What's New: Archives

March 21, 2008

ARNOLD PALMER NAMED HOST OF 2009 BOB HOPE CHRYSLER CLASSIC

The man who won the event five times will host its 50th anniversary next year

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. – Golf and Palm Springs icon Arnold Palmer will host the 50th anniversary of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, to be played Jan. 19-25, 2009.

Palmer has not only played the tournament 42 of its 50 years, he also won five of his 62 PGA TOUR titles there, including his last, and he’s as much a staple of the Coachella Valley as the tournament itself.

“We can’t think of a more appropriate person to help us celebrate our 50th year of this wonderful event,” said Bob Hope Chrysler Classic President Dave Erwin. “In addition to his success as a player here, Arnold’s classic style and unmatched connection to his adoring fans helped us reach such an honorable milestone. We feel privileged to have him as our host for this special year and know that Bob would agree.”

“It was very special to me when I was asked to serve as the host of next year’s 50th anniversary Bob Hope Chrysler Classic,” said Palmer, who won the inaugural event in 1960. “I enjoyed some of my greatest success in the Hope in the early years and have loved the Palm Springs area ever since I first went there. I consider it a great honor to follow in the footsteps of Bob Hope as host of this wonderful tournament, which has been a mainstay on the PGA Tour for so many years. I thought the world of Bob Hope and spent many priceless hours with him on and off the golf course.”

Palmer’s 62 career wins – seven majors – rank him fifth on the all-time wins list, but it was his go-for-broke style and approachable, charismatic personality that made him a fan favorite.

Below is a detailed timeline of Palmer’s connection to the tournament.
1960: Palmer wins the inaugural Palm Springs Golf Classic, the tournament that would be renamed for Bob Hope.
1962: Palmer wins Palm Springs Golf Classic for second time.
1963: Palmer has a cameo in Bob Hope's movie "Call Me Bwana."
1966: Palmer loses a playoff in the Hope tournament to Doug Sanders.
1968: Palmer wins third Hope title.
1971: Palmer defeats Ray Floyd in a playoff to win his fourth Hope title.
1973: Palmer overtakes and then holds off Jack Nicklaus to win his fifth Hope title and the 62nd and final PGA Tour title of his career.
1997: Palmer misses the Hope tournament because of prostate cancer surgery, the first time he skips the tournament.
2001: In the final round of the Hope at the Palmer Course at PGA West, Palmer shoots a 1-under 71, becoming the first player in event history to shoot his age.

The 50th annual Bob Hope Chrysler Classic Hosted by Arnold Palmer is Jan. 19-25, 2009. Since the inception of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in 1960, the tournament has donated $45.5 million to charities throughout the Coachella Valley. For further details, visit www.bhcc.com or call 1.888.MRBHOPE (672.4673).

Posted by scurry at 02:52 PM

March 16, 2008

Exclusive 2008 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard Reports

Final Round

WOODS HAS ANOTHER UNBELIEVABLE FINISH FOR HIS FIFTH VICTORY IN ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL PRESENTED BY MASTERCARD

As Tiger Woods studied his 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole of the 2008 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard, he was convincing himself that he could make it, because he had a similar putt in the same situation seven years earlier at the Bay Hill Club.

He was not alone in his thinking.

Arnold Palmer, the tournament host, stood behind the 18th green, waiting to present the trophy. He said to tournament director Scott Wellington: "You know what's going to happen, don't you?"

On the green, Woods struck the putt then started backing up, his eyes riveted on the ball. A third of the way along, the putt took a break to the right as Woods lowered into a crouch, his right hand moving towards his hat.

When the putt tumbled into the hole, Woods produced a celebration like none before. He arose, turned and slammed his hat to the ground as he let out a roar.

Moments later, Woods looked perplexed when caddie Steve Williams handed him his hat. "I was like, 'How did he get my hat?'" Woods said. "Evidently, it came off. I need to see the highlights. I was so into the moment of the putt going in and winning the golf tournament."

Woods and Palmer hugged, and Palmer said: "It doesn't surprise me you made the putt." To those around him, Palmer added: "Damn, I used to play and I know about these things. That's unbelievable."

It was the 64th victory on the PGA Tour for Woods, just 32 years old, tying him with Ben Hogan for third place on the career list behind Sam Snead (82) and Jack Nicklaus (73). Earlier this year, Woods passed Palmer (62). "It's pretty amazing to be in that kind of company," Woods said. "I've had an amazing run in my career, and hopefully, it continues."

The victory was his fifth in the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He became the first player in PGA Tour history to win four different tournaments at least five times each. It also extended his then-current PGA Tour winning streak to five (he placed fifth in his next tournament).

He closed with a six-under-par 66 for a 270 total, 10 under par, to win by one stroke over Bart Bryant, who shot 67 but said he was not surprised by the winning putt. "That's why he's Tiger Woods," Bryant said. "He has an incredible way of pulling off the shot or the putt when he needs to. He's done it before. He'll do it again."

Following Bryant, tied for third place at 273, were Cliff Kresge, who also shot 67, and Vijay Singh and Sean O'Hair, both with 69s.

Not since 2001, here against Phil Mickelson, had Woods won a PGA Tour event by one stroke with a birdie on the 72nd hole.

"I kept telling myself, 'I've done this before. I did it against Phil, and this time it's a bit deeper into the green and the putt has a little bit more break and it has a little more grain. I've done it before, and I can do it again," Woods said.

While everyone else was talking about the putt, the next morning when Woods called his swing coach, all he wanted to talk about was the shot that set it up. "He was so happy with himself," Hank Haney said.

It was a 5-iron from 164 yards, and those two numbers are an example why that was an exquisite shot. The wind had switched and was coming into him from the right. The flag was tucked behind the lake on a green framed by rocks. Bunkers guard the back of the green, which slopes toward the water.

Woods could have hit an 8-iron that distance, but Haney said Woods is all about control, and he prefers to use more club than usual in the wind.

On the shot, Woods held a slight cut with his 5-iron against the wind and posed over the shot until it landed safely, 25 feet above the hole. Williams, his caddie, held out his hand and Woods slapped it with force.

"It's always fun to see shots he gets excited about," Haney said.

"The hardest thing to do under pressure is play a delicate shot," Haney added. "Under the hardest conditions, you'd rather have a shot that you can swing at hard. All he could talk about was the shot on 18. He told me, 'I knew if I didn't do it right, I could up-shoot it into the wind and it's in the water. If I flipped it, I hit it into the back bunker.' He had to commit to do it correctly. And he pulled it off.

"That was phenomenal. That made him feel good."

Said Williams: "I just hope people, whether they like Tiger Woods or not, whether they like sports or not, realize what we're seeing. This is the greatest golfer ever they are looking at."

"You've all heard what I've had to say about Tiger in the past," Palmer said. "I can't see him doing anything but continuing to pass other people's records in the future. I don't see any change in what he's doing or how he's doing it. I think he is just in a position to continue to do the things that he's done very well up to this point."

The Associated Press, The New York Times, and Golf World contributed to this report.

First Round

COUPLES, HENRY POST 65s TO SHARE LEAD

Two men who haven't been in the lead for quite some time were well out in front of the one player who isn't used to being anywhere but at the top.

Former Bay Hill champion Fred Couples, who missed nearly all of last year because of his chronically bad back, fired an early 5-under-par 65 to set the pace in the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard. Late in the day, J.J. Henry posted one of only three bogey free rounds at the Bay Hill Club for his best score ever here to join Couples in the lead.

The two veterans were among the 33 players ahead of world No. 1 Tiger Woods, who has won his last four PGA Tour starts and eight of his last nine overall. The winner of four straight titles at Bay Hill (2000-2003), Woods couldn't get out of first gear with his swing in posting level-par 70.

"I just did not hit my irons very good," said Woods after his round of two birdies and two bogeys on a day with plenty of sunshine and mild breezes. "I missed some greens that I don't normally miss. "I missed one with a sand wedge, one with a pitching wedge - mistakes I don't normally make.

"I drove it well today. I drove a few drives to the right with my driver, but other than that, drove every single fairway. Just didn't take advantage of it."

Plenty of others did, however, though No. 2 Phil Mickelson wasn't among them. He bogeyed his opening hole and struggled to a 2-over 72.

England's Lee Westwood forged the lead alone with six birdies in his first 12 holes, but he couldn't sustain the run and ended up one-shot back at 4-under 66, tied with defending champion Vijay Singh, 1999 runner-up Tom Lehman and Lucas Glover.

Five men, including No. 8 Jim Furyk, were two behind with 67s.

Couples and Henry aren't the most likely pair to be perched on top.

Newly minted as the U.S. Presidents Cup captain for 2009, Couples, 48, started just three events last year because of his creaky back. He hadn't led a tournament since the third round of the 2005 Memorial Tournament and hadn't led after the first round since the 2003 Players Championship.

"I like to play well, and this year I've hit the ball pretty well," Couples, who won the 1992 Arnold Palmer Invitational, said after his second-best score in 55 rounds at Bay Hill. "Today was a good round on a very, very tough course, and that's kind of what I got out of it."

Henry, 32, who had missed four of seven cuts this year, hadn't broken par in eight rounds over three previous starts at Bay Hill. He hadn't held a lead since the first round of the 2004 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

"Thanks for reminding me of that. Appreciate that. I shoot the best round of the day and all I hear is that," Henry said jokingly when his record at Bay Hill was mentioned.

"To be honest with you, it's been a little bit frustrating the start of the year for me," he said, turning serious. "I felt like I've actually worked hard early this year and towards the end of last year, and was really excited about starting the '08 season. I feel like I've been close, I really have. I had not quite figured it out. Maybe my ball-striking has been pretty good, and today finally just everything clicked and hit a lot of fairways and greens, which you have to do on a difficult golf course like this."

Couples also hit plenty of fairways (12) and greens (11), but unlike a week ago at the PODS Championship he was able to convert more opportunities. He needed a mere 23 putts.

He admits that he's excited by being named Presidents Cup captain, but his performance was more a product of feeling better and being able to put more work into his game.

"There's definitely a boost. It's very exciting," Couples said of his role as captain. "(But) nothing that I know of except for practice is going to make you play better. I did work with [instructor] Butch (Harmon) before I went to Tampa and I started to feel pretty good. I actually played OK there.

"But coming here, you know, I think just seeing everyone and having Tiger laugh at you and Mickelson, and have a few young guys tell me they want to make the team ... you know, it's all a nice feeling. I don't know how long it's going to last. But you know, it's good. It's good, because I'm playing."

And playing quite well, at that.

First Round

LEHMAN HAS HIS BEST ROUND OF THE YEAR

It's no surprise that Tom Lehman is playing well again at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard. After all, he's finished in the top 10 at Bay Hill on four occasions, including a runner-up showing in 1999, and seven times overall in his 15 appearances.

But at age 49 and coming off a dispiriting run on the West Coast, Lehman wasn't exactly brimming with confidence when he arrived in Orlando.

His fortunes dramatically improved when the former British Open champion opened the Arnold Palmer Invitational with a 4-under-par 66 to put himself on the leaderboard for the first time this year.

"The ability to play good golf is always there no matter how old you are. It just seems that it gets more difficult to do it consistently," Lehman said after traversing Bay Hill suffering one bogey against five birdies, including a 7-footer at the treacherous 18th. "I can play extremely well at times, but I don't play extremely well for extended periods of time like I used to."

Lehman hopes he can extend Thursday's play three more days after a solid performance - a vast departure from recent results. In five starts this year he's missed three cuts and was 55th and 58th in the other two.

"I play well here, generally. I like the course. It seems to fit my game," said Lehman, who lost to fellow Minnesota native Tim Herron in a playoff in 1999. "I like the way it looks. And I've played here a lot, so I've learned how to play it."

