Hole No 0 With loving family and friends, historic golf victories and presidential friendships, Palmer’s led a full and rich life. But there’s been one enduring emptiness, one that is in fact a sign of his eternal optimism. After each of his 92 professional victories, Palmer had a local craftsman drill two new holes in the wagon wheel-sized table in his Latrobe office; one to embed the championship medal or badge representing the victory he’d just achieved, one for the one he was sure he was about to. The last empty hole is still there, still waiting to be filled.

No. 1 Cherry Hills C.C., Denver, Colorado, 346 yards, June 18, 1960 Goaded by disparaging remarks from his friend, Bob Drum, Palmer’s monster drive reaches the front of the green as he begins the final round of the U.S. Open eight strokes behind leader Mike Souchak. “There was an explosive cheer from the gallery, producing one of the strongest thrills I’ve ever had in my career,” he says. “By the time I reached the green I knew something big was happening.” His two-putt birdie ignites what was destined to become his signature charge to defeat Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Mike Souchak and a host of the day’s best golfers. Palmer says the key was the electrifying first tee shot. “I was convinced that it was the shot necessary to win the tournament. That one drive changed my whole spirit, my whole attitude. After that, everything was different.”

Palmer lines up a putt at the 1960 US Open at Cherry Hills.

No. 2 Latrobe C.C., Latrobe, Pennsylvania, 132 yards It’s a beguiling little prom date of a hole. Just a dainty little wedge shot with voluptuous little mounds preventing golfers from bouncing it on. The slippery, peanut-shaped green has bunkers squeezing at the sides and drains from front to back. It looks pretty. It looks easy. But pretty easy, it’s not. Well, not for most golfers. Palmer’s aced it four times. It looks much the same as it did when he was a confident lad who aced it twice and was so sure it was going to be a commonplace experience that no one bothered to write down the dates. He’s aced it two times since, almost exactly 15 years apart (September 7, 1982, and September 6, 1997).

No. 3 TPC at Avenel, Potomac, Maryland, 182 yards, September 2-3, 1986 Palmer used a 5 iron to ace and drive a small crowd of onlookers crazy. The next day a local TV news crew shows up at the tee. Palmer asks why they’re there and they say, “We’re here to film you getting an ace.” The golfer smiles and says, “You’re a day late.” Uh, no they weren’t. He aces the hole again to become the only professional golfer ever to have aced the same hole on consecutive days. On the third day, enormous crowds strain at the gallery ropes in the hopes of seeing Arnold Palmer ace the same hole three consecutive days. Alas, Palmer misses the green. The Washington Post’s Tom Boswell begins his story about Palmer’s feat: “On Tuesday, Arnold Palmer made a hole in one. Yesterday, he returned an made a hole in a million.”

No. 4 Augusta Pines Golf Course, Spring, Texas, 470 yards, October 12, 2006 After hitting two balls in the water and being 8 over par for four holes, a teary-eyed Palmer, 77, officially ends his days as a competitive golfer. “I’ve been doing this for a long time and, first of all, to stand out there and not be able to make something happen is very traumatic in my mind,” he says. “The people all want to see a good shot, and you know you can’t give them a good shot. That’s when it’s time.” Sensing history, playing partner Lee Trevino grabs Palmer’s ball from the cup and has Palmer sign it. Then he takes Palmer’s glove and has him sign that, too. “He’s lucky we didn’t take his shoes,” Trevino says. True to form, Palmer completes the unofficial round after his competitive withdrawal so he can continue to engage the fans who came to see him.

