Golf Legend Arnold Palmer Dies From Heart Complications

He was more than a golfer or even great golfer.

Arnold Palmer, considered one of the greatest golfers ever, has died at age 87, according to the U.S. Golf Association. Palmer is well-known as a trailblazer who helped golf enter the national conversation.

Palmer, who posted 62 victories on the PGA Tour starting in 1955, died in Pittsburgh, near his hometown of Latrobe, Pennsylvania, golf media reported.

Biographer James Dodson said, “We loved him with a mythic American joy”.

“The very essence of the Masters is twofold: to summon nothing less than greatness from the men who annually compete for the title of Masters champion, and to inspire people from all over the world through the magnificence of the game of golf”.

On Palmer’s death, Woods wrote: “Thanks Arnold for your friendship, counsel and a lot of laughs. He’s the defining figure in golf”.

Along with his incredible golf career, Palmer became one of the top golf course architects in the country with Palmer Course Designs launching in 1972. He won back-to-back British Opens in 1961 and 1962.

Palmer was born on September 10, 1929, in Latrobe, a small industrial town east of Pittsburgh.

Palmer, a Hall of Fame inductee and PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998, retired in 2006. Golf grew into made-for-television events and with it came massive sponsorship and prize money. He was the son of a greenskeeper and later club pro at the Latrobe Country Club. I know he was in Pittsburgh trying to find out how to make himself better. In 1960 at the U.S. Open at Cherry Hills near Denver, he drove the first green in the final round on his way to erasing a seven-stroke deficit.

He also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2012. The Arnold Palmer is half-and-half mix of sweet tea and lemonade.

– Zach Johnson (@ZachJohnsonPGA)This letter from Arnold Palmer a year ago will always be one of my greatest treasures. He piloted his first aircraft in 1956, and 10 years later had a license to fly jets that now are the standard mode of transportation for so many top players, even though the majority of them are merely passengers.

He appeared to be in bad health when he joined fellow golfing icons Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus for the ceremonial first tee shot at the Masters in April. They had two daughters, and his grandson Sam Saunders plays on the PGA Tour. He looked fans in the eye, signed his autograph with a distinctive script, and relished being in the spotlight while always evincing humility.