Since his last start at the Northern Trust Open, Lehman has relearned a bit about his swing with the help of close friend and former Tour player Dennis Trixler, who visited him in Scottsdale, Arizona. Trixler figured out Lehman's problem - a reverse pivot that was making his head dip on the backswing. That flaw removed, he's swinging well again, and hopeful for the rest of the week.

"I hate to play poorly, I just hate it," Lehman said. "The first five weeks of the year was a comedy of errors. Sometimes you just have to try to figure out, 'where do I have to go from here?' You go back to the simple little things, and just take care of the small things. If I can do the small things right, then the big things will take care of themselves."

First Round

HELLO AGAIN FOR WOODS, WILSON

Mark Wilson is no stranger to playing alongside the No. 1 player in the world. It's just that it's been awhile.

Wilson was paired with Tiger Woods for the first time in his professional career in the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard, and despite a quadruple-bogey 8 on the 18th hole, Wilson ended equaling Woods's score of even-par 70.

The last time Wilson shared the fairways with Woods was the final of the 1992 USGA Junior Amateur Championship at Wollaston Golf Club in Milton, Massachusetts. Woods won his second of three straight Junior Amateur titles, 1 up, after rallying from two down with five holes to play. (Woods won his first in 1991 at Bay Hill.)

"Things have changed a lot since then for both of us," Wilson said with a wry smile. "I have one win (at last year's Honda Classic) and he has a few more. He's a little better now than he was then.

"It was fun. We have children about the same age, and we talked about that ... dirty diapers and all," Wilson added. "You know, it wasn't something that was going to be overwhelming. I think I've been around long enough to be pretty secure with what I'm doing on the golf course."

Said Woods: "It's good to see him out here and a lot of guys that I grew up playing junior golf with and college golf with are all out here now. So a lot of good memories."

FURYK UPSWING

Jim Furyk, who has dipped to No. 8 in the world, wasn't happy with his play on the West Coast. After tying for fifth at the Mercedes-Benz Championship, he didn't post another finish better than 20th and was knocked out in the first round of the World-Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship.

His game appears on the upswing after an opening 67 at Bay Hill.

"I think it's decent. It's not where I want it to be, but I'm not upset with it," said Furyk, whose best finish in the Arnold Palmer Invitational is a tie for eighth in 1998. "I played a good round. I would like to get a good week under my belt and build that one week to a few weeks and right now get some confidence."

TENNIS ANYONE?

Sergio Garcia, who briefly dated female tennis star Martina Hingis, hasn't lost his affection for the courts. The talented Spaniard was engrossed in a singles match with Andy Martinez, Tom Lehman's longtime caddie, late in the afternoon on Bay Hill's clay courts. Garcia was unwinding after shooting an even-par 70, tied for 35th place, in the opening round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Second Round

SINGH STAKES HIS DEFENSE WITH 66-65 START

Thin to win is a common expression in golf.

Vijay Singh might be taking it to new extremes.

Eighteen pounds lighter after contracting food poisoning on a recent trip to a tournament in India, Singh is nonetheless playing the heavy again at the Bay Hill Club. The defending champion chipped in from off the green twice to shoot a 5-under-par 65 and forge a two-stroke lead in the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard.

Singh, 45, completed 36 holes in 9-under-par 131, two strokes better than Carl Pettersson, who also shot 65 for 133. Jim Furyk, Lee Westwood and Ken Duke were another stroke back at 134. Furyk and Duke shot 67 and Westwood 68.

Playing for the 16th year in a row at Bay Hill, where he has three times been runner-up, Singh posted his 13th straight sub-par score here and leads at the halfway mark for the second time.

"I hit the ball really good off the tee. I gave myself a lot of birdie opportunities," Singh said after matching his career low at Bay Hill. "It also helped by chipping in twice, as well, so those are always good to have. You know, playing solid, not doing anything special. Not doing anything too much wrong, either, of the just cruising along."

While Singh was cruising, four-time Bay Hill champion and No. 1 player in the world Tiger Woods was snoozing. Woods, who has a four-tournament winning streak on the PGA Tour on the line, fell farther off the pace after a 2-under 68. At this stage last year, Singh was in an identical position to Woods now, 138 and seven back of Rocco Mediate.

"I just wasn't swinging the club very well today, and when I did put myself in position to make a putt, I didn't make them," said Woods, who won his four titles consecutively from 2000-03. "I'll have to play better and make a lot more putts than I have been."

The cut fell at 2-over-par 142 with 71 players advancing.

Among the casualties sent packing were Dan Forsman, the 1986 winner, Tim Herron, the 1999 winner, Rod Pampling, the 2006 champion, and Rocco Mediate, last year's runner-up. Other notable players missing the cut included Paul Casey, Colin Montgomerie, Luke Donald, Scott Verplank, Stuart Appleby, Charles Howell III and Bay Hill member Daniel Chopra, who captured the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship.

Meanwhile, Wake Forest senior Webb Simpson birdied the last two holes and became the sixth amateur in tournament history to make the cut, shooting his second straight 71 for a 142 total.

Pat Perez recorded the 11th hole-in-one in tournament history and the second of his career on the way to 65, knocking in a 5-iron from 218 yards. He's among eight players tied with Woods for 20th place, as is first-round co-leader Fred Couples, who shot 73. J.J. Henry, who shared the first-round lead with Couples, is among four players tied for sixth after an even-par 70.

Singh, who lost a playoff at Pebble Beach earlier this year, played solidly but also benefited from two shots finding the hole from off the green. He canned a 45-foot chip at the par-3 14th hole for birdie, and then, after missing the green right of the par-5 sixth hole, found the bottom of the cup again, this time from 32 feet.

A famous practice player, Singh was down for five days with food poisoning, a "forced rest," he said. He didn't start hitting balls again until last Friday and didn't start to feel up to full strength until Wednesday's pro-am.

Fortunately, he's familiar with Bay Hill and comfortable here, and it's showing.

"I've played here, for, goodness, 15 years, every year, and it's very familiar," said Singh, winner of 31 PGA Tour titles, the last coming at this event. "I played more golf here than I did in TPC (Sawgrass, where he has a home) more or less, because TPC, I just go and play the tournament there. Here, it's every year I've played it. I've played more rounds here than any other tournament I've played.

"So, I'm just very familiar, very aware of where to hit it and where not to hit it, and just the familiarity I have with the golf course, the better I play," he added. "My game plan is the same. I don't change my game plan. More or less, sometimes I don't need a yardage from the caddie. I just know where to hit it; that's how much I know the golf course."

Second Round

IMMELMAN, DAVIS PLAY ON AFTER 64s

Moving day came early - but not a moment too soon - for two international players during the second round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard.

Taking advantage of a friendly mix of soft greens and softer breezes, South Africa's Trevor Immelman and England's Brian Davis each fired 6-under-par 64s, the low rounds of the tournament, to save themselves from what looked like a short week of work.

Immelman, 28, who has a home in Orlando, improved nine strokes thanks to a round of seven birdies against one bogey. The key to his day was hitting 15 greens in regulation.

Davis, 33, improved even more dramatically, trimming 11 shots off his opening score after converting nine birdies. Ironically, Davis hit the same number of greens each round - 13 - but his luck proved diametrically opposite. He needed just 24 putts compared to 36 the first round.

"I found something," said Davis, who tied for seventh at the Honda Classic two weeks ago after leading through 36 holes. "I played good today. I played good. I just hit it close quite a lot of times, and again, I left myself four-footers underneath the hole and that makes such a difference."

"I would say in general it was one of my best rounds," added Davis, who moved up from a tie for 101st to a tie for 29th place.

Immelman improved 66 places to a share of 16th place.

"It's been a massive difference between today and what I've produced the rest of the season, which has been pretty rubbish," said Immelman, who tied for seventh two weeks ago at the Honda Classic, his only top-10 finish of the season. "You know, I got off to a nice start and birdied my first hole which was the 10th, and just kept it going. And today I was able to make some free swings out there and hole the putts. When I hit it close, I holed the putt, and it was a great feeling to finally get a good round under my belt.

Like Davis, putting was the difference for Immelman.

"Yeah, I've put a lot of work into my putting in the last few weeks, and didn't putt very well yesterday and did some more work when I was done last night," Immelman said. "It's all about confidence. Once you start rolling a few in, that hole starts to look slightly bigger."

Second Round

SIMPSON ADDS NAME TO AMATEUR LIST

Amateur Webb Simpson, a senior at Wake Forest - attending on the Arnold Palmer Scholarship - joined a distinguished group in making the 36-hole cut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard.

With his second straight 1-over-par 71, Simpson became the seventh amateur to qualify for the weekend at Bay Hill in the tournament's 30-year history. John Cook was the first in 1979, followed by Mitch Voges in 1992, John Harris in 1994, Matt Kuchar in 1998 and 1999 and Bubba Dickerson in 2002.

Simpson, 22, who plans to turn professional this summer, birdied the 17th and 18th holes at Bay Hill, two of the most difficult on the course, to sneak in on the number with a 142 total. He holed a 12-foot putt on the par-3 17th, and then holed out from off the green from 15 feet at the 18th.

"I'm just trying to soak it in," said Simpson, a U.S. Walker Cup player competing for the second time at Bay Hill after winning his second Southern Amateur title in 2007. "This year I feel a lot more at home than in 2006, which is good because I need to get used to being out here."

HOMETOWN HERO

After shooting an 83 in the second round of last week's PODS Championship, Cliff Kresge returned to his Orlando area home and worked hard on some adjustments to his swing. Now his fortunes are on the upswing.

Kresge is tied for sixth place after two rounds at Bay Hill at 5-under 135. His 68 followed 67 in the first round. Both scores better than any of his six previous rounds here.

"A couple of weeks ago I made a little bit of a swing change, and it seemed to have really paid off," Kresge said. "I'm getting a little more confidence with it, and I'm able to hit consistent shots, and I'm just ready to play now."

He's also ready to win on the PGA Tour, particularly at Bay Hill. "This would be as special as any major in my book because it's my hometown, so it would be really special for me."

MAJOR PHIL

Phil Mickelson, winner at Bay Hill in 1997, fired a 67 to move to 1-under 139 for the championship - a good round on a golf course that he has seen evolve into one of the toughest on the PGA Tour. "It has slowly become that," Mickelson said when asked about the course being on par with major venues in terms of its demands. "With the conversion of the par-5s to par-4s ... it's just getting a lot more difficult."

Third Round

WOODS, SINGH IN RECORD LOGJAM AT TOP

An unprecedented logjam atop the leaderboard at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard sets up a final round of priceless possibilities.

Five men, including four-time Bay Hill winner Tiger Woods and defending champion Vijay Singh, share the lead at 6-under-par 204 after a topsy-turvy day full of highs and lows, eagles and others. Also in the mix are Bubba Watson, Bart Bryant and last week's winner of the PODS Championship, Sean O'Hair, who fired a bogey-free 63, the low round of the tournament.

The five tied at the top eclipsed by two the previous record for the number of players sharing the 54-hole lead set in 1990.

Just like Singh did a year ago, Woods, the No. 1 player in the world, made up seven shots in the third round after a solid 4-under 66. Woods, who has 63 career victories, has won 42 of 45 on the PGA Tour when holding at least a share of the 54-hole lead. A victory would tie him for third on the all-time list with Ben Hogan.

"It was a lot better today," said Woods, who won four straight at Bay Hill from 2000-03, all while playing in the final group, as he will with O'Hair. "Certainly hit the ball a lot more clean today and I was controlling my trajectory. If you don't hit the ball, you know, well today, you can shoot a pretty high number pretty easily."

