Phil Mickelson: ‘Arnold Palmer was my model on and off the course’

“People today know him for his Arnold Palmer iced tea that you can see in every grocery store”, said Lyon. Player said in a statement. And when Palmer died Sunday of heart problems, golfers around the world recognized his historic role in making the game the global sport that it is today. Palmer played golf for the Demon Deacons at Paschal Golf Club in Wake Forest when the Baptist university was still in its namesake town in the 1950s.

Player had so many vivid memories of Palmer, he said, and his recollections matched many of those of Nicklaus.

For golfers who weren’t so lucky to meet the legend, like the high schoolers out at Blue Hills on Monday morning competing in a tournament, it’s Palmer’s attitude they’ll remember.

“Arnold believed in fair golf, but not easy golf”, said Craig Benson, owner of the Golf Club of New England. Like Nicklaus, the South African remembered, above all, his friendship with Palmer. They say he sold a million colour TV sets in the U.S. as golf went big on the small screen in the late 1950s and early 60s.

“Well, I hear rumors that Gary Player won by a shot, but they chose to split the prize winnings before they teed off”, says Ron Thrapp, Emeis golf professional. He could be hard and demanding but also blessed with charisma, charm and patience. He touched lives. He was so much more. The rivalry between the two golf legends was competitive but filled with mutual respect and admiration. The pair did, three times over the years, and were impressed by Palmer’s hospitality.

“He made the game special”, Davidson says.

Palmer was in Wilmington in 1957 and won the Azalea Open at Cape Fear Country Club. He last played the Open in 1995, 35 years after his first appearance. “He made golf a gentlemen’s game”.

Grand Slam: Americans rarely played the British Open in the decade after World War II.

“Barbara and I mourn The King, Arnie, the people’s champion”. A public farewell will be held in Latrobe next Tuesday after the Ryder Cup.

He says Palmer was a great golfer but an even better person. This is a man whose charisma basically created the modern age of golf.

Everyone knows Latrobe, Pennsylvania because that’s where Palmer grew up. Palmer would frequent the course and served on the World Golf Hall of Fame selection committee. And it was Arnold – he came over and flipped his wings.

He went onto to win 90 tournaments and seven majors. They asked Palmer what he thought, and his answer is now on a wall at Golf Channel headquarters in Orlando, Florida. “And he did it all with a grin”. “He was bigger than the game”, the 35-year-old pop star went on to write. And it helped that he arrived about the same time as television moved into most households, a ideal fit that sent golf to unprecedented popularity.