Golf Icon Arnold Palmer dies at 87
25 Sep 2016
by AmateurGolf.com Staff
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Arnold Palmer and his fiercest rival Jack Nicklaus
(Golfweek Photo)
(September 25, 2016) -- No matter your age, no
matter when you began following the game of golf
you know the story of Arnold Palmer. Not only did he
change the game of golf but he also changed the
landscape of sports.
Late Sunday evening it was reported by the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that golfs greatest
ambassador, 87-year-old, Arnold Palmer had passed
away due to heart complications at the UPMC
Presbyterian Hospital. During his career Palmer won
seven major championships and a total of 62 PGA
Tour events but no matter win or lose he had the
support of "Arnie's Army."
“Arnold’s place in history will be as the man who
took golf from being a game for the few to a sport
for the masses,” Palmer’s greatest rival Jack Nicklaus
told the USGA. “He was the catalyst who made that
happen.”
From having a drink named after him to helping
found the Golf Channel alongside
businessman Joe Gibbs, the charismatic Palmer has
left an imprint on the game that will last for as long
as the game is played.
“Arnold is the greatest role model that any sport
ever had. Study that man," golf icon Lee Trevino said
to the USGA. "Look at the way he loves the game,
conducts himself and treats other people. Arnold
Palmer is the one you want to be like.”
Born on September 10, 1929 in Latrobe, PA,
Palmer put together a successful amateur career that
culminated with a 1 up win in the championship
match of the 1954 U.S. Amateur over Robert Sweeny
Jr. The first of his three USGA championships was
the last of his 26 wins as an amateur.
“Winning the National Amateur Championship
gave me the confidence to do what I really wanted to
do with my life,” Palmer said of his U.S. Amateur
win. “Not only was it one of my proudest moments,
it led to me going out on tour as a professional
golfer. And, obviously, it led to everything
afterward.”
Arnold Palmer's Amateur Victories
1946: WPIAL Championship, PIAA
Championship
1947: WPIAL Championship, PIAA Championship,
Western Pennsylvania Junior, Western Pennsylvania
Amateur
1948: Southern Conference Championship,
Sunnehanna Invitational, Western Pennsylvania
Junior
1950: Southern Intercollegiate, Western
Pennsylvania Amateur, Greensburg Invitational
1951: Western Pennsylvania Amateur, Worsharn
Memorial
1952: Western Pennsylvania Amateur, Greensburg
Invitational
1953: Ohio Amateur, Cleveland Amateur,
Greensburg Invitational, Mayfield Heights Open,
Evergreen Pitch and Putt Invitational
1954: U.S. Amateur, Ohio Amateur, All-American
Amateur, Atlantic Coast Conference Championship,
Bill Waite Memorial
-The USGA contributed to this story