Even at 80, Arnie still draws a heck of a crowd these days

text size

Feldman/Getty Images

Arnold Palmer appeared at the West Palm Beach Municipal Golf Course on Monday. Palmer won a PGA TOUR event at the course in 1959.

WEST PALM BEACH -- Judy Dickinson, the former LPGA Tour golfer, couldn't believe what she was seeing Monday when Arnold Palmer stepped to the first tee to hit a ceremonial drive.

RELATED

Craig Dolch archive

"Loafers and no socks, Arnold?" she said, grinning. "What do you think this is, Palm Beach?"

Well, close. But they were at West Palm Beach Municipal Golf Course, situated about 5 miles away from the tony island where socks are worn about as often as sweaters. Palmer, who knows a thing or two about playing to the home crowd, gave Dickinson his patented thumbs up and drew back the club for, oh, the billionth time.

If ever there was a superstar golfer of the people, it was Arnold Daniel Palmer. With his bulging forearms and exuding personality, it was Palmer -- not Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Bobby Jones or Byron Nelson -- who brought golf out of the dark ages and into mainstream sports America.

Palmer sat on tractor trailers. He flirted with the gallery and the TV cameras. He started a children's hospital. His clothes were sold in Sears.

Heck, the man even has a drink named after him -- the Arnold Palmer (one-half tea, one-half lemonade). And West Palm Beach officials named the course's lunch room after Palmer on Monday, meaning they can now serve an Arnold Palmer to Palmer in the Arnold Palmer Lunch Room.

At 80, Palmer hasn't lost much of that charm. The King was the reason more than 1,000 fans showed up on a Monday morning for the re-opening of a golf course.

"We love you, Arnold!" repeatedly came the cry from around the first tee.

Palmer responded with a blush and a thumbs-up.

"Arnold is just as gracious now as when I first met him," said 10-time PGA TOUR winner Mark McCumber, who oversaw the re-design of the course to the original Dick Wilson layout in 1947. "He wasn't paid one cent to come here. How many legends you know would do that?"

Palmer had a reason to show up for free: To enjoy a little nostalgia. Almost 50 years ago to the day, Palmer won his 13th PGA TOUR event on these grounds, beating Gay Brewer and Pete Cooper in a four-hole playoff to capture the 1959 West Palm Beach Open Invitational.

Palmer already was a star-in-the-making when he arrived in West Palm Beach that week, having won his first Masters the previous year. But he was still finding his way as a golfer.

"I remember quite a lot about that week," Palmer said. "I remember I had trouble with the Bermuda greens. I watched Pete Cooper, who was a great Bermuda greens putter, and that helped me. That helped me beat him in the playoff."

And Palmer kept winning. Five months after lifting a trophy on these grounds, he won his second Masters. Two months later, he famously drove the first green at Cherry Hills, igniting a final-round 65 that carried him past Nicklaus to win the 1960 U.S. Open. That proved to be Palmer's lone national title.

But Palmer didn't make the 2 ½-hour drive from Orlando to gloat about past accomplishments Monday. He was simply doing what he's been doing for the last 30 years of his life -- giving back to the game that gave him so much.

"The fans, the charities, all the things I can help ... those are the reasons I do what I do," he said.

Palmer has never been shy to express his opinions about the big issues in golf and Monday was no different:

• Palmer said he was thrilled to hear golf had finally become an Olympic sport. "I think the Olympics are one of the best things that have ever happened to golf," he said. "It will bring a lot more prestige to the game."

• Palmer said he and Nicklaus remain in favor of a standardized ball on the PGA TOUR. "That will keep the game the way we've known it all of our lives."

Woods

• When asked if Tiger Woods is the greatest player ever, Palmer wasn't ready to agree. "I think that time will tell. He still has a little way to go to match Jack."

Palmer said he hits balls about four days a week, but ventures onto the golf course only half that much. He admits there's a little ego involved.

"I still enjoy hitting it," Palmer said, "but it's difficult for me to play now compared the way I used to play."

For the record, Palmer's ceremonial drive caught the left edge of the fairway. Not that it mattered. The golfer has long been replaced by the legend.

"I hope I've made life and the game a little better for those coming along," Palmer said, when asked how he wants to be remembered. "If I have helped make golf what it is today, I'm appreciative of that."

So is every other golfer.

Craig Dolch is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.