Singh looked like he was going to be one of them, spilling five shots in the first eight holes before steadying himself for a 3-over 73. Bryant, one of seven men who were in first place at some juncture, posted his third consecutive 68. Watson also had 68.

"I just hung in there. I knew there was a lot of golf to be played," said Singh, 45, seeking his first win since last year's victory at Bay Hill. "I just believed in my swing and kept going. I fought back, and at least I have a chance."

Join the crowd. Twenty-four players are within four shots of the lead, including Nick Watney, whose eagle at No. 12 elevated him to a two-shot edge, only to see that evaporate with a quadruple bogey at 16. He ended up with 70.

The hot and increasingly windy day produced results so odd that one of the leaders, O'Hair, shot an inward 30, tying the nine-hole record, and another, Singh, stumbled to an outward 40 to end up in the same place. The top three players on the leaderboard at the start of the day - Singh, Lee Westwood and Carl Pettersson - combined to shoot 9 over par.

"I think it's anybody's game," Bryant said. "But if you're going to say, does it have somebody's game, obviously, he (Tiger) is the guy to beat, there's no doubt about it. That's not to say that somebody can't go out and play a great round and beat him, and not to say he's going to play perfect golf, either. It's definitely there for the taking."

O'Hair's score, which lifted him 49 places, was the lowest since Palmer converted the course to a par 70 last year. He had a chance to tie the course record shared by Andy Bean and Greg Norman but left short a downhill putt for birdie at the 18th.

Singh began the day with a two-shot lead, but gave way to Watney, who after an eagle at the 12th got to 9 under par. He yielded control to Bryant, who couldn't hang on either, promptly dunking a ball in the water at 16 and making bogey.

Ken Duke also had a piece of first place until bogeys at two of the last three dropped him into a tie for seventh with Watney, Westwood, Tom Lehman and Orlando's Cliff Kresge.

In sixth place alone is Hunter Mahan, who was 7 under par through 13 holes before settling for 65, moving up 32 places.

Of course, all eyes will likely be on Woods, who responded not only to a pre-round pep talk from Palmer, but also a bit of ribbing Friday night from Watson, who frequently joins him for practice rounds.

"You knew he was going to play good," Watson, the only left-hander in the lead group, said. "I sent him a text last night and said, 'You'd better get off your butt and start doing something,' and he did. No matter if he's struggling he finds a way just like today he found a way."

Watson added that "everything he (Woods) does, it's going to be incredible and it's going to be unbelievable." Still, he wasn't about to capitulate. "I think it's going to be a good battle coming down the stretch," he said. "It's going to be fun."

Third Round

BAY HILL AGAIN IN TIGER'S SIGHTS

Tiger Woods in first place is the last place his peers would like to see him.

All Woods wanted at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard was to shoot a score that would get him in contention for his fifth straight PGA Tour victory and fifth professional win at Bay Hill, where he began his march through the record books with the 1991 USGA Junior Amateur Championship.

Instead, after a clutch 4-under-par 66 on a hot and increasingly windy day, Woods rose all the way to the top, tied with four others, with 18 holes remaining. Given that he is 42 of 45 on the PGA Tour when holding at least a share of the 54-hole lead, his chances for adding to his 63 Tour titles improved appreciably.

"I'm back in the tournament," Woods, 32, said early in the afternoon, before the winds freshened and pacesetters started falling back towards the No. 1 player in the world. "It's nice to have to go out there and play a good round of golf and win the tournament instead of having to play a great round of golf to hopefully get myself back in the mix. I did the work today to get myself back in the tournament."

Woods, indeed, did the work, mixing six birdies against two bogeys to improve his score by two strokes for the second day in a row. His 70-68-66 progression puts him at 6-under-par 204 and in a good frame of mind for the sprint to the finish.

"I feel good. I just wanted to get myself back in the tournament," said Woods, who won the Arnold Palmer Invitational four straight times from 2000-03. "I was on the periphery there, seven back. A good round can win the tournament."

After struggling with his swing the first two rounds and making few putts, Woods went back to his home in nearby Isleworth and worked out a few kinks. In the third round, he hit 10 fairways and 14 greens. The last of his six birdies - after he hit it to 2 feet at 15 - came at the difficult 485-yard par-4 16th when he stiffed a 6-iron to four feet. It was just one of three birdies for the day on a hole that played the most difficult with a 4.507 average.

"It worked out perfect," he said.

Just like most of the events that unfolded."It's very wide open," he said. "A bunch of guys have a chance. If the wind blows like it did today, then it will be very interesting tomorrow."

Third Round

O'HAIR EQUALS RECORD WITH 30

Sean O'Hair was pondering a trip to Sea World with his children in the afternoon. This after a spotless round of golf at Bay Hill that had him swimming with the big fishes once again.

Winner last week at the PODS Championship in Palm Harbor, Florida, O'Hair glided around the Bay Hill Club with a bogey-free 63, the low round of the tournament, which lifted him from the ranks of also-ran to contender in the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard.

O'Hair, a former Orlando resident, began the day 1 over par for the tournament and 10 strokes behind 36-hole leader Vijay Singh. When he holed out with a closing 30 on the inward nine, O'Hair had moved up from a tie for 49th to a tie for third and was three behind Singh, who hadn't yet hit a ball.

He'll begin the free-for-all final round tied for first place with a chance to become the only player besides No. 1 Tiger Woods in the last two seasons to win back-to-back starts.

"That (repeating) would be cool," said O'Hair, 25, who last week overcame a three-stroke deficit to Stewart Cink for his second PGA Tour title. "I just need to do my part and let it fall into place, not think too much, not try too hard. I need to do the same things I've been doing and stay out of my own way."

O'Hair's score was the lowest since Palmer converted the Bay Hill course to a par 70 last year. He had a chance to tie the course record shared by Andy Bean and Greg Norman, but he left short a downhill putt for birdie at the 18th.

"That green is just a little slow than the rest and I didn't adjust," shrugged O'Hair, who eagled the par-5 12th hole for the second day in a row and added five birdies. One was a chip-in from off the green at the 14th from 65 feet.

"That kept some momentum going," he said.

O'Hair hit 12 fairways and 16 greens, which were soft after overnight rains and relatively smooth given that he and partner Retief Goosen were in the seventh group to tee off. As the round progressed, O'Hair simply went with what turned out to be a very good flow.

"You can't think about what you are shooting. You can't think about what you want to shoot. You can't think about anything but the next shot," O'Hair said. "You are literally going one shot at a time and just allowing it to happen rather than trying to make something happen."

Tournament:Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard
Ending:March 16, 2008
Purse: $5,800,000
Total FedExCup Points: 25,000
Course:Bay Hill Club & Lodge
Par:70

Posted by scurry at 06:28 PM

February 08, 2008

WORLD GOLF HALL OF FAME MEMBER ARNOLD PALMER DONATES GOLF CLUBS TO THE FIRST TEE OF PITTSBURGH

ST. AUGUSTINE, FL - Arnold Palmer has donated hundreds of golf clubs to The First Tee of Pittsburgh. The clubs are the remaining inventory of the Arnold Palmer Golf Company when it closed in 2000 and includes multiple sets of woods, irons and drivers for men and women. Palmer has served as honorary chairman of The First Tee of Pittsburgh since its inception in 2000 and has been supportive to the Chapter in many ways.

Palmer has strong ties to Pittsburgh going back to his amateur days and teen years when he was competing in events of the Western Pennsylvania Golf Association. He has received many honors over the years from Pittsburgh organizations and is a member of Oakmont Country Club. His golf at Oakmont is an important part of his personal history in the game.

“I have wanted to do something useful with these clubs for a long time. I can’t think of anything that would serve that purpose better than to put them in the hands of The First Tee for its wonderful programs,” said Palmer. “I am very happy with the decision to give them to The First Tee of Pittsburgh, where I am proud to serve as honorary chairman. I grew up and played virtually all of my golf in my early years in Western Pennsylvania.”

The Chapter will use the adult clubs for age appropriate participants. They will also be used for clinics held at the Chapter and some will be provided to young people who have shown a keen interest in golf and The First Tee.

“We are very happy and grateful for Mr. Palmer’s donation. He has been a wonderful part of The First Tee of Pittsburgh and has always been very available to us despite his busy schedule,” said Bruce Stephen, former Chapter executive director and current board member of The First Tee of Pittsburgh.

About The First Tee
The First Tee (www.thefirsttee.org) is an initiative of the World Golf Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in St. Augustine, FL at World Golf Village, home of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Its mission is to impact the lives of young people by providing learning facilities and educational programs that promote character development and life-enhancing values through the game of golf. Since its inception in 1997, The First Tee has introduced the game of golf and its values to more 2.2 million participants and students in 48 states and five international locations – Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and Singapore. Former President George Bush serves as honorary chairman.

Posted by scurry at 11:55 AM

December 03, 2007

An Arnold Palmer with an Arnold Palmer chaser

Pittsburgh eatery develops a sandwich in honor of Palmer

For fans who’ve longed to break bread with Arnold Palmer, it’s a dream come true. And all it costs is $6.50. That’s how much it'll set you back to enjoy an Arnold Palmer sandwich at a popular string of independent Pittsburgh restaurants that are world famous for honoring local heroes.

The Arnold Palmer is ringing up steady sales at Peppi’s, according to sandwich entrepreneur Lou Bosser of Peppi’s Restaurants in Pittsburgh.

“It has a chicken breast, bacon, onions, ranch dressing and provolone cheese and people are snapping them up,” Bosser says. “It’s a popular sandwich.”

And it's named after a popular man. The sandwich debuted just weeks after GQ magazine declared Palmer to be one of the 50 most stylish men in history.

Arnold Palmer, the sandwich drew its inspiration from another increasingly popular Arnold Palmer, the refreshing half iced tea and half lemonade concoction that can be ordered online at www.arnoldpalmer.com or at www.arnoldpalmertee.com.

“A couple of my young guys were drinking some Arnold Palmers,” Bosser says, “and I told them that he’s one of the most legendary guys to ever come out of western Pennsylvania. I started telling them all about him, all he’s done and what he means to our region and it dawned on me that it was time to name a sandwich in his honor.”

Peppi’s has three Pittsburgh locations and earned national recognition when Sports Illustrated, The New York Times and major television broadcasters began reporting about the restaurant’s delicious Rothlis-burger sandwich when the Pittsburgh Steelers were advancing in 2006 toward their fifth Super Bowl.

Named in honor of Steeler quarterback Ben Rothlisberger, the sandwich is a combination hamburger, hot sausage and grilled onions topped with scrambled egg and two slices of American cheese.

Posted by crodell at 05:27 PM

Palmer, Saunders finish strong at Father-Son

Palmer, 78, and Clemson sophomore forge best finish in years

The name Arnold Palmer was on the leader board again this week and the world of golf felt good about it. Palmer and grandson Sam Saunders finished the Del Webb Father-Son Challenge at Champions Gate near Orlando at 18-under and tied for sixth place behind winners Larry and Josh Nelson at 24-under.

According to Phil Stambaugh’s news story posted on www.pgatour.com, “One of the feel-good stories of the week came from 78-year-old Arnold Palmer and grandson Sam Saunders, who enjoyed their best finish in their five-year history in the event. Behind the prodigious length and the maturing game of Saunders -- a Clemson sophomore -- Palmer and Saunders followed their opening-round 62 with a 63 to finish tied for sixth. Their previous best finish in the event was 12th-place finishes in 2003 and 2004.”

“It's been a while (since I played),” Palmer said. “Sam played really well, there's no doubt about that. Once in a while I was there for him to tap in a putt for a birdie or par."

The strong finish came on the heels of the announcement that Palmer will be honored January 14 in Orlando by the Golf Coaches Association of America as only the third non-coach to earn its Lifetime Achievement Award and induction into its Hall of Fame.

