Arnold Palmer, 87, died Sunday in Pittsburgh, a source close to the family confirmed. His nickname in golf summed up both his achievements and his status. He was simply “the king.”
Born in 1929 to the greenskeeper of a country club in Latrobe, Penn., Palmer first had a golf club thrust into his hand when he was three-years-old. “Hit it hard, boy,” his father told him.
After winning the U.S. Amateur Open at the Country Club of Detroit in 1954, Palmer announced his intention to go professional. He took golf courses by storm with his incredibly powerful swing and his go-for-broke approach.
According to his own website, Palmer “amassed 92 championships in professional competitions,” and had just about every plaudit and laurel that you could think of bestowed upon him.
Palmer was named “Athlete of the Decade” for the 1960s. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush as well as the Congressional Gold Medal. Palmer was the only golfer who had a long-running invitational named after him during his own lifetime.
“His dashing presence singlehandedly took golf out of the country clubs and into the mainstream. Quite simply, he made golf cool,” explained Golfweek magazine.
Even after Palmer retired from the pro-circuit, he kept a hand in golf. He helped design hundreds of new golf courses and worked to popularize the senior circuit for older golfers.
Palmer is survived by his second wife Kit, two daughters and six grandchildren, including one who plays on the PGA Tour. R.I.P.
