AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2006 > October > 17 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USLast teardrop falls for Arnie
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Furman Bisher
Well, there he goes, off into the sunset of his glorious career, with a tear in his eye. Coincidentally, Arnie departs tournament golf as Freddie Fender departs life, leaving behind his mournful melody “Before The Next Teardrop Falls.”
For most of his life, “Arnie” was all that was needed to identify Arnold Palmer. He won 62 PGA Tour events and many more tournaments on one continent or another, but his career is more entwined with the Masters than any other, for it was at Augusta National that in 1960 the two rose to glory hand in hand. Significantly, or peculiarly, the course on which he struck his last official shot is named Augusta Pines, located in a Houston municipal appendage named Spring. It was on the fourth tee in the Administaff Small Business event, and after two shots found water, Arnie made his official departure from tournament golf with this benediction:
“I’ve been doing this for a long time, and to stand out here and not be able to make something happen is very traumatic. The people want to see a good shot, and when you can’t give them that, that’s when it’s time.” But he played on and finished the round with John Mahaffey and Lee Trevino, with a “WD” by his name.
Frankly, it has been time for a long time, but Arnie loves to play. He loves the galleries, the cozy relationship he has bonded with them since the evolution of “Arnie’s Army” at Augusta; the cheers, the adulation, the occasional pars, which were to become more occasional as his game receded.
Let’s see, the last time he won a tournament was in 1988, the Crestar Classic, on the Senior Tour before it became Champions. The last time he won on the PGA Tour was in 1973, the Bob Hope Classic, but he later won three times outside these borders. The last time he finished in the top 25 was 1996, but he played on, though he manage to collect only pocket change, mainly just for being there. Obviously, money was not hard to come by, for by that time he was in high demand by advertisers — remember Pennzoil and that old tractor? — and in golf-course design, with his partner, Ed Seay.
This was Palmer’s very, very last farewell to competition, for he had gone through this before at the Masters in 2004. Chairman Hootie Johnson had bent the age rule and invited him back for a curtain call, and each green became a stage, and after the round, emotionally frayed, Arnie said, “I’m through. I’ve had it. Cooked. Washed up. Finished, whatever you want to call it.”
In Spring, Texas, of all places, it was all of that. The finale. “I made every move in the bag today, and it wasn’t very successful,” and then, the last teardrop fell.
Arnie was not the first Palmer on tour, and I bring this up because the original passed away almost a month ago to the day. Johnny Palmer came from Badin, N.C., where the biggest thing in town is a huge hydroelectric dam. He was quiet by nature, mainly self-taught, and his dossier is quite impressive for any era. He won the Canadian Open, the Western Open, the Colonial, and in 1949, when he won the World Championship, a George S. May production, his check was for $10,000, largest winning prize on tour at the time. (I should have pointed out that for all those tournaments Arnold won on the PGA Tour, he collected just $1,861,857, not a lot more than the winner of the Players Championship collects.) Johnny was runner-up to Sam Snead in the PGA Championship in 1949, fourth in the Masters the same year, when he also made the Ryder Cup team, and led at Augusta after the first round in 1952. After it was all done, he went back home to Badin and became the local club pro. You don’t see a lot of his kind any more. He was 88 at death.
I might add that the Tour is now down to one Palmer again, Ryan, a 30-year-old from Texas. Under that name, he bears a heavy load.
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By Kenny
October 18, 2006 08:16 AM | Link to this
Great column! I went to the Masters in the 70s and followed Arnie around the course. Arnie’s army was out in force. It is a wonderful memory that I still cherish. We won’t see anyone like him again. A great champion.
By PGA Tour
October 18, 2006 05:26 PM | Link to this
Arnie was the best. He may not have had the win totals of Nicklaus or Sarazen, but he was more important in terms of making the Tour the success it is today. When Arnie dies(and I hope it is a long way off), his funeral will shut down whatever PGA Tour event is scheduled for that week. Every PGA golfer will be there. Arnie was respectful to the fans and the fans loved him for that. He gave Augusta(where his Army started) a proper farewell unlike his counterpart(Nicklaus) who finished his last hole on the front 9 and then announced that was it. Nicklaus is about Jack and Arnie is about the fans. There is nobody on today’s Tour that can match Arnie’s popularity. Tiger is like Jack where people watch him because he is gifted. Daly has a large blue collar following but nothing like Arnie’s Army. Mickelson is probably closest to Arnie but it is almost too much by design. Mickelson seems to be trying too hard to emulate the King and it shows. In the end, there will always be one King of golf and it is the great Arnold Palmer. Thanks for everything, Arnie!
By PGA Tour
October 18, 2006 05:28 PM | Link to this
In addition……If I was the PGA of America, I would look no further than Arnold Palmer as the Captain to turn things around for America. If our guys can’t get up to play for him, then they don’t deserve to be there.