Before accepting the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004, Arnold Palmer shares some laughs with President George W. Bush and the commander gave some golf tips in the East Room of the White House.
Eight years later, he was awarded the Gold Medal of Congress, Palmer, who again offered advice golf on some of the most important politicians in the country, jokingly thanked the House and Senate agree on something.
After receiving the highest civilian awards given to the United States, Palmer left every day at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and the United States and signed autographs for hundreds of people.
Palmer was a man linked to the masses, referring to children, hourly wage employees, CEO - and presidents.
Palmer, who died Sunday in Pittsburgh at age 87, was the man to become the king publicly and carry out their own armed forces. Along the way. he became one of the best players and a successful businessman, pioneers of sports advertising spokesman philanthropist, golf talented design and experienced aviator.
Alastair Johnson, CEO of Arnold Palmer Enterprises, confirmed that Palmer died Sunday afternoon from complications of heart problems. Johnson said Palmer was admitted to the hospital on Thursday for cardiovascular work and weakened in recent days.
"We are deeply saddened by the death of Arnold Palmer, the greatest ambassador of golf, to 87 years," said Golf Association US in a statement. "Arnold Palmer always be a champion in every sense of the word. He inspired generations of golf love to share their competitive spirit, sporting spectacle, caring for golfers and golf fans, and serving as ambassador to life for sports. our stories of him not only fill the pages of the history books of golf and the museum walls, but also our own personal memories of golf. the game is actually better because of him, and in many ways, It will never be the same. "
Despite the emphasis in the course is not a model of beauty - whirlybird of follow-through, hallux varus position - it worked for him. With thick forearms and a thin waist, Palmer had an aggressive risk-benefit approach course that has made for compelling theater. the ball with authority and hit and opened an aggressive interconnection-your-pants, play the power in his face bankruptcy rarely seen in the sport often stoic and serious.
Palmer, a part of the fascination "Big Three", Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player has won 62 titles on the PGA Tour, the last in 1973 from Bob Hope Desert Classic. These victories were the four Masters, two British Open, and the US Open. He finished second in the US Open four times, was runner-up three times in the PGA Championship, the only major that eluded him, and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974.
Palmer became one of the most popular sports figures, 5-10, 175, a golfer TV that broke on television in black and white in the country in the late 1950s and in the 1960s and he took the game to the masses.
"Arnold was for golf. Are you kidding?" Tiger Woods said. "I mean, no charisma, no personality in conjunction with TV - it was just the perfect symbiotic growth finally had someone who had this charisma and was reached on television for the first time .
"Everyone has become addicted to the game of golf on TV because of Arnold."
Friend of presidents
Palmer won the Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average on the PGA Tour four times, played in six Ryder Cup teams and was captain twice.
He received almost every national award in golf and was the "Athlete of the Decade" of the 1960s in a national Associated Press poll. Palmer, who helped found the Golf Channel decades later, also helped inaugurate the Champions Tour, where he won 10 times, including five majors.
It was a magnetic star that attracted legions of fans who have never played golf for television has exploded across the country.
These fans are the presidents of the United States.
Dwight Eisenhower, who loved golf, was one of the best friends of Palmer. Richard Nixon asked Palmer about the Vietnam War. Palmer played golf with the two Bush presidents.
Eisenhower Palmer painted the picture - as Norman Rockwell. It's a drink named in honor of Palmer, as well as an airport, a golf tournament, hospitals, streets, charity initiatives and holes 19 Asador.
And from start to finish, Palmer signed so many autographs, posed for many photos, chatted with so many fans in the stands than any golfer to hit a golf ball.
"There are two things that made the call for the field of the average man - Arnold Palmer and the invention of Mulligan," the actor / comedian and good friend Bob Hope once said.
Palmer was a folk hero with a driver in his hand and a handshake after the round. From 2007 to 2015, he served as honorary starter for the teachers, creating one of the most outstanding aspects of the tournament each year Thursday morning.
"Arnold Palmer was the man hero every day," Nicklaus said. "From the modest education, Arnold embodies the American workforce."
The origins of "Arnie's Army '
Palmer was the eldest of four brothers born and Doris Deacon Palmer. He received his first set of golf clubs his father, who worked at Latrobe Country Club from 1921 until his death in 1976. Having grown up near the sixth tee club, Palmer learned the handle and swing your father and manners, empathy, integrity, and respect.
