Really sad for this too. He was probably the first true sporting legend created by television. Certainly the first in golf at the very least.

RIP to the King.

RIP King. Two very sad losses in the sports world today.

I was at Cherry Hills in 1960 when he made a great run to win the US Open. They played 36 on Saturday in those days. What a field. Ben Hogan was in contention until the 71st hole, Jack Nicklaus was just coming into his own and of course Arnie. He was way behind, but word kept spreading as he kept birding hole after hole. It was amazing to watch the crowd moving to follow him. He really helped popularize golf with his game and personality.

His signing with Mark McCormick (sp?) and IMG also created the world of sports marketing for the most part. Pretty much every high profile athlete in every sport today owes a big thank you to Mr. Palmer (and IMG) for making so many of them multi-millionaires.

(09-25-2016 08:16 PM)bobreinhold1 Wrote:  I was at Cherry Hills in 1960 when he made a great run to win the US Open. They played 36 on Saturday in those days. What a field. Ben Hogan was in contention until the 71st hole, Jack Nicklaus was just coming into his own and of course Arnie. He was way behind, but word kept spreading as he kept birding hole after hole. It was amazing to watch the crowd moving to follow him. He really helped popularize golf with his game and personality.

YOU WERE THERE?! That's incredible - a legendary golf event. I've read Dan Jenkins' account of that day a number of times and I'll bet Jenkins will have something special to say about Arnie today or tomorrow. RIP.

I saw Palmer, Nicklaus and Player in their last appearance together at Augusta. It was quite special to see those three together. They appeared to be having a ball together, like 3 old friends just playing a round of golf together.

RIP Arnold Palmer

A photo showing Arnie and I was taken during 1964 U.S. Open (Congressional Country Club, not far from our Bethesda, Md., home) and appeared in a local newspaper.

My parents gave me, as a birthday gift, a full-week pass to the tournament. Each day, my mom drove me to the course early in the morning and picked me up at sunset. The weather was very hot that week. (The winner, Ken Venturi, nearly had heat stroke during the 36-hole final day of nearly triple-digit temperatures.) My parents gave me a white styrofoam pith-style helmet to help keep my head from frying.

One morning I was watching the pros practice at the driving range. It's hard to imagine this today, but in those days the pros had to pay for their buckets of practice golf balls, just like any ordinary weekend duffer at a public course.
Arnie walked up to the driving range counter and tried to pay for his bucket with a $100 bill. The range manager did not have change!

"Does anyone have change for $100?" Arnie asked the crowd.

"I do," shouted the man standing to my left.

Arnie came over, the men exchanged their money, and Arnie got his bucket and started warming up for the day's golf.

The next week, we learned that a photo of the exchange appeared in a local weekly newspaper (to which we did not subscribe). When we got a copy, I saw that Arnie and his change provider framed perfectly a wide-eyed kid wearing a huge, bright-white helmet that dominated the photo.

(My copy of the clip, alas, is long lost. I'm hoping to find a copy online or in the paper's morgue or archives, if they haven't been tossed out.)

Arnie was one of my first non-family heroes. RIP, King!!

Jim Nantz gave an incredible eulogy at Arnie's funeral.

I did find this account (albeit from 21 years ago)...

U.s. Senior Open Site Evokes Many Memories - tribunedigital-orlandosentinel

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1995...open-floyd Wrote:A small bucket was 65 cents back then, and Arnie needed change for $100 for one of his.
That was the 1964 U.S. Open - the Hotter Than Hades Open won by Ken Venturi. A not-quite-in-his prime Gary Player finished in a four-way tie for 23rd and earned $475.