Henley, Summerhays get a good look at Masters tradition

Russell Henley and Daniel Summerhays were in the first group Thursday in the first round of the Masters.

But they still had a hard act to follow.

The two teed off at 8 a.m., right after Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player served as the honorary starters for the tournament.

Henley, who won the Houston Open on Sunday to qualify for his fourth Masters appearance, finished with a 1-under-par 71.

“It was cool. I was warming up, and they were hitting some balls on the range,” Henley said of Nicklaus and Player. “So that was just really cool. You feel, like it’s a weird presence, you feel from those guys that it’s just ... I just can’t really still believe I’m here. I’ve only known I’ve been in this tournament for a couple days, and next thing you know I’m right behind the ceremonial tee shot. So, it was really cool, really special, but I tried to also kind of stay focused.”

Summerhays is making his first Masters appearance. He finished Thursday with a 2-over 74. Henley and Summerhays will tee off at 11:07 a.m. on Friday in the second round.

The ceremony was emotional for Nicklaus and Player because of the absence of Arnold Palmer, who died in September.

“I really tried to picture it. Typically I show up right around the teeing area five minutes before, whatever, from the range, but I did it a little different this time because I wanted to soak in the experience, being first off and knowing that Jack and Gary were going to be there,” Summerhays said. “I got up to the putting green and had a moment of silence for Arnold. I had the goosebumps thinking about Jack. He could barely see the golf ball; he was in tears. And when he hit his shot, he still striped it right down the middle. But at the end of the day, no matter how nervous we are on the biggest stage, it’s all about relationships. And you could feel Jack Nicklaus’ love for Arnold Palmer in that moment. And that was a really special thing.

“But your first Masters, first off following them, it was really special. I was definitely nervous, but I’ve been really nervous a lot of other stages in my life. So it was nice to get one right in the fairway there.”

This story was originally published April 6, 2017 at 6:18 PM with the headline "Henley, Summerhays get a good look at Masters tradition."