Tom Watson has confirmed he has recovered enough from shoulder replacement surgery to take his place as honorary starter for the Masters on Thursday.
Watson told Golfweek that he will line up early morning on April 6 at Augusta National alongside Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player to get the 87th Masters underway.
The two-time Masters champion needed shoulder replacement surgery in November after a go-kart accident on his farm in Kansas, and made teeing off at Augusta alongside his two fellow golfing legends his main priority.
After doing regular rehab and starting to hit balls again, the 73-year-old hit some drives on Wednesday just eight days before the Masters begins and feels confident he can help start the tournament.
“I’m feeling fine and I will be able to hit the tee shot, not very well, but I’ll be able to hit it,” Watson told Golfweek.
“They’re going straight but they’re not going far,” he added. “Of course, when you hit it short you don’t hit it very crooked.”
Watson only began the role as honorary Masters starter last year, but his place in 2023 was put in jeopardy after the serious and surprising accident at his home.
When asked to explain what a man of his age was doing in a go-karting accident, the eight-time Major champion told the Beyond the Fairway podcast earlier this month that he was testing out a track built for his grandchildren.
“For my kids I had a go-kart 25-30 years ago and they’d run it up and down the driveway here," said Watson. "They had a grand time. I have grandkids now, ages 6-10, and I said, ‘I need to get a go-kart for these kids.’ So, I got one, but it was a little bit small for adults so I got one for me too.
“I said, ‘Why don’t I build a track,’ a dirt track with hairpin turns and straightaways and 90s and a few little bumps so you can get a little bit of air in it.
"I turned around this corner and the kart tipped over and I stuck my arm out rather than keeping my arm inside the cage.
"I have a roll cage on there that works just fine unless you stick your arm out. I screwed up my arm up pretty badly and so now I’m in the recuperative stage.”
Watson now seems to have completed enough rehab to at least get one solid, if unspectacular by his own admission, drive away to start this year's Masters.
