美国国家公共电台 NPR Golfer Arnold Palmer, Who Gave New Life To A Staid Game, Dies At 87

Golfer Arnold Palmer, Who Gave New Life To A Staid Game, Dies At 87

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This morning we are remembering an all-time sporting great. It's golf legend Arnold Palmer, who died last night. He was 87 years old.

In his long career, Palmer won 62 PGA Tour events, including many of the big ones like the Masters and the U.S. Open. He won seven majors in all. But it was not just the numbers that made Arnold Palmer an iconic sports figure.

NPR's Tom Goldman has this remembrance.

TOM GOLDMAN, BYLINE 2: He wasn't the greatest male golfer of all time. That title usually prompts a debate about Jack 4 Nicklaus or Tiger Woods or Ben Hogan or Sam Snead. But the most important player - it's fairly unanimous that Arnold Palmer was, true to his nickname, the king.

Palmer strapped 5 a moldy 6, staid game on his back and gave it new life. He ignited golf's popularity in the 1960s as he became the sport's first TV star.

IAN O'CONNOR: He was someone who looked like an NFL halfback.

GOLDMAN: Ian O'Connor is a senior writer for espn.com.

O'CONNOR: He had arms like a blacksmith and giant hands. And he had those rugged 7 good looks. And he was just a different golfer. Nobody had ever really seen anything like him in that sport.

GOLDMAN: Palmer's arrival as a champion pro 3 in the late 1950s dovetailed with the emerging medium of television. Whether he was winning...

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UNIDENTIFIED SPORTSCASTER #1: It's rolling and - into the hole.

(CHEERING)

GOLDMAN: ...As he did at the 1960 Masters, or pitching products.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Hey, this one of those new Cougar 8 XR7s you got here?

ARNOLD PALMER: That's right.

GOLDMAN: As he did in this 1968 car commercial, Palmer's looks and athleticism 9 and talent made him a natural for TV. But that was just part of what transformed admiring fans into a devoted 10 following that became known as Arnie's Army. Palmer grew up in a working class home in Pennsylvania. And ultimately, he brought the game to the same kinds of people.

Again, here's Ian O'Connor.

O'CONNOR: Golf was always considered a blue blood country club elitist sport. Arnold Palmer gave the sport to people who worked for members of the country club set.

GOLDMAN: He'd play with his shirt tail hanging out. He'd flick 11 away a cigarette before hitting, then swing for the fences and grimace 12 like an average duffer if the result was bad.

O'Connor, who wrote the book "Arnie And Jack" about the great rivalry 13 and friendship between Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, says the class conflict was a motivating factor in Palmer's career.

So was Palmer's dad known, as Deacon. Deacon Palmer was a greenskeeper, a golf pro and, Arnold often said, the man who taught him everything he knows. In a 2015 interview, Palmer described his dad's honesty and toughness.

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PALMER: He was tough on me. He never backed off. He played tough, worked hard. And he died a tough guy. He played 27 holes of golf the day he passed.

GOLDMAN: Palmer's mom softened 14 the hard edges. Golf historians say she gave Palmer his people skills, which were his greatest appeal. Arnold Palmer was a genuinely nice guy.

DOC GIFFIN: I've often said that Arnold puts up with people that neither you or I would put up with (laughter).

GOLDMAN: Doc Giffin was Palmer's personal assistant for more than 50 years. Giffin remembers the many moments of Palmer walking among throngs 15 of fans as he strode down fairways, the king and his army. Or Palmer talking to people in the gallery, joking with them, making paying customers feel like he wanted them there at the course.

I remember a Palmer press conference in 2008, when he complained about modern day athletes and their lack of penmanship. Illegible 16 autographs cheapen the fan's experience, he said.

Judging by his golfing success, Palmer knew when to tune 17 out the adoring masses and focus on himself - most of the time. There was, says Doc Giffin, that final hole of the final round of the 1961 Masters, when Palmer had a 1-stroke lead...

GIFFIN: ...And had a ball in the fairway at the 18th hole, and saw a friend of his over at the ropes who waved him over. And he walked over there instead of staying with his golf ball. And the man congratulated him on winning his second straight Masters. He said thank you and went back to his ball, and knocked it in a trap.

GOLDMAN: Several more flubs, and Palmer walked off the final green 1 stroke behind...

GIFFIN: ...And lost the Masters that it looked like he had it in the bag. And he said I'll never let that happen again. He learned his lesson.

GOLDMAN: In fact, a laser-focused Palmer made this dramatic shot.

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UNIDENTIFIED SPORTSCASTER #2: Palmer has selected his wedge. And he hits it. The ball is rolling, rolling, down, down, 45 feet, toward the hole, toward the hole - and in.

(CHEERING)

GOLDMAN: It helped him win the very next Masters Tournament in 1962. It was one of 92 professional career victories.

Arnold Palmer was a friend of presidents, but a man who never forgot his roots. He lived half the year in his native Latrobe, Pa. This dual 18 appeal - charisma 19 and humility 20 - didn't organically turn Palmer into a global celebrity 21 athlete. That happened with the help of Mark McCormack, whose IMG became the biggest sports marketing 22 company in the world. Palmer was McCormack's first major client. While the two of them spread Palmer's fame, golf started to boom. The numbers of players and courses increased dramatically in the 1960s.

It's reported in the early part of the decade, Palmer's heyday 23, 350 to 400 new courses were built each year. It wasn't all Palmer's doing, but he lit a fuse, with equal parts swagger and humility when he played. And a smile for strangers who came to the course to watch a golfer, and left feeling like they'd been touched by a king.

Tom Goldman, NPR News.