusiastically supported the invitation, it became an easy decision for me." Nicklaus will become the eighth honorary starter - the tradition actually began in 1963 event when Nicklaus won the first of his six his green jackets. Sam Snead hit the opening tee shot in 2002, but the Masters did not have an honorary starter again until Palmer accepted the role in 2007.