Quotes on Palmer

He is the most immeasurable of golf champions. But this is not entirely true because of all he has won, or because of that mysterious fury with which he has managed to rally himself. It is partly because of the nobility he has brought to losing. And more than anything because of the pure unmixed joy he has brought to trying. --Dan Jenkins (of Arnold Palmer)

Arnold Palmer is an early riser. He is anxious to get the day going because who knows how many good things might happen. --Mark McCormack

It's always good to see Arnie in an event. It means I'm not the oldest one in the field. --Don January (on the two month difference between his age and Arnold Palmer)

In 1960, Sports Illustrated chose Arnold Palmer as its "Sportsman of the Year" and I went to West Virginia, where he was playing in the West Virginia Open, to interview him for the story. It was a good place to talk, because there wasn't much pressure in the tournament and not much competition for Arnold's attention. And, I'll never forget; we were in a diner. Arnold was eating a hamburger. There was a bottle of ketchup on the table, and Arnold said to the waitress, "You shouldn't use this kind of ketchup; Heinz is better." After she left, I asked him, "What's with the ketchup?" And he told me, "I have a ketchup contract." But that's the way Arnold was. He really thought that, because he had a contract, he had an obligation to be out there selling Heinz ketchup 24 hours a day. --Ray Cave, Sports Illustrated

Arnold [Palmer] is the greatest role model that any sport ever had. When a young fellow comes on the tour today, sooner or later one of the old timers like myself will take him aside and say, "Study that man. Look at the way he loves the game, conducts himself, and treats other people. Arnold Palmer is the one you want to be like. --Lee Trevino

Arnold's [Palmer] place in history will be as the man who took golf from being a game for the few to a sport for the masses. He was the catalyst who made that happen. --Jack Nicklaus

All good things come to an end, so someday Arnold [Palmer] won't be playing golf anymore. And that will be a very sad day for all of us, when we don't see Arnold on the golf course. He's our foremost ambassador to the world and the international symbol of excellence in golf. --Gary Player

The first time I saw Arnold Palmer was at a tournament in Tijuana in 1955. My wife said to me, "I saw the most exciting golfer I've ever seen today; a fellow named Palmer." I thought she meant Johnny Palmer; a short guy with rosy cheeks and bushy black har. She said, "No, this guy looks more like a middleweight fighter." So I was puzzled, but the next day on the course I saw a young guy with his shirt hanging out, whacking the heck out of the ball, and sometimes it landed in the fairway, and sometimes not. And that was Arnold Palmer. --Jim Murray

Arnold [Palmer} has what I call an 'Eisenhower smile'. Those two men, they'd smile and their whole faces would look so pleasant; it was like they were smiling all over. --Byron Nelson

Arnold Palmer is the most aggressive player in the history og golf. Some guys, if they're behind six or seven strokes, they start playing for fourth place. Arnold could be behind six or seven strokes and the last day he'd go out and try to shoot zero. --Charlie Sifford

Arnold embarrassed a lot of guys on the tour into signing autographs. A lot of players used to snub fans. They'd give some kind of excuse about being busy and run on, and Arnold was so wonderful about it, so patient with fans, that the other guys had on choice but to follow his example. --Dow Finsterwald

I like playing in front of the Army. It was wild at times. When Arnold teed up his ball, they cheered. And if I'd walked on water, they wouldn't have noticed. But I enjoyed the excitement of all those people, and I think the Army was good for golf. --Dave Marr

It is doubtful that there was a man present at Birkdale [1961 British Open] who wanted Palmer to lose. It's impossible to overpraise the tact and charm with which this American has conducted himself on his two visits to Britain. He has no fancy airs or graces; he wears no fancy clothes; he makes no fancy speeches. He simply says and does exactly the right thing at the right time, and that is enough. --Henry Longhurst

Arnold Palmer invented pro golf as it exists today. Ben Hogan didn't make golf popular. Hogan was as much fun to cuddle as a porcupine. Nicklaus didn't do it. It was all going on th tour by the time Nicklaus got there. Palmer's the King. He's the one who made it all possible. --Rick Reilly

There's a tale that's told, presumably apocryphal, about a round of golf that Arnold Palmer and Ben Hogan played in 1960. On the first hole, Hogan scored a textbook par-3. Palmer's drive came to rest in a tree stump; his second shot made it to the edge of the green; and he holed a 40-foot putt for par. On the second hole, Hogan's drive split the fairway; his second shot was on the green; and he two putted for another classic par. Palmer's tee shot landed in three inches of water; he blasted his second shot out onto the fairway; his third shot came to rest several feet beyond the green; and he chipped in for par. On the third hole, Hogan executed four more near-perfect precise shots for his third par in a row. Meanwhile, Palmer's tee shot landed in the rough; his second shot landed in a bunker; and his third shot bounced into the hole for a birdie. Whereupon Hogan turned to Arnold and demanded, "Look dammit; we're here to play golf. Stop fooling around." --Jerry Izenberg

A big-name winner like Palmer is a modern King Midas. Everything he drinks, smokes, wears or drives can turn to gold. All he has to do is testify, yes, that's what I put on my hair, smoke, drink, wear, drive, swing and hit. --Tony Lema