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"It's Time" -- Palmer Ends Tournament Career
Arnold Palmer declared that "it's time" to bow out of individual tournament golf after withdrawing from the Administaff Small Business Classic on Friday, October 13, in Houston, Texas, ending a competitive career that began in Western Pennsylvania when he was a high school amateur in the late 1940s.
"Right now, I have no thoughts of playing any more tournament golf," said the 77-year-old Palmer, who has played professionally since giving up his amateur status on November 18, 1954. "I'll play some father-son and skins game events, some charity events, and that's it."
It was not an easy decision for him, even though he had been drastically cutting back his tournament schedule in recent years and had played only one earlier tour event this season (Constellation Energy Classic in Baltimore.) He was emotional as he talked about it after, his body aching, he hit two balls in the water at the fourth hole in the Administaff tournament's opening round, stopped keeping score and accompanied playing partners Lee Trevino and John Mahaffey the rest of the way.
"To know it's really over, that's tough," he said. "It's been my life. To stand out there and not be able to make something happen is very traumatic. When the people all want to see a good shot, you know it and you can't give it to them, that's when it's time."
The legendary Hall-of-Famer never used the word, retirement. Not only will he play occasionally, as he mentioned, in team and charity events and casual golf with his friends and associates, he will remain fully active in business. Particularly with his Arnold Palmer Design Company, which has been involved with nearly 300 projects in its 35-year history and has just moved into new quarters at his Bay Hill Club in Orlando, Florida.
"I'm going to concentrate on designing and building golf courses now and really spend a lot of time doing that. That's going to be my major passion now. I have a great crew and I am going to spend a lot of my time with them."
For the record, Palmer completes his career with 92 professional victories, posted between the Canadian Open in 1955 and the Crestar Classic on the Champions (Senior PGA) Tour in 1988, and a host of amateur titles, most notably the 1954 U.S. Amateur Championship.
He won four Masters (1958-60-62-64), two British Opens (1961-62) and the 1960 U.S. Open on the PGA Tour and two Senior PGA Championships (1980-84), two Senior Players Championships (1984-85) and the U.S. Senior Open (l981) on the Champions Tour.
Posted by dgiffin at October 16, 2006 03:29 PM