"I am certainly looking forward to receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Golf Coaches Association of America," Palmer said. "I consider it a particular honor in as much as my golf at Wake Forest played a major role in leading me into a career in professional golf. I have kept in close contact touch with collegiate golf through the years and was very pleased to lend my name to the Palmer Cup when it was founded a decade ago."

Palmer joins Karsten Solheim and Byron Nelson as previous recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The GCAA's marquee event, The Palmer Cup presented by Monster, is named in Palmer's honor. The annual event between top college players from the U.S. and Europe was first held in 1997 and has become one of the most widely respected amateur events in the world. Additionally, the national championship medalist in NCAA Divisions I, II and III, as well as the NAIA, are honored with the Arnold Palmer Award presented by Callaway Golf.

Posted by crodell at 05:15 PM

November 12, 2007

Palmer to Receive GCAA Lifetime Achievement Award

Golf legend to be honored at Hall of Fame Banquet Jan. 14

NORMAN, Okla. — Arnold Palmer will be honored with the GCAA Lifetime Achievement Award at its annual Hall of Fame Banquet Jan. 14 at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando, Fla. In addition, Palmer will become only the third non-coach inducted into the GCAA Hall of Fame.

“I am certainly looking forward to receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Golf Coaches Association of America,” said Palmer. “I consider it a particular honor inasmuch as my golf at Wake Forest played a major role in leading me into my career in professional golf. I have kept in close touch with collegiate golf through the years and was very pleased to lend my name to the Palmer Cup when it was founded a decade ago.”

Besides the magnificent performance record, Palmer’s magnetic personality and unfailing sense of kindness
and thoughtfulness to everybody with whom he comes in contact have endeared him to millions throughout
the world and led to the informal formation of the largest non-uniformed “military” organization in existence -- Arnie’s Army. Seven of his victories came in what the golfing world considers the four major professional championships. He won the Masters Tournament four times, in 1958, 1960, 1962 and 1964; the U.S. Open in spectacular fashion in 1960 at Cherry Hills Country Club in Denver and the British Open in 1961 and 1962. He came from seven strokes off the pace in the final round in that U.S. Open win and finished second in four other Opens after that. Among the majors, only the PGA Championship eluded him. He finished second in the PGA three times. Palmer was also a two-time NCAA medalist, in 1948 and 1949, while at Wake Forest.

The golfing great has been the recipient of countless honors, the symbolic plaques, trophies and citations scattered throughout his personal, club and business worlds, the epitome coming in 2004 when he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush at a White House ceremony. He has received virtually every national award in golf and after his great 1960 season both the Hickok Professional Athlete of the Year and Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year trophies. He is a charter member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and a member of the American Golf Hall of Fame at Foxburg, PA, and the PGA Hall of Fame in Florida. He is chairman of the USGA Members Program and served as honorary national chairman of the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation for 20 years. He played a major role in the fund-raising drive that led to the creation of the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and Women in Orlando in the 1980s. A long-time member of the board of directors of Latrobe Area Hospital he staged a major annual fund-raising golf event for that institution for six years that led to the formation of the Latrobe Area Hospital Charitable Foundation.

The GCAA’s marquee event, The Palmer Cup presented by Monster, is named in Palmer’s honor. The annual
event between the top college players in the United States and Europe was first played in 1997 and has become one the the most widely respected amateur events in the world. Additionally, the national championship medalist in NCAA Divisions I, II and III, as well as the NAIA, or honored with the Arnold Palmer Award presented by Callaway Golf.

Palmer joins Karsten Solheim and Byron Nelson as previous recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award.

- GCAA -

For Immediate Release
Contact: Dustin Roberts
Golf Coaches Association of America
(405) 329-4222
http://gcaa.collegiategolf.com

Posted by scurry at 02:51 PM

October 10, 2007

"Legendary" Palmer Scores on Influential List

Business Week Ranks him among top 100 in all sports

The Business Week list of the 100 most influential people in the world of sports contains all the job descriptions you’d expect. There’s commissioner, owner, president, CEO, chairman and other titles drawn straight from corporate elite’s financial reports.

But one title stands out for looking like it was lifted from fables about King Arthur or Harry Potter. The title?

Legend.

That’s what Business Week chose to put beside Arnold Palmer’s name (and only one other) when it dubbed Palmer the 76th most influential figure in 2007 sports: Arnold Palmer, PGA Legend.

Great work, if you can get it.

Palmer’s name is unique to the list in that he’s nearly four decades removed from the heydays of the profession that first made him famous. The other 98 are still actively engaged in their life’s pursuits. Fellow “legend,” Earvin “Magic” Johnson, comes in at 95.

According to Business Week, the top 10 are:

1. Roger Goodell Commissioner, NFL
2. Tiger Woods Golfer
3. David Stern Commissioner, NBA
4. George Bodenheimer President, ESPN, ABC Sports; co-chairman, Disney Media Networks
5. Bud Selig Commissioner, MLB
6. Brian France Chairman, CEO NASCAR
7. Dick Ebersol Chairman, NBC Universal Sports & Olympics
8. Phil Knight Chairman, Nike
9. Sean McManus President, CBS News and Sports
10. Rupert Murdoch Chairman, CEO, News Corp.

Besides Palmer and Woods, the only other golf-associated names to make the list are PGA Commissioner Tim Finchem, no. 34, and IMG Senior Vice President and global managing director of golf, Mark Steinberg, no. 72.

Palmer’s lucky, too, in that his is the only occupation on the list where if he says, “Hey, I’m taking the day off to play golf,” he’s not going to hear any griping from angry shareholders. In fact, people get upset if Palmer’s not golfing enough.

If that’s, indeed, the case then all is right in the Palmer world. After a recent working vacation to Pebble Beach, Palmer has confirmed he’ll be playing in the following events: On Thursday, October 11, he’ll be in the pro-am at the Administaff Small Business Classic at the Augusta Pines Golf Club near Houston; and he’s looking forward to joining his grandson, Sam Saunders, now a sophomore at Clemson University, again at the Father-Son tournament at ChampionsGate Golf Club Nov. 28 through Dec. 2 near his Bay Hill winter home in Orlando.

A legend’s work is never done.

Posted by crodell at 09:42 AM

September 22, 2007

ArnoldPalmer.com Named Best

Wins prestigious web award from the Web Marketing Association

In the eyes of many golf-loving Americans, Arnold Palmer is the greatest. Now, at least in the eyes of one prestigious panel of award-bestowing experts, so is his website.

ArnoldPalmer.com was recently named one of the Web Marketing Association’s Best Web Sites of 2007. The Palmer site, which is anchored by a daily timeline item harkening back to a corresponding news item from Palmer’s vivid and colorful past, was one of just 96 winners selected from 2,400 entries from more than 40 countries.

For Palmer, who celebrated his 78th birthday on September 10, a lifetime of earth- and airborne achievements has notched a first in yet another realm, the internet.

“Yes, this is the first time I’ve ever won a web award!” he says. “I couldn't be happier that ArnoldPalmer.com was chosen as one of the best. It's the one place where all the fans can go to instantly learn everything that might interest them about our charities, my history, our businesses, Kingdom Magazine, the outstanding golf courses we’ve built and what's new in our world.”

Organizers said entries were judged on design, copy writing, innovation, content, interactivity, navigation, and use of technology. Teams of independent Internet professionals representing a variety of relevant disciplines of web site development weighed each entry. Judges included members of the media, advertising executives, site designers, creative directors, corporate marketing executives, content providers and webmasters.

The WebAward competition format allows Web sites to compete head to head with other sites within their industry to win the Best of Industry and Standard of Excellence awards. Here’s the award and here’s the announcement.

The Web Marketing Association (http://www.webmarketingassociation.org) works to create a high standard of excellence for web site development and marketing on the Internet. Founded by the Web Marketing Association in 1997, when the letters “www” still looked like a sloppy typo, the WebAwards is the standards-defining competition that sets industry benchmarks for the best web sites.

If you’ve never had the opportunity to immerse yourself in www.ArnoldPalmer.com, now's the time.

Because it’s only here at ArnoldPalmer.com that will you learn the surprising connection between Arnold Palmer and Tony Soprano, and why you’d be a wise guy to listen to Palmer’s astute Super Bowl picks. It’s here where you can read about the day in 1970 that Johnny Carson tabbed the golfer to be his “Tonight Show” stand-in, and it’s here where you’ll learn just what insights U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts sought from Palmer the Spring 2007 day after the golfer dined with The Queen.

ArnoldPalmer.com is what happens when old school goes high tech. This is what happens when one of the most storied lives -- not just in golf, but in all America -- is given the most lavish and loving consideration that only a medium like the world wide web can bestow.

And it’s all right here, fresh and new everyday, all the insight, warmth and glory. It’s a virtual cornucopia of Palmer knowledge and trivia that, until now, couldn’t be contained between the covers of even the most voluminous biographies.

“I'm proud of the team that's taken advantage of this fantastic medium to give the fans such an excellent high-tech umbrella for everything that's going on in our world,” Palmer says. “I hope fans will check it out. I don’t think they’ll be disappointed.”

Posted by crodell at 09:57 AM

GQ says Palmer's historically cool!

Names him to list of 50 most stylish men in history

The magazine that’s synonymous with cool has named the 50 men it admires for their enduring cool. One of them is Arnold Palmer.

And it happened the same week the man who’s regarded as the greatest golfer on the planet said he still looks up to Palmer. “He’s the King,” said Tiger Woods. “To even be mentioned in the same breath as Arnold Palmer means you’ve done something special. To have him at 62 wins and I’m one away . . . I never would have dreamt this in my wildest dreams.”

Records will always be broken, and Tiger’s smashing lots of them.

But cool endures, as GQ points out in its gala 50th anniversary edition that highlights who it thinks are the 50 coolest, most stylish men, from the last 50 years. It’s a virtual hall of fame of American masculinity studded with profiles of Steve McQueen, Elvis Presley, Muhammad Ali, Bob Dylan, Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Tom Brady.

And, yep, Arnold Palmer.

GQ writes: In the early 1960s, Arnold Palmer was more than a golfer: He was a superstar—the Elvis Presley of sports. With his horde of fans (Arnie’s Army) and his pomaded pompadour, Palmer brought golf to the masses. He could dress, too, favoring flat-front gabardine pants with a heavy crease and wool cardigans. And those fitted golf shirts: “There was some talk that maybe my muscles were too big for the shirts,” Palmer admits today. But sportswriter Frank Deford has testified that Palmer’s cool came from those L&M’s: “All America had this image of Palmer taking a cigarette out of his mouth, throwing it on the green to putt, and then sticking it back in his mouth. It was golf’s equivalent of Bogart and Bacall. It’s odd to think of a cigarette as an athletic totem, but back then it was sexy. Palmer with a cigarette was like those old convertible ads with a beautiful woman sitting in the front seat and her scarf blowing in the wind.”

Posted by crodell at 09:53 AM

September 06, 2007

Palmer statue, nature preserve enjoy festive celebrations

The gateway to Latrobe, cradle to a host of indelible American icons, will be bracketed by ceremonies dedicated to celebrating two of its most beloved emissaries: Arnold and Winnie Palmer.

On Sunday, the Winnie Palmer Nature Reserve on the northern side of U.S. Route 30 and S.R. 981, officially opens to the public, and on Monday directly across the busy highway at the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport, a statue will be unveiled honoring the airport’s namesake on the day of his 78th birthday.

The statue of Palmer, strikingly similar to one gracing the grounds at Augusta National where Palmer won four Masters championships, is the work of renown, award-winning sculptor Zenos Frudakis, the creator of the Augusta piece. A public dedication ceremony, to be attended by Palmer, will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday.

