AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Arnold Palmer will be back on the first tee at the Masters, but not in the role to which he was accustomed.

After years of opposing the idea, Palmer has changed his mind and will serve as the honorary starter when the 71st Masters begins tomorrow at the Augusta National Golf Club.

Palmer, a four-time Masters champion who played his last competitive round in 2004, agreed to hit the honorary first shot as a favor to new Masters chairman Billy Payne, a good friend.

"When I quit [playing at Augusta], I wanted to think about not playing in the Masters and get over that and be ready," Palmer said. "And I'm ready."

The Masters has not had an honorary starter since Sam Snead died in 2002. As recently as 1999, Snead, Byron Nelson and Gene Sarazen together served as honorary starters. Nelson and Sarazen also are deceased.

Curiously, when Palmer played in his first Masters in 1955, his playing partner was Sarazen.

"We are absolutely delighted Arnold Palmer will once again be on the first tee at the Masters -- a place where he belongs," Payne said.

Palmer, 77, always was opposed to the idea of being an honorary starter because he did not want to be viewed as a ceremonial golfer. But, after playing in his 50th and final Masters two years ago, Palmer also announced last fall he was retiring from all competitive golf, including the Champions Tour.

"I didn't want to jump the gun and do it too early," said Palmer, wearing an Augusta National green jacket and a green-and-white striped tie. "Things kind of wear away a little -- playing in the Masters, not playing in the Masters. It is a hard thing to stop playing, and I knew I should."

Woods' Oakmont plans

Tiger Woods said there is no definite date for him to play at Oakmont Country Club, a course he never has played. All he knows is he will play a practice round there before the start of the U.S. Open in June.

"I didn't play there before the changes, and I haven't played there after the changes. That will be a first for me," Woods said yesterday after a practice round at the Augusta National Golf Club.

It seems almost inconceivable that Woods, the world's No. 1 player, has never played Oakmont, considered one of the greatest courses in the world. But his first U.S. Open appearance was in 1995, a year after it was last played at Oakmont, and he has never played in any type of fund-raising or charity event there.

"I'm just very curious to see how Oakmont is playing," Woods said. "We're going to play, what, the eighth hole, a 900-yard par 3."

Asked if the greens at Augusta National are the toughest he has ever putted, Woods said, "Yes. I haven't played Oakmont. Everyone says Oakmont rivals this."

Double drivers

Like he did last year when he won his second Masters title, Phil Mickelson again will use two drivers at Augusta National.

Mickelson said he will use Callaway's new square-headed driver -- the FT-i -- when he wants distance and the FT-5 driver when he wants to shape lower, right-to-left shots off the tee. The square-headed driver gives him 20 yards of extra distance than the other driver, Mickelson said, and was designed specifically for Augusta National.

"We've been working six months on this club for this tournament," Mickelson said. "It's nice to be able to make the same swing and hit certain shots I want on certain holes and make the same swing with another club and have a different shot."

Couple of firsts

Brett Quigley still plans to play in his first Masters, even though he left Augusta National late yesterday morning to be with his wife, Amy, who is expecting the couple's first child.

Quigley was playing a practice round with Jeff Sluman and Lucas Glover and was on the 11th hole when he turned on his cell phone. Almost immediately, the phone rang. A friend was calling to say his wife's water broke.

Quigley immediately left the course and flew home to Jupiter, Fla., where his wife is expected to deliver a child today. He has not withdrawn from the tournament and hopes to return for his scheduled tee time tomorrow.

"This is unbelievably good," Quigley said in a statement issued through the PGA Tour. "This is my first Augusta and our first child, or should I say our first child and my first Augusta."