Round of the day might very well go to Gary Player, who shot a very admirable 78 in round one and remarked afterwards: “I think I retired too soon.”

“It’s a thrill to break 80,” he says. “It is so tough for me now. I cannot reach 11 in two, and it is hard for me to get to 18 in two, either. So those par-fours are like par-fives, and I have to hit driver on the fourth.”

But none of that seemed to bother Player, who birdied the second hole and drained a 30-footer for par at 11. “I also hit a fairway wood to get on No. 7 in two and make a par there,” he adds. “I only wish I hadn’t three-putted twice on the back.”

But overcoming the length and difficulty of the Augusta course was not all that made Player’s round special today. He also had to deal with pretty strong emotions, in this his final competitive appearance at the Masters. “People were so fantastic today,” he says. “They gave me a standing O on every green. It reminded me of the most important thing in life, which is love.”

“I know I am going to get chokey tomorrow as I play,” he says. “I’m both very happy and very sad to be going out. But to be able to have played in this tournament 52 times is fantastic. It is something no one else has done.”

“How blessed can I be?” he asks.