The statue is positioned in front of the main terminal at the former Westmoreland County Airport where Palmer, a world-record setting aviator, learned to fly. From their mutual humble beginnings, both the golfer and the airport have thrived, and the airport was re-named for Palmer in 1999 on his 70th birthday.

Palmer’s renown would be secure if he’d never even set foot on a golf course. He’s a world-record setting aviator who in 1976 helped circumnavigated the world in a Lear 36 business jet in just 57 hours, 25 minutes and 42 seconds. Writing about the record, Time magazine said, “Considering the water hazards and long pars, the 46-year-old Palmer didn't do a bad job. He was 77 1/2 days ahead of Phineas Fogg.”

The Palmer Airport, too, is soaring in other ways. With free parking, it is becoming a regional departure hotspot for savvy western Pennsylvania commuters looking for easy access to national hubs. The Airport enjoys updated terminal facilities and fine dining and banquet facilities overlooking the newly extended 8,224-foot-long runway. Northwest is the airport’s premier airline, and regular charters to Orlando, Nevada and Atlantic City are available.

And as of Sept. 10, all commuters entering the terminal will be greeted by the 7-foot tall, 250-pound statue of the airport’s most familiar pilot. As impressive as it is, the statue will be dwarfed in scope by the spacious 50-acre monument just across the highway.

According to a commemorative book about the project, The Winnie Palmer Nature Preserve is “what happens when everybody’s best intentions are allowed to harmonically triumph. It’s something to think about the next time you allow yourself to luxuriate in a place of peace, education and inspiration that was allowed to flourish naturally, all because a group of people agreed that real community progress doesn’t always have have to start with pavement.”

The majestic Preserve is a natural playground of orchards, wildflowers, birds, frogs and other native delights. It came about after the late Winnie Palmer worked with activists, corporations and environmentalists to ensure that the scenic parcel of land framing St. Vincent College would not fall to developers’ bulldozers.

With a restored hallmark barn as the centerpiece of the property, the acreage is a wonderland of serenity for hikers, bird watchers or anyone seeking to engage the elements. The land will also serve as a living laboratory for the St. Vincent College Environmental Education Center.

Combined, the two Palmer projects give added heft to the notion that Latrobe is on the verge of becoming a tourist destination for those eager to enjoy the splendors of the Laurel Highlands.

Besides Arnold Palmer, Latrobe is the birthplace of the first banana split and the first professional football game. In addition, you need to fly into Arnold Palmer’s airport if you ever want to visit Mr. Rogers’s Neighborhood. Palmer and the late Fred Rogers, the beloved children’s TV show host, were Latrobe High School classmates. And St. Vincent College is the summer home of the five-time Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers, and the site of the soon-to-be-open Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media.

Winter sports are enjoyed at nearby ski resorts, and golfers from around the world are making reservations to fly into the Palmer Airport to enjoy rounds of golf at Latrobe Country Club, now available for pre-arranged public play upon the discretion of the club’s pro shop. National golf magazines have featured the club and its five finely-appointed guest houses as a great destination for lovers of golf and all things Arnie.

Posted by crodell at 04:03 PM

August 01, 2007

Palmer, "Greats of Golf," to play in Minnesota

Arnold Palmer will make his first appearance of the year on the Champions Tour August 4-5 when he plays in a special, unofficial event in conjunction with the 3M Championship at the TPC Twin Cities course in Blaine, Minnesota, outside Minneapolis. It will be his first public competition since the Wendy’s Champions Skins Game in Hawaii January 13-14.

He, Don January and Miller Barber, three of the biggest stars in the early years of the then PGA Seniors Tour, will again make up one of the three teams competing in the “Greats of Golf” exhibition, which will be integrated into the regular 54-hole tournament.

The other threesomes in the best-ball-of-threesome competition are Billy Casper, Lee Trevino, Chi Chi Rodriguez, Tony Jacklin, Gene Littler and Charles Coody. All nine men will play in a pro-amateur at 3M’s Tartan Park golf course on Friday, August 3.

Posted by crodell at 10:37 AM

July 27, 2007

Rolex honors Palmer, Nicklaus, Player

The world's premier timekeeper fetes golf's Big Three

Rolex, the name synonymous with elegance, craftsmanship and quality, found time this week to honor three golf legends who exude those same characteristics.

Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player were in Geneva, Switzerland, to celebrate what is, perhaps, the longest on-going relationship in modern sports history. The three golfers have been associated with the 102-year-old watchmaker for nearly half its existence.

"Like you, we at Rolex honor excellence and achievement," said Rolex managing director Patrick Heiniger. "We equally honor the humor and humanity that each of you radiates. It is thanks to that magical mix that we are here together so many years down the road.

"What we share transcends our association through sport and is rooted in the timeless values that each one of you celebrates in your daily life, be it through your philanthropic work, your business activities, your passions, your hobbies.”

Palmer and the business manager for all three golfers, the late Mark McCormack, first met the late Andre Heiniger, Patrick’s father and then Rolex’s managing director, while on a business trip to Japan in 1961, and the relationships grew from there. Nicklaus and Player were presented with Rolex watches to mark their U.S. Open victories in 1962 and 1965, respectively, and Palmer became Rolex’s first golf ambassador in 1967.

Joining the Big Three were their wives and two other world-class sportsmen and Rolex ambassadors from the same era, the Grand Prix racing champion Sir Jackie Stewart and the Olympic and World Cup champion skier Jean-Claude Killy. They were all presented gold Rolex GMT Master II watches to mark the occasion.

The guests were also given a tour of watchmaker's factory prior to a ceremony in Rolex's Andre Heiniger Auditorium. A video of the Big Three created especially for the occasion was shown before Patrick Heiniger spoke and recognized the Big Three in these words:

“In 1960, Arnold gave new life to the British Open and made it a championship never to be missed by the best players. As a result he created the modern Grand Slam.

“In 1965, Gary overcame all odds to be the third golfer ever, and the first of his generation, to win all four of the major golf championships in his career.

“In 1986, Jack proved that he was indeed the golfer of the century, winning the Masters at 46 years of age, to increase his total to 18 majors, five more than the great Bobby Jones.”

After the ceremony there was luncheon in Rolex’s executive dining room for all attending, and that the tour of the Rolex facilities was continued. In the evening, Heiniger entertained the Big Three and their wives with a private dinner to conclude their visit.

That was only part of a whirlwind week that saw Palmer and wife Kit depart The Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe in his Cessna Citation X on July 22 at 5 a.m. Accompanying the aviator was chief pilot Pete Luster and his wife, Mary. The flight was accomplished with just one refueling stop, in Newfoundland.

The group spent two days in Prato, Italy, near Florence where Palmer stopped at the Golf Club Le Pavoniere where club members reveled in the company of a man they've long admired.

"It was a great day spent with a legendary golf champion," said club president Gianni Hills. "We were able to follow him through 18 holes and it's something none of us will ever forget."

Posted by crodell at 10:51 AM

July 12, 2007

Arnold Palmer Becomes Great Grandfather

A happy day for the Palmer family.

Arnold Palmer's granddaughter, Katie (Katherine Ann) Spears, and her husband, Parker, are the proud parents of Charlotte Winifred Spears, born in the early morning hours of Thursday, July 12, in Asheville, North Carolina. It’s the first grandchild for Katie’s parents, Roy and Arnold’s daughter Amy Saunders, who live at Bay Hill in Orlando, Florida. The parental grandparents are James and Sue Spears of Charlotte, N.C. The baby weighed 7 pounds, 10 ounces and was 19 inches long at birth.

Posted by crodell at 12:28 PM

June 20, 2007

Palmer and Woods share No. 2s

In one of his most overlooked years of greatness, 1961, Arnold Palmer laid the groundwork for a career of impressive finishes.

Golf historians generally regard Arnold Palmer’s 1960 season as one of golf’s greatest. The contention is hard to dispute.

Consider: During 30 tournaments in which Palmer entered in 1960, he won nine times, including The Masters and The U.S. Open; he had two second-place finishes and three thirds. In all, he finished in the top ten 23 times.

Those are just some of the statistical reasons that led Palmer biographer Thomas Hauser to conclude: “No year meant more to a sport than 1960 meant to golf, and the man with the magic wand was Arnold Palmer.” What was dubbed Palmer’s “Golden Year” was capped when Sports Illustrated selected the golfer for “Sportsman of the Year” the same year sporting legends like Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Bill Russell and Johnny Unitas were having banner years that would eventually be immortalized in hall of fame shrines.

But if 1960 was indeed Palmer’s “Golden Year” then there can be no disputing his “Silver Year.”

It was 1961.

And, according to research done by Palmer assistant Doc Giffin, it was every bit as remarkable as 1960.

In ‘61, Palmer entered 29 tournaments (one fewer than ‘60), and had six wins compared to the nine he posted in ‘60. 1961 was the year he won the first of two consecutive British Open championships. It was the only major he’d win that year.

But further on down the leaderboard is where Palmer really makes a dent in the argument that ‘60 was statistically superior. And it’s interesting to consider in light of Tiger Woods’s second-place finish at Oakmont, a place where he played near-flawless golf but just couldn’t get the fist-pumping birdie putts to drop.

In ‘61, Palmer had five second-place finishes and three third-place finishes (1960 had two seconds and three thirds). Most remarkable was that in 29 tournaments, Palmer finished in the top 10 an amazing 24 times.

Tour statistics bear out that ‘61 was statistically superior. His average finish in 1960 was seventh, but it rose to sixth the following year.

In all, the two-year stretch includes 59 starts, 15 victories, seven second-place finishes, six thirds and 47 times in the top 10, a stretch of competitive consistency that’s rarely been equaled in professional golf.

Palmer would go on to claim 92 PGA and Senior tour victories with 61 second-place finishes, 42 of which were on the PGA Tour.

So how does Palmer in 1960-’61 stack up against Woods, whose last two years could arguably be his best? Remember, in the win category, these years include the seven consecutive wins in which Woods was electrifying the golf world in pursuit of Byron Nelson’s immortal streak of 11 consecutive victories.

You could say it’s close.

As of Sunday’s U.S. Open, Woods had entered 24 tournaments over the last 18 months. The stretch includes an amazing 11 victories with three seconds, a third; and 17 top tens. Number crunchers could agree that the percentages are remarkably similar.

And consider this: during Palmer’s 1961, he opened the season by missing the cut at the Los Angeles Open, then went the rest of the season finishing worse than ninth only four times. In nine 2007 events, Woods has bottomed outside the top 10 three times with ties for 15th, 22nd and 37th respectively.

Who knows? Maybe Tiger would add to his win total if he played more often. Or maybe the wear would reduce his statistical greatness.

All that is known is that as of June 18 and the happy birth of Sam Alexis Woods, daughter of Tiger and Elin, it is inevitable that terms like “No. 1” and “No. 2” will take on a whole new meaning to the proud Papa.

That is unless he delegates midnight diaper changing duties to someone else.

Posted by crodell at 10:35 AM

June 13, 2007

ARNOLD PALMER JOINS GOLF DIGEST AS PLAYING EDITOR

Magazine’s Exclusive All-Star Roster Already Includes Nicklaus, Woods, Sorenstam, Mickelson, and Watson

NEW YORK—Golf legend Arnold Palmer has signed a long-term agreement with Golf Digest to serve as an exclusive Playing Editor. The announcement was made today by Jerry Tarde, Chairman and Editorial Director of Golf Digest Publications, a division of Condé Nast Publications.

