AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Long before Tiger Woods began pumping his biceps and stretching his Nike shirts tighter than an Augusta National fairway, Gary Player was golf's fitness fanatic. He was so obsessed with his health and conditioning, Frank Beard once said, that players often tried to gain an unfair advantage by telling Player on the first tee, "Gee, Gary, you don't look so good."

Hey, you don't play in 51 Masters by treating the workout room like a leprosy lair.

There he was yesterday, at age 72, briskly walking up another fairway at the Augusta National Golf Club, just as he has every year but one since he first started playing the Masters in 1957. During that period, he has won three green jackets, a number exceeded only by Jack Nicklaus (6), Arnold Palmer (4) and, of course, Woods (4), who began his quest for No. 5 with an opening-round 72.

Testament to his fitness, though, is that Player has no immediate plans to stop coming to compete at Augusta National, even though he broke Palmer's record for most Masters appearances yesterday when he teed off at 9:44 a.m. and strode -- quickly, of course -- down the first fairway.

That's 51.

As many years as he's been married.

Nearly a full year of his life at Augusta National.

"Most people my age are dead, never mind walking around playing this golf tournament," Player said. "It's a great thrill."

Palmer set the record for consecutive Masters appearances a couple of years ago, playing in his 50th and final tournament in 2005 at the age of 75. At 7:50 a.m. yesterday, with a thick fog lining the fairway, Palmer came to the first tee and officially started the 72nd Masters with the ceremonial first tee shot. Then he left Augusta National and returned to Latrobe to be with his wife, Kit, who had been hospitalized with an ankle infection that he said required surgery.

He didn't stick around to see Player, his old friend, break his record.

"I'm kind of resigned to that," Palmer said, standing outside the clubhouse. "He and I have joked about it. I know he will go out and shoot what he shoots. I hope he has a good round."

Good, in this instance, is a figurative term. By scoring standards, it was not a good round -- an 11-over 83, putting him last among the 94 players in the field. A couple of doubles on the front, two closing bogeys on the back, unable to reach several of the par-4s in regulation because the holes are just too darn long anymore.

"Par, for me, is 80," Player said. "So I was 3-over par."

But, by nearly any other measure, it was a great round. At 72, Player is easily the oldest player in the field. The next closest is Raymond Floyd, who is 65. Nicklaus, who is 68, stopped playing in the Masters three years ago, saying the golf course was too long, too tough, even for his game.

That didn't stop the Black Knight. He wasn't exactly dragging himself around the course or wearing down on the back nine in the first round. If anything, he played better as the day went on, shooting 39 after making the turn in 44.

"This golf course here is tough to walk; I don't know of a tougher golf course in the world," Player said. "I had four practice rounds and today and I walk around here easy. It's very gratifying at 72. I'm pretty proud I can do that at my age."

"I think he's in fantastic shape, so it doesn't surprise me at all," said D.J. Trahan, one of his playing partners who was born two years after Player's third Masters title in 1978. "He's in amazing shape for his age. Barring the fact he doesn't hit it quite far enough, he still plays very well. It was a pleasure to play with him."

Player has been working out since he was 9 years old and still tries to get into the gym every day, though his travel schedule, at times, precludes that. But he also said he follows a proper diet and avoids what he calls "the poisons of the world" -- ice cream, bacon, white bread and milk.

"Fat makes you fat," Player said. "I'm trying to live on vegetables, fruits, fish, walnuts and avocados."

Player has missed only one Masters in his career, and that was in 1973 when he had a bladder operation. His next miss might not be for a while, either. Player already has said he plans to return for No. 52 in 2009.

"It's a thrill to know I hold the record," Player said. "Of course, all records are made to be broken. Somebody will come along and break 51 one day, I guess."

Yeah. Gary Player.