Remembering The King
A winner on the PGA Tour 62 times, including two Insurance City Open’s,
Arnold Palmer had an unrivaled impact on the game of golf.
A
rnold Palmer, a three-time
USGA champion and seventime major champion whose
charismatic and charming personality helped
popularize golf in the late 1950s and early
1960s, passed away on Sunday, Sept. 25 in
Pittsburgh, Pa., at the age of 87.
“Arnold Palmer will always be a
champion, in every sense of the word,” said
Mike Davis, executive director/CEO of the
USGA. “He inspired generations to love golf
by sharing his competitive spirit, displaying
sportsmanship, caring for golfers and golf
fans, and serving as a lifelong ambassador
for the sport. Our stories of him not only
fill the pages of golf ’s history books and
the walls of the museum, but also our own
personal golf memories. The game is indeed
better because of him, and in so many ways,
will never be the same.”
Some golfers collected more wins
and major championships, but few could
rival Palmer’s popularity among the masses.
His go-for-broke style of play appealed to
fans and his ability to engage with people
inspired legions of followers that dubbed
themselves “Arnie’s Army.”
Palmer was the first iconic superstar
of sport’s television age, which began in
the 1950s, and he connected with people
like no other golfer before him. 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.
“Arnold’s place in history will be as
the man who took golf from being a game
for the few to a sport for the masses,” said
Jack Nicklaus, eight-time USGA champion,
18-time major champion and Palmer’s
fiercest rival. “He was the catalyst who made
that happen.”
Added two-time U.S. Open champion
Lee Trevino: “Arnold is the greatest role
model that any sport ever had. Study that
man. Look at the way he loves the game,
conducts himself and treats other people.
Arnold Palmer is the one you want to be
like.”
Palmer claimed seven major titles,
including the 1960 U.S. Open in dramatic
fashion when he carded a final-round 65
at Cherry Hills Country Club in suburban
Denver to overcome a seven-shot deficit.
He won four Masters (1958, 1960, 1962 and
1964) and two British Opens (1961, 1962).
The only missing title from the career Grand
Slam was a PGA Championship, in which he
tied for second three times.
He won the Insurance City Open
(now the Travelers Championship) in 1956
and 1960, both at Wethersfield Country
Club, and his win in 1956 marked his first
PGA Tour victory in the United States.
Article by David Shefter, USGA / Photo courtesy of CBS
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