“Arnold meant everything to golf”. Credit goes to agent Mark McCormack, who sold the Palmer personality and the values he represented rather than his status as a tournament victor.
Advertisement
Palmer was called “The King” not just because he excelled at golf but because he blended that skill and an appealing go-for-broke style of play that prompted the sport to explode onto the nation’s TV screens in the late 1950s. Players past and present were quick to praise the legacy left by the American, who was dubbed “a man of the people” by the European Tour.
He would go on win seven major championships, including four master titles and 62 PGA Tour wins. He revealed his secret for longevity, writing in his last book that “I can honestly say that my work ethic has been one key to living a long and happy life”. He was more than a golfer or even great golfer. If it wasn’t for him and his excitement, his flair, the way he played, golf probably would not have had that type of excitement.
“And that’s why he’s the king”. At age 24, he won the 1954 U.S. Amateur at the Country Club of Detroit. Tiger Woods said it would be hard to imagine “anyone more important to the game than the King”. And even well into his 80s, Palmer held his spot in the world of golf by always teeing off at the start of the Master’s Tournament.
He would hitch up his trousers, drop a cigarette and attack the flags. “When he hits the ball, the earth shakes”.
Palmer rallied from seven shots behind to win a U.S. Open. Palmer lost five strokes on the final three holes of the 1966 U.S. Open at San Francisco’s Olympic Club, falling into a tie with Billy Casper, and then blew a two-stroke lead on the final eight holes of a playoff the next day, losing by four.
He earned his pilot’s license in 1951 to get over his fear of flying, and flew his own plane, later a series of private jets, for over 50 years. My friend-many people’s friend-just wore out. His fans became known collectively as “Arnie’s Army”. “Because of Palmer, who came from humble beginnings in Latrobe, Pa., the game transitioned from an upper-class pastime to a sport accessible to the middle and working classes”.
Advertisement
I was playing golf in Palm Springs and after a round I asked the waitress in a restaurant to bring me a glass of iced tea and lemonade.