Through the agreement, Palmer will contribute bylined instruction and feature articles exclusively to Golf Digest. Palmer officially joined the Golf Digest staff with the magazine’s June issue and was the subject of the popular “My Shot” interview—which appears as part of the magazine’s U.S. Open Preview section.
“Golf Digest and I share the same values in our desire to give back to the game and belief that golf fans come first,” said Palmer. “Golf Digest is the No. 1 golf publication in the world. I’m excited to be part of the team and help people play golf better.”

“Adding Arnold Palmer to our staff marks a milestone in the history of Golf Digest,” Tarde said. “Arnold joins Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Annika Sorenstam, Phil Mickelson and Tom Watson as exclusive contributors to the magazine—pretty much wrapping up the greatest champions, current and past, alive today.”

In addition to the players mentioned above, Golf Digest’s elite roster of Playing Editors includes Ernie Els, Johnny Miller, Nick Price, Justin Leonard and David Toms. Golf Digest also has a number of renowned teachers on staff, including Butch Harmon, David Leadbetter and Hank Haney.

Arnold Palmer was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974. He is fourth on the PGA Tour all-time win list with 62 victories, including four Masters, two British Opens, one U.S. Open and one U.S. Amateur.
Golf Digest is part of Condé Nast Publications and is the largest and most widely read golf publication in the world. Condé Nast Publications, a unit of Advance Publications, includes twenty-eight consumer magazines and their websites, eight uniquely branded websites, the Fairchild Fashion Group, Parade, the Condé Nast Media Group, and the Shared Services Centers.

# # #

Media Contact
Andrew Katcher (212) 630-2488

Posted by scurry at 12:19 PM

Miller says beating Palmer tougher than Tiger

NBC Sports color commentator Johnny Miller says beating Arnold Palmer in Pittsburgh in 1973 was tougher than beating Tiger anywhere in 2007. His two rounds with Palmer steeled him for the second most remarkable charge in U.S. Open history.

Johnny Miller "thinks" Arnold Palmer’s gotten over it. He "thinks" he’s accepted what happened and has come to terms with it.
He shouldn’t be too sure about that.
As fierce a competitor as there ever was, it’s unlikely Palmer will ever get over the sinking feeling he had while standing on the 11th green at Oakmont C.C. on June 17, 1973. Palmer’d started the final round tied for the lead with Julius Boros, John Schlee and Jerry Heard. Still leading with Boros, he was convinced he was cruising to his second Open championship victory in front of legions of adoring Palmer loyalists from throughout western Pennsylvania. The He was certain the hometown victory would ease the sting of the historic loss he felt on that very course to Jack Nicklaus 11 years earlier.
And that’s when he looked up at the scoreboard and saw that a 26-year-old -- go ahead and say it -- “smart alec kid” had posted an Open record final-round 63 on rain-softened greens to vault to the top of the leaderboard and eventual victory.
“I really blindsided him with that,” says Miller, today the outspoken color commentator for NBC Sports. Miller will be in the broadcast booth starting Thursday as the network begins its coverage of the 2007 U.S. Open at Oakmont. He made his comments about Palmer on Tuesday following a press conference with more than 100 reporters. “He must have felt like I’d picked his pocket and come up with a U.S. Open trophy.”
Gotten over it? Nah.
Oakmont pro Bob Ford says he and Palmer played a sentimental round at the course in July 2006 and Palmer recalled exactly where on the 11th green he was standing when he, Boros and Schlee saw the record-setting round Miller’d posted.
“He said he couldn’t believe it,” Ford said. “It just shocked him.”
It was the second of three consecutive shockers Palmer would feel on day when things went awry. He'd missed a short birdie putt on 11 before seeing Miller's run of red numbers way down the leaderboard, and then he hit what appeared to be a perfect drive on 12 that kicked off a sprinkler head and into deep rough.
While Palmer had trouble accepting the fateful turns, Miller says with a dashing bit of bravado he embraced it.
“He never saw me coming,” Miller says. “Schlee told me his reaction to my score and it wasn’t pleasant. You have to understand, I was paired with Palmer for the first two days of the tournament and must not have impressed him. But that was one of the best parts of the week for me. I held my own with him. Not many guys would ever win the Open playing two days with Arnold Palmer in 1973 for the first two days. I ran the gauntlet of those fans and shot 69-71 during the first two days. A lot of guys have trouble even making the cut under those conditions. To be able to do that with all his fans around was almost, to me, as much pressure as anything that happened all week. Maybe that prepared me for Sunday, to be honest with you.
“Because not many guys could play with Palmer in those days. It was definitely tougher than playing with Tiger today. That’s what playing with Palmer in Pittsburgh in 1973 was like.”
While nearly every golf fan remembers Miller’s 63, few recall his 76 the day before, a round that almost knocked him out of contention. He began the final round in five-way tie for seventh place.
“For me, one of the things that makes that round so special was the caliber of players I had to beat,” Miller says. “The leaderboard had Nicklaus, Boros, Lee Trevino, Gary Player, Gene Littler and Palmer all playing at or near the top of their games.”
Funny, several days after his landmark victory, Palmer and Miller were again paired and once again Miller did something that confounded Palmer.
Call it an “ace-ssist.”
“We were paired together on the 230-yard par 3 5th hole at Firestone Country Club in Akron at the American Golf Classic,” Miller recalls. “I was holding a 4 wood and was all ready to hit when Arnie dropped his ball. I backed away, he apologized, I readjusted then stepped up and hit. The ball landed about five feet in front of the pin and rolled in just like a putt. Then I turned to Palmer and thanked him for his help. Maybe readjusting made the difference between an ace and just another really good shot.
“I don’t think I was his favorite guy back then, but good things were happening to me when I was around Arnold Palmer in June 1973.”
Miller points out that two of Palmer’s most painful losses -- the one to him and the one to Billy Casper at the 1966 U.S. Open -- occurred at the hands of practicing Mormons, prompting Miller to quip, “He may have gotten over it, but I doubt you’ll see any ‘Mitt Romney for President’ stickers on Arnold Palmer’s car. We Mormons haven’t been too kind to him.”
Incidentally, Miller’s final round comeback from six shots down is only the second greatest comeback in U.S. Open history.
Whose is first?
Arnold Palmer’s. He came from seven shots down on the final day to win the 1960 U.S. Open at Cherry Hills.

Posted by crodell at 11:19 AM

Palmer on ESPN, Golf Channel from Oakmont

Arnold Palmer will be interviewed live on ESPN Wednesday at 3 p.m. the day before the start of the U.S. Open at historic Oakmont C.C. near Pittsburgh.

Host Chris Berman will ask Palmer about his near life-long involvement with one of the world’s greatest golf clubs.
The interview will precede a scheduled press conference that will be broadcast on the Golf Channel.
The day will be capped by a gala cocktail hour hosted by Golf World, which has asked Palmer to raise the congratulatory toast celebrating the magazine’s 60th anniversary.
Palmer also plans to attend the closing ceremonies Sunday and attend the post-tournament cocktail reception.
That means Palmer will be hustling between two of the busiest locations in western Pennsylvania -- Oakmont and Latrobe where his home course will be hosting, among others, former Homeland Security Advisor Tom Ridge, LPGA Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez, Walker Cup captain Buddy Marucci, and former LPGA star Mary Bea Porter-King.
Guests and visitors have been flocking to Latrobe one hour from Oakmont following Open rounds to play, visit and purchase Palmer memorabilia from the historic club

Posted by crodell at 11:01 AM

May 28, 2007

Wyndham Worldwide Launches Sweepstakes, Ad Campaign Featuring Arnold Palmer

PARSIPPANY, N.J., May 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Global hospitality company Wyndham Worldwide is launching a blockbuster marketing program including sponsorship of a PGA TOUR golf tournament, a national TV campaign featuring golf legend Arnold Palmer, and the Wyndham Foursome Sweepstakes, all designed to introduce consumers to its unparalleled range of accommodations.

To view the Multimedia News Release, go to: http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/wyndham/28495/

Building upon its title sponsorship of the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, NC (Aug 13-19), Wyndham Worldwide also is introducing its first- ever national advertising campaign, an on-site presence at TOUR events, Internet promotion and, at most of its 6,000-plus U.S. properties, a Wyndham Championship in-room video promoting tune-in to the Tournament broadcast.

"We are very excited about this fully integrated approach to educate consumers about our hotel, rental and vacation ownership brands," said Steve Holmes, Chairman and CEO of Wyndham Worldwide. "We have been a public company for under a year and have already established a strong presence as a major force in the travel industry, giving consumers a wide range of choices in lodging, vacation rental and vacation ownership. The launch of a national advertising campaign is an important step in the evolution of Wyndham Worldwide as a powerhouse in leisure travel."

Wyndham Worldwide and Palmer signed an exclusive marketing partnership to develop Arnold Palmer Golf Holidays by Wyndham. Wyndham Vacation Ownership is developing a signature line of Palmer-branded travel products featuring select golf destinations throughout the United States. The vacation packages will be made available to current and prospective Wyndham timeshare owners and will include a wide selection of activities appealing to all levels of golf enthusiasts.

"Playing good golf is the goal of every person who's ever picked up a golf club, and the fact that they can use it as an excuse for a vacation is something that I think is wonderful," commented Palmer.

"Partnering with Arnold Palmer, a legend known around the world as one of the game's most beloved champions, is a tremendously incredible opportunity for us," said Wyndham Vacation Ownership President and Chief Executive Officer Franz Hanning. "Golf has always been among the most popular activities to enjoy while on vacation and this initiative enables us to showcase a wide selection of activities to our more than 800,000 owners and also appeal to golf enthusiasts seeking a world-class vacation experience."

Palmer will also be featured in a national television advertising campaign promoting the Wyndham Foursome sweepstakes that will award four travel packages. The campaign debuts during this week's telecast of the Memorial Tournament on the GOLF CHANNEL and CBS and will feature Palmer encouraging viewers to enter for a chance to win one of four prizes: an Orlando Golf package including five days of instruction at the Arnold Palmer Golf Academy, a week in the Caribbean at the Wyndham Sugar Bay Resort in St. Thomas, a week in a country home in Ireland, or a week-long California road trip.

In addition to the promotion with Palmer, Wyndham is using its significant distribution channels to raise awareness about the tournament and promote tune-in to the broadcast:

- At hundreds of locations across Wyndham's 10 hotel brands, an in-room video with commentary from Palmer will promote tune-in to the Wyndham Championship, the concluding tournament to the PGA TOUR Regular Season that determines final player seedings heading into the first-ever PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. The video will air between June 1 and August 19th. - Callers to any of Wyndham's multiple toll-free reservation lines who are put on hold will hear a message from Arnold Palmer inviting them to tune in to watch the Wyndham Championship. - The home pages of all individual brand Web sites as well as WyndhamWorldwide.com will have a click-through banner promoting the sweepstakes as well as a link to the Wyndham Championship site. - Several hotel brand print ads will include a snipe promoting tune-in to the broadcast. - Wyndham Vacation Ownership will have an onsite presence at 10 PGA TOUR Events to drive sweepstakes entries and promote the many benefits of vacation ownership.

Wyndham Worldwide Corporation is one of the world's largest hospitality companies. Wyndham Worldwide offers individual consumers and business-to-business customers a broad suite of hospitality products and services across various accommodation alternatives and price ranges through its premier portfolio of world-renowned brands. Wyndham Hotel Group encompasses almost 6,500 franchised hotels and over 539,000 hotel rooms worldwide. RCI Global Vacation Network offers its more than 3.4 million members access to over 60,000 vacation properties located in approximately 100 countries. Wyndham Vacation Ownership develops, markets and sells vacation ownership interests and provides consumer financing to owners through its network of approximately 150 vacation ownership resorts serving over 800,000 owners throughout North America, the Caribbean and the South Pacific. Wyndham Worldwide, headquartered in Parsippany, N.J., employs more than 30,000 employees globally.

