Jack, Gary and Tom play it again as Masters starters, a scene that never disappoints

The scene never gets old, these old guys — Jack, Gary and Tom — on the first tee at Augusta National Golf Club to hit the ceremonial shots to open another Masters.

They did the honors again Thursday, a little behind schedule due to a storm-forced delay, and that mattered not at all.

Gary Player: 88 years old, three Masters titles among his nine major championships.

Jack Nicklaus: 84, six Masters in his collection of 18 majors.

Tom Watson: 74, two Masters wins among his eight majors.

Add ’em up and that’s 11 green jackets and 35 majors. Collectively, they played in 140 Masters.

Player went first, then Nicklaus and Watson — and, amid lighthearted banter, all hit the fairway in one of those enduring traditions that makes the Masters.

Afterward, they shared opinions on topics ranging from the state of the game to Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy and Arnold Palmer, focused on fitness, recalled some of their triumphs, talked about the lessons of life learned on the golf course and admitted to some embarrassments.

Some — like Player’s exercise regimen and Nicklaus’ quest to limit the distance a golf ball can travel — are familiar. Others — like their faux pas on the course — not so much.

With all the great shots he struck, Nicklaus missed a few, too. For example, did he really shank his tee ball on Augusta National’s par-3 12th hole?

“In ’64,” he said. “It was an 8-iron and I almost killed Bob Jones and Cliff Roberts. Shanked it right over their heads in the last round.

“Not too many, but I’ve shanked one or two. That was one. Jones and Roberts came down to watch us at the 12th hole. Their cart was out in front about 20, 25 yards on the right side, and I put it right over their heads with an 8-iron.”

But Jack is Jack and he said, “I nearly made (par) 3.”

Later, Watson said: “I’m going to ask Gary and Jack, how many times did you whiff the ball on tour? Fresh air. Because I did it. I’ve done it.”

Nicklaus: “Once or twice.”

Watson: “Trying to get out of a bush.”

Nicklaus: “Under a bush. ... I did it in the British Open on the 17th hole at Muirfield. ... I did on, I think, it was the 15th hole at Sandwich.”

Watson said he totally missed the ball “three or four times. Under a bush, you get out there, practicing a swing and your real swing gets hung up in the branches and (the club) goes right over the top of it. Done that. Did that in Australia.”

Watson got the best of Nicklaus in a couple events etched in the game’s lore, in their duel in the 1977 Open Championship at Turnberry and the 1982 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

Nicklaus talked about mistakes usually deciding close matches, but he said: “At Pebble Beach, Tom took it away from me. I remember sitting at — Jack Whitaker was interviewing me on the 18th green. He says, ‘Well, it’s great to be in the company of somebody who won five U.S. Opens.’ All of a sudden, there’s this roar at the 17th green and the impossible chip that (Watson) hit that went into the hole.”

Watson (to laughter): “It wasn’t impossible.”

Nicklaus: “Well, it was unlikely.”

What’s not unlikely? The stories they can tell and the memories they have provided. Those never get old.

Same time next year, gentlemen. Play it again.