No. 5 The Country Club of Detroit, Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, 229 yards, August 28, 1954 Consider this hole a totem, a marker, the unknown soldier representing an army of proud warriors. You don’t remember it? You can bet Palmer does. Because it was here on a steamy August day more than 50 years ago, Palmer, 24, twice halved dashing aristocratic amateur Robert Sweeny, a New York investment banker and the rumored model for his buddy Ian Fleming’s indelible character, James Bond. Sweeny, 43, started off the match by birdieing three of the first four holes. At the 5th tee, he threw his arm around his young challenger and with the graciousness of a true sportsman said, “You can be sure of one thing: I can’t go on like this much longer.” He was right and the two settled into a 36-hole slugfest that didn’t end until the final hole when Sweeny couldn’t find his errant tee shot. It’s impossible to underestimate the impact this victory had on Palmer’s life and, really, the history of golf. Palmer at the time was earning his living selling paint. “That win was the turning point,” Palmer says. “No question about it. I suspect I would have played professional golf even if I hadn't won, but I don't know when. My boss was very insistent that I continue to work for him.”

Arnold Palmer's last competitive appearance was at the Administaff small business classic on October 13, 2006

No. 6 Latrobe C.C., Latrobe, Pennsylvania, 480 yards, September 13, 1969 One of Palmer’s most regrettable bogies happened during one of his most brilliant rounds. The stunning round included three eagles, eight birdies, five pars and two bogies, one of them on the sixth hole, a reachable par 5 he routinely birdies (the other on the par 3 10th). He knew coming into the last two holes that a birdie and a par would have given him a magical 59. “Unfortunately, thinking about the final score cost me. I missed birdie putts on seventeen and eighteen, but tapped in pars on both holes to shoot 60, my lowest round ever. But I’m still kicking myself for that bogey at six. That one still hurts.”

No. 7 Isleworth C.C., Windermere, Florida, 531 yards It was just an otherwise friendly match with plenty of needling and banter going on between Palmer and his opponents. It was in the early 1990s—Palmer doesn’t remember exactly when—under sun-kissed central Florida skies. The back and forth match centered on him and Bill Damron, father of PGA Tour player, Robert Damron, and a fine amateur golfer in his own right. Palmer thrashed a tightrope down the center. Damron did the same. Then Palmer slugged a mighty three wood. Same with Damron. As the group approached the hole they saw only one ball on the green and it belonged to Damron who was left with an easy eagle putt, which he made. Didn’t matter. Palmer’d jarred his from 250 yards out, leaving Damron to complain about losing a hole on which he’d eagled.

The 531–yard par 5, 7th at Isleworth where palmer holed out in 2

No. 8 Olympic Club, Lake Course, San Francisco, 137 yards, June 18, 1966 A fan’s banned camera made a noisy racket as Palmer tried to blast out of a sand trap on the short par 3 during the 3rd round of the U.S. Open. Caddie Mike Reasor later said Palmer’s crucial bogey at the hole might have altered the ending. “Movie cameras were supposed to have been banned at Olympic,” he said. “There wouldn’t have been any need for a playoff if the Open officials had been on the ball and removed that distraction. He (Palmer) told me, ‘That movie camera is driving me nuts. I can’t get set.’ But he never officially complained about it. It caused him to blast out of a trap 15 feet past the hole.” Palmer eventually blew a seven-stroke lead on the back nine during the final round and wound up in a tie with Billy Casper, who went on to win the Monday playoff.

No. 9 (current 18) Rancho Park Golf Course, Los Angeles, 508 yards, January 6, 1961 Palmer made the gutsy call to go for the hole in two after his booming drive split the fairway, but he sliced his 3 wood OB. Then he practically enlisted: left OB, right OB, left OB. With steam practically hissing out his ears, he landed his fifth ball on the green and two-putted. His eight strokes, plus four penalty strokes made for an even dozen, a fact memorialized by a stillexisting plaque. It was the highest score Palmer ever recorded on a single hole during a professional tournament. When asked how anyone, let along the great Arnold Palmer could make a 12, Palmer replied, “You miss a four-footer for 11.” But Palmer got the last laugh. He went on to win the tournament three times in the next five years. The plaque endears him to struggling golfers daily as it reminds them of Palmer’s enduring example and grit.

The Olympic Club, where Arnold Palmer lost a seven stroke lead on the back 9 in 1966—on camera.