ATTENTION MEDIA: Consumers can access the digitized downloadable file at: http://www.wyndhamworldwide.com/media_center
Wyndham Worldwide

CONTACT: Lisa Burby, Vice President Communications of Wyndham Vacation
Ownership, +1-407-921-7775 (cell), +1-407-370-5146 (office),
lisa.burby@wyndhamvo.com; Chris Smith, Director of Public Relations for PGA
TOUR Business, +1-904-273-3379, csmith@pgatourhq.com; Betsy O'Rourke, SVP
Marketing & Communications of Wyndham Worldwide, +1-301-332-6530 (cell),
+1-973-753-7422 (office), betsy.o'rourke@wyndhamworldwide.com

Web site: http://www.wyndhamworldwide.com/media_center
http://www.wyndhamworldwide.com/

Published May. 28, 2007
Copyright © 2007 SYS-CON Media. All Rights Reserved.

Posted by scurry at 11:55 AM

May 14, 2007

Arnie & Oakmont

A Beaut of a Brute

By Chris Rodell
as originally seen in KINGDOM MAGAZINE, issue 7

A look of grave concern creases Arnold Palmer’s face when asked his advice on how an average golfer can achieve a good score the day he’s scheduled to play Oakmont Country Club. “Well, I suggest you start by playing someplace else,” he says.

In fact, telling golfers who’ve been scarred by the brute that you’re scheduled to play golf at Oakmont is like telling a priest you’ve been dispatched to retrieve Satan’s pitchfork. They call you crazy. Try to talk you out of it. Say small prayers on your behalf.

As well they should. For all its stark beauty, Oakmont is one hell of a golf course: 7,255 yards, nearly 200 penal bunkers and greens so lightning fast the busybody U.S.G.A. crews preparing the course for the 2007 U.S. Open will be tasked to slow . . . them . . . down.

The rich Palmer legacy resonates at Augusta where he won four times, at Cherry Hills where the charge was born, and at St. Andrews, Royal Birkdale and Troon where Palmer is credited with inventing the fabled British Open as we know it.

But no major tournament venue is more closely associated with Palmer than Oakmont, and no course dished out more pain and poignancy than the course he grew up dreaming of conquering. When towheaded boys fantasize about winning the World Series with a final swing of the bat, it’s always Yankee Stadium. When those boys are western Pennsylvania golfers, the dreams are of snaking in the winning putt on the 18th green in the shadows of Oakmont’s gabled clubhouse.

For Palmer, the dream came true at a very young age.

“I was just a kid when I beat Jack Benson there to win the 1949 Western Pennsylvania Amateur,” he recalls. “Oakmont is so full of tradition from the locker room to men standing and laughing in the wooden floored barroom. The course is always in excellent condition. It just really resonates with all that’s great about golf. At 18, it was such an unbelievable thrill to win there.”

That win, however, is an asterisk in Palmer’s career at the course that is just one hour on the Pennsylvania Turnpike west of his Latrobe home. It was at Oakmont where the symbolic changing of the guard took place in 1962 when Jack Nicklaus beat Palmer and an often belligerent crowd of Palmer stalwarts to win the U.S. Open. And in 1973, Palmer stood on the 12th green as the final leader of that year’s U.S. Open when he was stunned to see Johnny Miller had posted a record-setting 63 to vault to victory. And it was at Oakmont in 1994 that Palmer closed the door on his U.S. Open career before a crowd so adoring that tears spilled down the old golfer’s face as their 18th green ovation washed over him.

In fact, tears are Oakmont’s only water hazard. It is a heartbreaker. Forty-four years after the watershed tournament, Palmer still sounds mournful when talking about the ‘62 Open and how he let it get away.

“I used to putt those greens pretty well when I was younger, but in ‘62 Nicklaus beat me on the greens by 17 shots . . . 17!” he says, sounding as if he could snap a stout-shafted putter in half at the mere recollection. “I’ve never played the greens when they weren’t like lightning. Never played it once in my life when the stimpmeter reading was under 11.”

Had it not been for Oakmont, the word “stimpmeter” might never have even been introduced into golf’s vernacular. It was here at the 1935 U.S. Open, that renowned amateur Edward Stimpson noted the diabolical greens were so fast that only one man, eventual winner and western Pennsylvania resident Sam Parks Jr., was having success putting. Stimpson left determined to create a device that would measure the consistency of green speed so golfers everywhere could prepare. Thus, the birth of the stimpmeter.

Golfers at the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot skated across greens that stimped at 12.5. Oakmont members breathe sighs of relief when they stimp in the neighborhood of 13. The course will be unrecognizable to golfers who last played it in 1994. A massive tree removal program uprooted more than 3,000 magnificent hardwoods to restore the once leafy landmark to its barren, foreboding look of its 1903 introduction.

Bob Ford is Oakmont’s head professional and has golfed there with Palmer many times. Not once, he says, has Palmer stepped out of character and looked backward. Not once did he stop to dwell on the past.

Until last summer. Ford says Palmer had stopped by on July 11, 2006, to play a round prior to the Major League Baseball All-Star festivities occuring that day at Pittsburgh’s PNC Park.

“That’s the only time I’ve ever played with him that he even got the slightest bit reflective,” Ford says. “Never once did he look back or mention past tournaments until that recent summer day.”

Ford says Palmer stood at the side of the par 5 ninth green and recalled how he’d been at that spot in 1962 in two. He told Ford how he’d been just off the green, right next to the flag with idealistic thoughts of birdie, maybe -- cross your fingers -- a pivotal eagle. But Palmer, chagrined, recalled how the greens took a bite out of his ambitions and he stalked off with a discouraging bogie.

“Then on 12th green, he said how he stood there in 1973 and had been head-to-head in the lead with Julius Boros when both looked up at the leader board and saw Johnny Miller had posted his record-setting 63 on the rain-damped greens,” Ford says. “He couldn’t believe it.”

As the round continued, Ford says he was struck by how nostalgic Palmer was going through the years and rounds that are indelibly etched into the history of one of America’s most legendary courses.

“I got the feeling that maybe he thought it was one of the last times he’d ever play there, and it saddened me to think Arnold Palmer was having those thoughts,” Ford says.

But in the end, it won’t be those wistful moments Ford says he’ll recall from an otherwise ordinary round with an extraordinary gentleman. It won’t be Palmer talking about tournaments and titles that got away four decades ago. It won’t be the echoes of the cheers and the reciprocal love between a hometown boy who’d gone global and the fans who loved him so fiercely for both his successes and failures.

No, Ford says the recollection he’ll most cherish happened before the round even started. And the unlikely instigators were some scrawny youths clinging to a fence separating the Oakmont pool from the nearby first tee.

“We were getting ready to tee off and we heard these kids applauding,” Ford says. “We turned around and a bunch of the boys had climbed out of the water and were hanging on the fence to watch Arnold Palmer tee off,” he says. “They hadn’t even been born when he won his last tournament, but they were cheering him like he was Tiger Woods.

“He smiled, waved, turned to me and said, ‘Bob, that’s what keeps bringing me out after all these years.’ It made me tingle all over. That’s what I’ll always remember most about that day. That’s the memory I’ll cherish forever.”

Posted by crodell at 03:32 PM

May 08, 2007

Palmer dines with Queen, gives putting pointers to the Supremes

Arnold and Kit Palmer made one of the most demanding cuts of the 21st century on a sun-kissed Washinton evening. They were among the 130 A-list guests invited to fete Queen Elizabeth II at the White House on May 7.

The truly regal affair was widely considered to be the most spectacular dinner in official Washington in the past 10 years. Palmer’s name on the guest list added a dash of grit and grace to a roll that included Vice President Dick Cheney, Nancy Reagan, Peyton Manning and violinist Itzhak Perlman.

The Palmers received elegant gold-rimmed invitations (hand-penned by a calligrapher and then engraved) in April. The gala dinner May 7 is the highlight of a two-day extravaganza in which Palmer dined at the head table with President George W. Bush and Queen Elizabeth, gave putting lessons to U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts at the highest court in the land, and was feted as one of just six life-time Tour Achievement winners at the new clubhouse at the TPC at Sawgrass.

“Even for Arnold Palmer, the last two days have been remarkable,” says Palmer spokesman Doc Giffin. “Both Arnold and Kit had a splendid time at the White House dinner honoring Queen Elizabeth. It was a very special evening and they were thrilled to be invited.”

If it was a national A-list that scored one of just 130 invitations to the dinner, then Palmer has vaulted to the A-list of the A-list. He was chosen to sit at the main table with both President Bush and Queen Elizabeth and guests Nancy Reagan, Alma Powell (wife of Colin Powell), Tricia Lott (wife of U.S. Sen. Trent Lott), Ashley Manning (wife of Indianapolis Colt quarterback Peyton Manning), CBS sportscaster Jim Nantz, and Chief Justice Roberts.

The five-course dinner included “spring pea soup with fern leaf lavender,” “saddle of spring lamb” and three different wines. The dinner was the first, and probably will be the only, white-tie event of the Bush presidency.

The Palmers were up early to enjoy another memorable meeting the day after the dinner. Kit Palmer, who is a personal friend with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, accepted her friend’s invitation to see the Supreme Court. While there, Palmer gave putting lessons to a trio of renown rules sticklers who might be hiding snazzy golf shirts beneath their black robes.

“He was putting on the carpet in Chief Justice Roberts’s office and giving some pointers to Roberts, Kennedy and former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who, incidentally, is the only Supreme Court Justice to ever score a hole-in-one,” Giffin says.

From there, the Palmers flew to Jacksonville, Florida, where Palmer was set to attend a black-tie dinner at grand opening of the new clubhouse at the TPC at Sawgrass, home of the Tournament Player’s Championship. Palmer, one of just three living recipients of the Tour’s Lifetime Achievement Award, will address the gathering.

Besides Palmer, only five other men have ever been deemed worthy of the award since it was first bestowed in 1995. The others are Pete Dye, Jackie Burke Jr., Byron Nelson, Sam Snead and Gene Sarazen.

Following the whirlwind two days, the Palmers flew to Bay Hill Club in Orlando to do one of the few things he enjoys more than dining with royalty.

Palmer golfed with friends.

Posted by crodell at 04:08 PM

May 03, 2007

Play Latrobe C.C. during U.S. Open week . . . and all summer long!

This may come as a surprise to golf fans eager to descend on western Pennsylvania June 11-17, but there are still good tee times available at one of the world’s most fabled golf courses.

No, we’re not talking about Oakmont C.C., site of the 2007 U.S. Open. Oakmont’s tee sheet that week is, of course, booked by the world’s top golfers striving to make their mark on a course whose name reverberates through golf history as one of the game’s most hallowed sites.

But just an hour east down the Pennsylvania Turnpike is another legendary golf name that is welcoming golf pilgrims from around the world.

The course is Arnold Palmer’s Latrobe Country Club.

“We get calls from people all over who are amazed that they can be our guest for a day at Latrobe,” says Randy Bisi, the man who holds the head pro position once occupied by Deacon Palmer, the man who taught Arnold Palmer how to golf.

While the club’s primary responsibility will always be to respect the priorities of its valued members, the club will work with guests to ensure that those interested in playing will be given the member sponsorship necessary to secure tee times, according to Jerry Palmer, Latrobe Country Club General Manager. “We have a magnificent golf course and we’re very proud of it. We want people who’ve always dreamed of playing Latrobe to have the opportunity to do so all summer long. We understand how much this means a lot to golfers all over the world and we want them to have the chance to enjoy the club the way we and the members do every day.”

