| Born: 10th September 1929, Latrobe, Pennsylvania |
| US Tour wins: 60 |
| Ryder Cup appearances: 6 (1961, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1971, 1973) |
| Cometh
the hour, cometh the man. Arnold Palmer was the
symbol that sold golf to the American public in
the television age of the late 1950s and 1960s.
He made it exciting for millions of people who
knew nothing about the game by making birdies
from impossible positions and charging to victory
from absolutely nowhere, always watched
attentively by the adoring "Arnie's
Army". Palmer attacked golf courses with
brute strength and an angelic putting touch, and
he did it all with stylish elan. His rugged
all-American good looks, magnetic personality and
ready smile made him a hero when he birdied the
last two holes to win the 1960 Masters and, two
months later, shot a closing 65 to win the US
Open; they made him the object of national
sympathy when he lost playoffs for three more US
Opens and struggled in vain to win the US PGA
Championship, which eluded him just as the US
Open had eluded Sam Snead. Palmer's prime years
were brief, but spectacular. They ran from 1958
to 1964, but his influence in bringing millions
of dollars into the sport lingers on. It is safe
to say that the US Senior tour would not have
been able to boast a 1993 schedule that carried
over 40 tournaments and over $30 million in prize
money if Palmer had not been the catalyst that
invigorated it when he turned 50. In addition to his 60 regular tour wins, Palmer won 10 times in senior service between 1981 and 1992. But it was what Palmer did in those seven glorious seasons that so ignited the public interest in the man and in his sport. He won seven majors to add to his 1954 US Amateur title: four Masters, one US Open and two Opens. He collected those titles from 22 starts, during which time he also managed to lose playoffs for the US Open in 1962 and 1963, throw away the Masters in 1959 and 1961, and finish a shot behind the winner on his debut in the Open in 1960. Palmer resurrected the fortunes of the Open Championship almost single-handedly, by persuading his compatriots to make the pilgrimage to Britain. His best golf probably came at the 1964 Masters when he was 34, an age when Hogan hadn't won his first major. That week, Palmer was remorselessly accurate with his irons and deadly on the greens. Nobody then would have believed it was to be his last major. That was the way fate decreed it should be, but the legacy and legend of Arnold Palmer will surely be enduring facets of professional golf. "I have a tip that can take five strokes off anyone's golf game. It's called an eraser." - Arnold Palmer |
 Palmer's style of play has thrilled millions of golf fans.
Palmer was America's gofl icon for the 1960s. |
