PITTSBURGH Golf legend Arnold Palmer died on Sunday in Pittsburgh at the age of 87.
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Tributes have poured in to Arnold Palmer after the seven-time major victor, who became the most beloved figure in the game, died on Sunday.
Fellow golfing great and a close friend of Palmer, Jack Nicklaus said he would “miss him greatly”.
By 17 he was already a proven champion on the amateur circuit and he headed the golf team at his college, Wake Forest University, before quitting after one of his best friends was killed in a vehicle crash.
Palmer was also a great traveller, making numerous trips to Australia and in the process winning three times on the PGA Tour of Australasia including the 1963 Wills Masters, 1966 Australian Open and 1972 South Australian PGA Championship.
The World Golf Hall of Famer helped build more than 300 golf courses, led fundraising efforts for the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and Women, and he was presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George W. Bush in 2004. And for his respected design career spanning more than 300 courses, Palmer was giving the Donald Ross Award for lifetime achievement from the American Society of Golf Course Architects. He was a legend. Palmer, however, could sense my nerves, answered my questions as if I was delivering them like Morley Safer, and made the interview wonderful.
Love poured out on social media for the golfer who touched the hearts of many, including from long time friend Jack Nicklaus. We were always there for each other. “He was the king of our sport and always will be”, Nicklaus wrote. When one watched him play his game, he would play with his shirt tail hanging out, flicking away a cigarette butt before hitting, swing for the fences with a very powerful swing, and grimace like he was a “duffer” if the result was bad. She was just the most accommodating person ever. “I suppose that was one thing that helped me as much as anything”, Palmer told Golf.com in 2011. The Arnold Palmer Invitational is played every March in Orlando. “I’d see the shot in my mind’s eye and then make it happen with my club”. He ignited golf’s popularity in the 1960s as he became the sport’s first TV star.
More than his words, Arnold’s actions spoke to his unequivocal love of golf and belief that no individual can be or should be bigger than the game.
He turned the PGA Tour into what it is today, attracting the best from around the world.
A PGA tour competition was renamed for Palmer, in 2007.
“The Masters Tournament, together with the membership of Augusta National Golf Club, joins the global sports and golf community in honoring the memory of Arnold Palmer”.
Palmer won four Masters titles in seven years between 1958-1964.
When he won the Master’s in 1960, his army of supporters was there again. His nickname on the circuit and among fans was simply “the King”.
“Arnold’s bold and daring approach to the game, combined with his citizenship, warmth, humour, humility and grace, were truly the signature of the man that we came to know, and will fondly remember, as The King”.
In a touching New York Times tribute, Palmer described his game simply, and in his classic humble fashion. At age 24, he won the 1954 U.S. Amateur at the Country Club of Detroit. Players will begin arriving Monday, and Palmer’s death – and the legacy of his unparalleled golf career – is sure to be a presence.
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“When Arnold came over in the 60s and wins two in a row, that I believe saved the (British) Open championship, or globalised it as you call it now”.
