Arnie’s Army perform final salute

Then there were two. As Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus performed their duties as honorary starters at the 81st Masters yesterday morning, an empty lawn chair was on the tee box with them that the previous year had been filled by their great friend Arnold Palmer.

Six months after the passing of the man known to everyone in golf as The King, Palmer was honoured at Augusta National, home of the tournament with which he became synonymous.

It was an emotional ceremony on a chilly, sunny morning in Georgia, as Masters tournament chairman Billy Payne accompanied Palmer’s widow, his second wife Kit, from the clubhouse and draped the late golfing superstar’s green jacket over the chair.