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Masters notes: Remembering Arnie gives Masters an emotional start

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The most emotional moment of this year’s Masters probably came just before the start of the tournament.

As is tradition, they have honorary starters hit the first tee shots. For the last few years, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Arnold Palmer have been on hand. Palmer died in September.

The large crowd was adorned with buttons, which were given out upon entrance that said, “I am a member of ‘Arnie’s Army.’”

“For the first time in many, many decades, someone is obviously missing from the first tee here at Augusta National at the Masters,” said Billy Payne, chairman of the golf club.

“The almost unbearable sadness we all feel at the passing of Arnold Palmer is surpassed only by the love and affection for him, which will forever reside in our hearts.”

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Palmer’s green jacket was hanging over one of the chairs. At the moment of silence, both Player and Nicklaus wiped away tears.

“[Palmer] would have dropped over if he had seen one [of the commemorative buttons] on Gary and me,” Nicklaus said with a laugh. “It was very nice.”

Player remembered how Arnie’s Army was not always kind to opponents.

“It was not easy playing with him when he had the Army and they were screaming and rushing off the green before you finished,” Player said. “But one had to be accustomed to that. That was his Army, it really was his Army.”

Good day for Mickelson

For a few moments, three-time winner Phil Mickelson found himself atop the leaderboard. An eagle at No. 2and a birdie at No. 4, had him at three under during the morning.

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“To make a [40-foot] putt on two for eagle and get the round started like that was exciting,” Mickleson said. “But I knew there were still a lot of tough holes left out there and just trying to make pars was kind of the goal.”

Mickelson is in good position after a one-under 71, six off the lead. He finished his round with one eagle, three birdies and four bogeys.

“I thought anything at par or better was going to be a great score and it is,” Mickelson said. “Because the greens are receptive, you can make birdies and stop the balls on the greens and make easy pars on a lot of holes.

“The problem is there’s a lot of holes out here that you can have a big number and you just have to be careful of that.”

Bad day for Spieth

The galleries around No. 12 treated Jordan Spieth as if he were a son who needed encouragement to get back on his bicycle.

The patrons roared as he approached the tee at the par-three hole, mindful that this was where he essentially lost the 2016 Masters by donating two balls to Rae’s Creek.

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Spieth said it was “hard to tell” whether the cheers for him were stronger than for other players, but he definitely noticed an enhanced reaction to his tee shot.

“I was a bit surprised at how loud the cheer was when my ball landed about 35 feet away from the hole,” he said. “But I was relieved to see it down and on the green.”

Spieth made a par there but then wrecked his round by recording a quadruple-bogey nine at No. 15. His third-shot approach from 100 yards spun back into the pond, his fifth sailed over the green and he missed a five-footer for eight.

“I got stuck in the 15‑is‑a‑birdie‑hole mentality, and it kind of bit me,” he said. “I struck [my third shot] very solid, but I used a club that would spin instead of one that would maybe take the spin off.”

Spieth finished with a three-over 75, his worst score in 13 Masters rounds.

“I’m going to probably need to play something under par tomorrow, which puts a little bit extra pressure,” he said. “At three over, I need to snag something (low) — but do it through patience and taking advantage of the par‑fives.”

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john.cherwa@latimes.com

@jcherwa

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