10 / 42
Sunday, September 25, 2016
“The King,” Arnold Palmer
drew his final breath in a
hospital in Pittsburgh. He was
scheduled to receive a heart
procedure the next day, but
it came too late. Palmer may
have not been the best player
ever, but he was, by far, the
“
Most Important
” golfer in
the history of the game.
To say that Palmer achieved
the “American Dream,” is
a gross understatement. He
rose from working-class
roots to winning major
championship, leading his
own army and hobnobbing
with Presidents. Arnie was
recognized off the golf
course, as well. He was
awarded the Presidential
Medal of Freedom and the
Congressional Gold Medal.
Palmer bridged the gap
between Hogan, Nelson and
Snead and brought golf into
the modern era. He made
golf cool for blue-collar
America and they responded
by making him their King.
A cigarette dangling from
his lips, a tug at the waist of
his trousers and his “go-for-
broke” style enamored men
and women alike.
He won his first official PGA
Tour tournament at the 1955
Canadian Open. His final
and 62
nd
win of his career
came in the 1973 Hope
Desert Classic. Along the
way, he won seven major
championships, including
four Masters’ Green Jackets.
Augusta National and Arnold
Palmer will be forever linked
in golf history.
Throughvarious endorsement
agreements with Fortune 500
companies, Palmer was still
annually one of the highest
grossing sports figures in
America. He along with
Mark McCormack’s IMG
management company set
the standard for athlete’s
marketing strategy.
Palmer’s golf design company
was founded in 1972 and
built over 300 golf courses
worldwide. He was most
proud of his Bay Hill Golf
Club in Orlando and made it
his winter residence for many
years. Bay Hill also hosts the
Arnold Palmer Invitational
every March, a favorite
among tour professionals.
He was instrumental in the
foundation and development
of the Golf Channel. It was the
Golf Loses an Icon
Golf is deceptively simple and endlessly complicated; it satisfies the
soul and frustrates the intellect. It is at the same time rewarding and
maddening - and it is without a doubt the greatest game mankind has
ever invented……Arnold Palmer
NWO Golf Links