Joe Inman had been in rooms with Arnold Palmer before. He knew the man had gravitas. Palmer, a golfing legend who died on Sunday, wasn't called "The King" for nothing.
But standing on the driving range at Augusta National, hitting balls in preparation for the Masters in 1970, Inman didn’t expect Palmer to walk up and ask him to play a practice round. He didn’t expect “The King” to bring all of that charisma so close.
“That’s when you learned the nexus of the word choke,” said Inman, who coaches Georgia State’s men’s golf team. “I tried to say yes. I couldn’t get a word out.”
Eventually, Inman found his voice and he played a round with Palmer, Gay Brewer and George Archer, Masters Champs all.
Inman, who was invited to play in the Masters because he was on the Walker Cup team in 1969, can’t remember anything that he said to Palmer or the others during that round. He remembers playing well.
“It just went over my head,” Inman said. “I just didn’t appreciate it the way I would appreciate it now.”
Inman had been in rooms with Palmer because he played collegiately at Wake Forest, which was Palmer’s alma mater.
When Palmer would return to the college, Inman was usually there.
“He was just bigger than life,” Inman said. “He was ‘The King.’”
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