Palmer worked almost every job at the club before going to Wake Forest University, where he became one of the best college players. But when his friend Bud Worsham, died in a car accident, Palmer left school and asked a trailer three years in the Coast Guard of the United States.
Stationed in Cleveland, his passion for golf was rekindled. Then, while working as a paint salesman, Palmer quickly got his game to win the Amateur Championship in 1954 in the United States. 18 November 1954 at 25, turned pro and signed a contract with Wilson Sporting Goods.
Its largest area of land began in 1960 and lasted four years with Palmer to win six major championships and 29 titles on the PGA Tour. It was in 1960 at the Masters in Augusta, Ga., which a local newspaper coined the phrase "Arnie's Army," when soldiers near Camp Gordon Palmer followed. Soon, fans not uniform across the country enrolled.
Palmer turning point, which incorporated the word "burden" in the minds of his fans, came in the 1960 US Open at Cherry Hills. Palmer won the Masters two months ago, with birdies on the last two holes to edge Ken Venturi by a stroke. But Palmer began the final round of 14 players and seven shots down and was told by Bob drum Pittsburgh Press was too far away to win.
Angered by the comment, Palmer drove the green first 346 yards and made the first of four consecutive birdies. And he added birdies at the sixth and seventh and shot a final round 65 to finish victory again.
A month later, Palmer made a pilgrimage to St. Andrews for the British Open and his presence helped save oldest championship game and rose again among the best tournaments in the game.
In total, Palmer won eight times in 1960, the year he signed with the sports agent Mark McCormack pioneer and quickly became a huge market of products ranging from golf equipment for jackets and trousers motor oil and car rental. Palmer became the first professional golfer to win $ 1 million for his career. Even in his 80s, he retreated to around $ 20 million per year.
"Arnold was the epitome of a superstar," fellow Hall of Famer Raymond Floyd said. "It sets the standard for how superstars in every sport should be, in the way he always signed autographs as he has always made time for everyone. On the golf course, all I saw was a mass of people. He was able to concentrate on everyone in the gallery individually. It was OK.
"And the man who could play the game."
Giving back Through charities
But as dramatic as his victories were, so, too, had losses of Palmer in the major leagues.
In 1961, he suddenly lost control when he made double bogey on the 72nd hole after accepting premature congratulations from a friend on the right side of the 18th fairway.
Palmer lost three phases in the US Open, Nicklaus in 1962 to Julius Boros in 1963 and Billy Casper in 1966, Palmer released September 1 hit with nine holes to play in regulation.
But the masses have left him. Call Palmer was so great, so great that even took a drink quickly became a hit in the country. One of his favorite drink was a mixture of iced tea and lemonade.
It is now available in grocery stores and just called Arnold Palmer.
"A guy came to the bar and ordered an Arnold Palmer, and the boy knew what drink was" three-time champion Padraig Harrington recalled a visit to an Indian restaurant in Orlando in 2009. "Now is another level. Not go there and order a Tiger Woods at the bar.
"When the man ordered, I thought, maybe you could do it in a golf club, but asked in a bar randomly. And the guy who probably do not know one end of a stick in the other, he knew what he was" .
Palmer's achievements have been widely used, its main influence. He helped raise hundreds of millions of other charities.
In 1989, after Palmer has played an important role in fundraising, the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and Women in Orlando opened. The first baby was born a few hours after the ribbon cutting. Since then, about 200,000 children were born there.
In 2002, a war of prostate cancer Arnie's Army was launched and over 2,500 tournaments around the country sponsored by the organization has raised more than $ 3 million for research on prostate cancer.
Palmer also left its mark on the development of about 225 courses worldwide.
"The game has given so much to Arnold Palmer," Nicklaus said, "but more."
This was evident when Palmer received the Congressional Gold Medal.
"Arnold Palmer democratized golf, made us think we could also go out and play," said House Speaker John Boehner, a golf enthusiast. "He made us think we could really do something, really. All I had to do was go out and try. ...
"Arnold, who touched our hearts and minds, and today his government, people will come to a gold medal for you."
Added Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid: "The course became famous, but his tireless efforts to save lives, not the short game, will make you immortal."