The club has four finely appointed guest houses on property for visitors to stay overnight. Bisi says those accommodations are booked through Open week, but good tee times are available. “Even on days when we’re crowded, there are still tee times available after 4 p.m.,” he says. “Golfers could enjoy Oakmont in the morning, drive to Latrobe, and still have plenty of summer sunshine left to play a round at the club where Mr. Palmer learned the game.”

And, make no mistake, it’s no exaggeration to say that the name Latrobe resonates with golfers just as much as St. Andrews.

“A man who’d never heard the history of golf described it as, ‘A game invented by Arnold Palmer up in Pennsylvania where you make a long putt on the last hole and win a lot of money.’”

That’s what tournament organizer Gene Hallman told reporters in 1993 after Palmer’s presence at the Bruno’s Memorial Classic in Birmingham, Alabama, resulted in a 15 percent surge in ticket sales.

Reached today, Hallman says he remembers talking with a local reporter when the quote came off the top of his head, but that the essential truth of the statement still stands.

“Oh, absolutely,” he says. “Arnold Palmer’s the most enduringly popular athlete of all time and to a lot of people -- even non-golfers -- the name Latrobe ranks right up there with St. Andrews, Pebble Beach and Augusta.”

The difference between those places in general and St. Andrews in particular is that Latrobe is an eight hour drive from 40 percent of the U.S. population and that you can play it for about the same as it would cost to park your car at an international airport for the days it would require to fly to Scotland and play a couple days of golf.

Oh, and there’s one other difference: Latrobe has Arnold Palmer.

“It’s not just his trophies and memorabilia you see here at the club, a lot of times you see Mr. Palmer,” Bisi says. “He’s here almost all summer. He’s on the course, he’s in the grille room, he’s on the putting green. To walk in his footsteps is a thrill to a lot of golfers who grew up idolizing him, but to have him walk up, smile and shake your hand and welcome you to Latrobe Country Club is as good as it’s ever gets for many golf fans. It’s something they’ll never forget.”

To arrange tee times and accommodations and member sponsorship throughout the year, contact the pro shop at Latrobe C.C., 724-539-8588 or visit www.latrobecountryclub.com.

Posted by crodell at 04:52 PM

April 16, 2007

Palmer a hit on HBO's The Sopranos

Arnold Palmer is used to being in the company of presidents and royalty, but Arnold Palmer and mob bosses? It happened Sunday on an episode of HBO's highly acclaimed crime show, "The Sopranos."

In the scene, boss Tony Soprano greets rival Little Carmine Lupertazzi at a local country club to discuss a recent mob hit. When the waitress asks Lupertazzi what he'll have for lunch, he orders some seared Ahi Tuna, mixed vegetables and says, "And bring me an Arnold Palmer."

Like the Emmy-winning show, the Arnold Palmer is itself a highly acclaimed drink invented by the golfer and favored in upscale spas, golf clubs and fine restaurants across the country.

Does this make Mr. Palmer a material witness to homicide? Chris Byrd, a partner of the Orlando-based Innovative Flavors, LLC, makers of Arnold Palmer Tee, says no. “They’d have trouble putting Mr. Arnold Palmer in the can over this one, but if I were a can of Arnold Palmer, I’d consider getting some legal representation.”

The refreshing Arnold Palmer is half iced tea and half lemonade and can be ordered online at www.arnoldpalmer.com or at www.arnoldpalmertee.com

Posted by crodell at 11:10 AM

April 13, 2007

Palmer and Harbour Town '69, a Perfect Match

The old veteran hadn’t won in 14 months and many said his best days were far behind him. The flashy tour rookie needed to make a good impression or risk being relegated to second-tier status in a PGA field crowded with other worthy aspirants.

From the very first, Arnold Palmer and Harbour Town Golf Links were a match made in Low Country heaven.

It’s hard to imagine now to the multitudes of tourists who flock to its magnificent beaches, and play golf on its world class courses, but just 38 years ago, Hilton Head Island, S.C., was a sleepy coastal island that was more marsh than magic.

Promoters say Palmer’s surprise 1969 victory at the first Heritage Classic literally put the island on the map. “Palmer saved us,” recalled John Gettys Smith in 1994. Smith was a public relations executive for Sea Pines Resort, the island tip development that became the model for hundreds of other coastal Southern gated communities eager to capitalize on northerners’ love for sunshine and golf. “His win brought us instant recognition.”

Harbour Town was the first golf course design that Jack Nicklaus, under the headline tutelage of Pete Dye, ever worked on. With its landmark lighthouse as the backdrop for the 18th green along Calebogie Sound, it remains one of the top golf courses in the country. But, as with many fledgling tournaments, it was having trouble attracting attention for the tournament, then held during the busy Thanksgiving weekend.

A last-minute withdrawal left promoters scrambling to fill a high-profile spot. They called Palmer. He agreed to play, but only on the condition he could land his plane at the still-under-construction airport. It was arranged and photographers snapped pictures of Palmer carrying his golf bag from his plane.

Columnist Jim Littlejohn of the Hilton Head News recalled in 1991 how veteran golf writer Charles Price told naysayers Palmer’s mere participation would assure success. Littlejohn wrote, “Everyone kept asking Price who’d be playing and he’d always say, ‘Nicklaus will play in it because he helped design it and with Nicklaus and Palmer, you won’t need anyone else.’”

Palmer did more than play. Coming off a four-week tour layoff, he vowed to put persistent putting woes “out of my mind or die trying.” In addition, he’d been doing 50 situps each evening and again in the morning to strengthen his ailing hip. A 1-under par 70 gave him a three-stroke lead going into the final day and brought with it a flood of national reporters to the remote island to write another series of euphoric “Palmer’s back!” stories.

He wound up fending off Richard Crawford and Bert Yancey, and did a mock stagger across the 18th green into the arms of Nicklaus before being given the $20,000 first place check. Pictures from the victory show a grinning Palmer holding the trophy with the skeleton of what was the still-unfinished landmark lighthouse in the background.

Smith later recalled: “Our little press tent was barely able to handle the huge surge of reporters from all over the country. But by Monday there were stories all around the world about Palmer’s big win at Harbour Town. It’s impossible to calculate what the Palmer win meant for Hilton Head.”

Posted by crodell at 04:17 PM

April 05, 2007

Palmer Tee Shot Opens '07 Masters

Arnold Palmer returned to The Masters Thursday to hit the ceremonial first tee shot, an honor previously bestowed upon revered champions such as Sam Snead and Byron Nelson. Dave Anderson of The New York Times writes: “His ball won’t go as far and probably not as straight as it did when he was winning the Masters every other year from 1958 to 1964, but who cares? Arnold Palmer will be on the first tee at Augusta National again, and that’s enough for anyone who remembers seeing him here when real soldiers at nearby Fort Gordon were the original enlistees in Arnie’s Army.”

"I was very impressed with all the people who came rushing through that gate when it opened," Palmer said. "It seemed like 20,000 people out there."

Palmer told reporters the competitive fires still burn, 52-years after as a rookie he played his first Masters round with the great Gene Sarazen.

“You realize it’s over, and it’s been my life for over 50 years,” he said. “It’s a hard pill to swallow. I’ll sit at home and watch on television from time to time,” referring to even the best of today’s touring pros, “and think, ‘You know, I could have done that better.’ ”

To view a video clip of the '07 tee shot visit www.masters.org

Posted by crodell at 09:43 AM

April 03, 2007

Arnold Palmer to Launch 2007 Masters Thursday

The question that has been posed to Arnold Palmer ever since and even before he played in his final Masters Tournament in 2004 -- Will you become the Honorary Starter? -- has been answered. Billy Payne, the new Chairman of the Masters and Augusta National Golf Club, announced Tuesday at a specially-arranged press conference that Palmer, a four-time winner of the prestigious tournament and an Augusta National member, will hit the opening shot of this year's event Thursday morning. A massive turnout is expected to witness the historic occasion. The announcement preceded Palmer's annual attendance at the Champions Dinner at Augusta National Tuesday evening.

Palmer will be just the sixth person to serve as Honorary Starter in the long history of the Masters, which began in 1934. Jock Hutchison and Fred McLeod inaugurated the role in 1963. Byron Nelson and Gene Sarazen took over in 1981 and Ken Venturi filled in for Nelson in 1983. Sam Snead joined Nelson and Sarazen in 1984. The position has been vacant since Snead died following the 2002 Masters.

"The time was right to make this decision," said Palmer, who played in 50 consecutive Masters from 1955 through 2004. "As you know, Augusta is one of my favorite places and the Masters has meant so much to me personally throughout my career. I have always been treated so warmly there by the patrons. I hope in some way I can show my gratitude to the fans who have followed and supported me these many years."

"We are absolutely delighted that Arnold has accepted our invitation to become an Honorary Starter," enthused Payne in making the announcement at the Media Center. "This is wonderful news for the Masters and his legions of fans."

Posted by dgiffin at 03:22 PM

March 15, 2007

From small town to big time for Palmer

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -Even now, Arnold Palmer has a hard time realizing how far his tournament has come.

Tanned and relaxed, he stared out at some four dozen people, most of them media, a bank of cameras at the back of the room. To his side was the new trophy with a statue of Palmer lashing away with his driver.

The winner also will get $990,000, about half as much as Palmer made in his 50 years on the PGA Tour.

The name of the tournament has a nice ring: The Arnold Palmer Invitational.

"My daughters are responsible for that,'' Palmer said Wednesday. "While I was playing, I would have never allowed it. That was first stipulation for not making any name change. I liked the Bay Hill Invitational logo. But when I stopped playing, that sort of opened the door for the possible name change.''

He remembers being asked to host the tournament at Bay Hill in 1979, and "it's worked out pretty well.''

"The first tournament was $100,000, and that was about the average on tour in those days,'' he said. Of course, this year we're $5.5 million. That's reasonable progress in 29 years.''

There has been progress all around him.

Palmer hails from Latrobe, Pa., and he used to travel to south Florida to practice in the winter when he first turned professional. But the Miami area was too crowded for his tastes, so he began scouting areas up and down the coasts of Florida.

It was by chance in 1965 that the Orlando Chamber of Commerce invited him to an exhibition at Bay Hill, along with Jack Nicklaus, Dave Regan and Don Cherry. He fell in love with the course, and asked about buying it from 10 partners, a process that took some time.

Still, it was just what the King wanted.

"The only thing out here was orange groves, snakes, a few birds, but a lot of wonderful freshwater,'' Palmer said. "It was quiet. It was about a 15- or 20-minute drive to downtown, which was great. It was a small town.

"Well,'' he paused to smile, "you know the story from there.''

A few years later, Disney scooped up some 27,000 acres and announced plans for a theme park. Palmer's friends figured he knew what he was doing, but even Palmer wasn't sure how much the town would grow, how it would become a tourist mecca.

"I was really looking for a quiet place to just do a nice golf course ... and here we are,'' he said.

He has a golf course that has hosted the PGA Tour for almost three decades.

And the name isn't the only change.

Wanting to make Bay Hill more of a challenge, Palmer has changed par 5s at Nos. 4 and 16 into par 4s, making the course play as a 70. The 16th used to be the last spot among the final five holes where players could think about making birdie.

"Now the party's over after the 13th,'' Joey Sindelar said. "That last hour will be torture.''

Still, the biggest difference will be the scores to par.

"I would probably predict that the scores will be much the same as they have been in past years,'' Palmer said. "I don't think we'll see a lot of major changes. The only thing that we'll see that might be a little different is that the players won't be as many under par as they have been in the past.''

One thing that has become difficult to predict is how Tiger Woods will fare at Bay Hill.

The tournament has attracted one of the strongest fields of the year, with Jim Furyk and Adam Scott the only players missing from the top 10 in the world. Masters champion Phil Mickelson is back for the first time since 2002, while Ernie Els is playing Bay Hill for the 15th consecutive year.

Woods once played so we