EDITOR’S NOTE: Golf’s greatest ambassador and a living legend, Arnold Palmer was presented with the second annual Will F. Nicholson Jr. Honor by the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame during a Friday evening ceremony at the Brown Palace Hotel. The award is bestowed on an individual who has demonstrated “a lifetime of dedication and commitment to the game of golf.”
Nicholson, a Denver banker and former USGA president and Masters competition chairman, received the inaugural award named in his honor in 2006. Regarded as one of the most accommodating and courteous sports celebrities, the 77-year-old Palmer sat down with Denver Post staff writer Tom Kensler on Friday afternoon for a Q&A prior to the award ceremony.
The Denver Post: Obviously, you have fond memories of Denver. Does your record-setting, come-from-behind victory in the 1960 U.S. Open at Cherry Hills rank among your all-time favorites?
Arnold Palmer: Heck, yes. I came into Denver on a pretty hot streak (including a victory in the 1960 Masters), and I gave myself a pretty good chance of winning the Open. I played three rounds that, from tee shot to green, generally were very, very good. But I didn’t make any putts and I was so disappointed in the results (72-71-72). Then I went out for the fourth round, and the things I thought would happen earlier started happening. I felt pretty good about it. I was nervous. I was excited. When I walked off the front nine with 30, I didn’t know I was going to win. But I knew I was going to have a shot at winning.
Post: The old footage of you flinging your white visor after finishing in 65 at Cherry Hills remains among the famous scenes in golf history. It must be gratifying to see that film clip continue to be shown over and over.
Palmer: Well, for me the Open was fantastic and Denver was fantastic. Everything here was first class.
Post: One more question about the 1960 U.S. Open at Cherry Hills. We’re you trying to drive the green on the 346-yard first hole or did it just happen?
Palmer: Oh, yes. I was going for it. I wanted to get that final round off to a good start.
Post: You don’t play much anymore. Do you miss that?
Palmer: You play all your life, so you miss it very much. But now I understand why people like (Byron) Nelson and (Bobby) Jones didn’t continue to play. They had lost what they had as great players. Not playing well became difficult for me. I’m not a quitter. I still go out and practice now.
Post: You always said you kept playing because your fans, “Arnie’s Army,” wanted to see you out there, regardless of the scores you shot.
Palmer: Absolutely. Even today, I get so many letters and things in the mail. One of the most important things that can happen to you is getting great support from the fans. I also wanted to continue to help charities and everything that is involved with golf.
Post: People fondly call you “The King.” Embarrassed by that?
Palmer: I appreciate what they mean. But I’ve always said this and I will say it now: There’s no king of golf. If I helped the game and helped to make it what it is today, that pleases me very much.
Post: Arnold, you always gave back to the fans, acknowledging the gallery with a smile, a salute, a thumbs up or even a joke as you walked to play your next shot. These days, it seems that most players march down the fairway with what has been called “a 500-yard stare.” Have they forgotten how to show appreciation for those behind the ropes?
Palmer: It’s a business today. When we played, tournament golf was the same thing – minus the big prize money. The PGA Tour has become what I thought would happen. It’s become very lucrative. But I suppose I hoped it also would continue to be a sport that we all loved to play. It has turned into a business, and it’s turned so hard – I wish we could back off a little. Players don’t seem to enjoy it as much as they did.
Post: Anything you’d change about the PGA Tour?
Palmer: It’s wonderful. It’s become what I hoped would happen. It has had a very healthy existence over the last 40 or 50 years. But those running the tour need to be careful. They need to be careful how they handle it from here. You’ve got to watch the public and their acceptance of the game and what we do. I think we’re going to a world tour. I think that’s inevitable. I just want it to be done in the good character that we have been able to establish on the PGA Tour.
Post: It sounds like the theme of your concerns is: Yes, tour golf is a business but also remember that it’s a sport.
Palmer: My father told me, “Arnold, just remember it’s a game.” Play it hard. But play it like it’s a game.
Post: As a spokesman for Callaway, you’ve always been pro-technology. Your stance changed at all?
Palmer: I don’t think you can stop technology. In anything, you have to try to do things to try to improve. But the one thing I think we need to do, and this may be my swan’s song, is slow the golf ball down. You’ve got the USGA talking about square grooves. They’re going to take them out, which is wonderful because the shot-making ability, the skill, is so important to the game. But the other thing is the golf ball. If we could go to the ball companies and go back to the golf ball they produced in 1960, it would enhance the game so much. If we had balata golf balls, just think of how much fun that would be with the clubs we have today. You can’t spin the golf ball anymore or shape your shots. Even Tiger Woods has trouble shaping it.
Post: Tiger or Jack?
Palmer: If you mean who is better? I’m not sure I can answer that. One of the things that comes to my mind when you ask that is, they are both absolutely great thinkers on the golf course. Tiger is good. He’s strong. But so was Jack. That’s the argument. You could go down the street and go in and out of that argument every day.
Post: Having grown up not far from there, what did you think of Oakmont taking out 5,000 trees before hosting the recent U.S. Open?
Palmer: Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. When I first played Oakmont in my youth, it was treeless. In 1941, I was 12 years old when my dad took me over there. It was great in 1941, when there wasn’t a tree on the golf course, and it’s great now.
Post: Does receiving an award from the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame hold a special meaning for you because it’s named after your good friend, Will Nicholson?
Palmer: Will is just a great guy, and what he has done for golf is unbelievable. Colorado has some golf history, boy. Will Nicholson. Judy Bell. Dow Finsterwald. You guys are lucky. You got the best of the best.
Staff writer Tom Kenslercan be reached at 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
