US Masters:Part of the thrill of playing in his first Masters was taken away for England's Kenneth Ferrie today when he was told he could not partner Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player in the eve-of-tournament par three tournament.

Ferrie had seen a gap alongside the names of the two golfing legends on the entry sheet and so wrote his own down.

But an Augusta National official contacted the former European Open champion on his arrival at the course this morning and told him it was not possible.

"I'm disappointed and I'm not going to bother playing in it at all now," said Ferrie. "I understood it was an open draw and they are two of my lifelong heroes.

"It would have been one of the high points of the week for me - Gary is playing in his 50th Masters (equalling Arnold Palmer's record) and Jack has retired from the actual tournament now.

"I'm sure it would have been a lot of fun, but the official said I was not allowed to play with them. There are hardly any spare spots left now on the drawsheet I looked at, so I'm just going to concentrate on tomorrow instead.

"It's a shame. My wife and my caddie were set for an argument on which of them was going to carry my bag in the par three, but it's settled that one."

Ferrie qualified for the event with his sixth place finish in the US Open last year. He shared the lead with Phil Mickelson with a round to go there.

He features on the front cover of "Sports Illustrated" magazine for their preview of the first major of the season.

In the first two rounds he partners Chris DiMarco, who lost a play-off to Tiger Woods two years ago, and DiMarco's fellow American Steve Stricker.