Both Ryder Cup sides can toast the King
Few golfers were more enthusiastic about the Ryder Cup than Arnold Palmer. His seven appearances for the United States in the biennial event, including six as a player, were a continuation of a patriot’s act that began when Palmer dropped out of Wake Forest and served in the Coast Guard.
Only then did he embark upon a golf career at the dawn of the television age that would transform his sport, and all pro sportsmen.
Palmer, who died Sunday at 87 of complications from heart problems, was the first client of the International Management Group, an agency founded in 1960 that would use television to transform athletes, starting with Palmer, into global brands. But even as his popularity and financial portfolio skyrocketed, Palmer never tired of playing at the Ryder Cup for no riches at all.
Because of his intense love of the biennial event, which in Palmer’s era pitted a squad from the United States against one from Britain and Ireland, the timing of his death was poignant. The 41st edition of the Ryder Cup begins today at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Minnesota.
From the U.S. team member Phil Mickelson’s unshakable connection with the fans to European team member Rory McIlroy’s muscular five-foot-nine body and go-for-broke mindset to the more than 24 hours of television coverage over the three-day event, Palmer’s influence will be a luminous rainbow against a darkened background. His presence will be felt from the opening drive to the final putt.
In the book “Behind the Ryder Cup: The Players’ Stories,” Palmer said he loved the event “because it simply wasn’t about playing for money. It was about playing for something far grander and more personal.”
Palmer’s Ryder Cup record in six appearances as a player was 22-8-2. To place his performance in perspective, Palmer’s 23 overall points are four more than Mickelson mustered in his first 10 appearances. Palmer’s teams never lost. Mickelson’s teams have won only twice.
Palmer had a smile for every person he met, but his cheerful countenance hid, sometimes, barely, a fierce competitiveness. At the 1967 Ryder Cup, Palmer was paired with Julius Boros in a four-ball match against Hugh Boyle and George Will. The twotime major champion Jack Burke Jr., the co-founder of The Champions Golf Club in Houston, which was hosting the event, was following the players. With Palmer and Boros 3-down, Burke remarked to Palmer that he did not believe he had any chance of winning. He told Palmer he would build him a clock if he and Boros pulled out the match. The pair rallied to win, 1-up.
Burke kept his word. The clock that he delivered to Palmer had a face that consisted of the 12 letters of Palmer’s name in lieu of numbers. It occupied a place of honour in his workshop. In “Behind the Ryder Cup,” Palmer said, “It’s only fitting the clock is there, reminding me of a wonderful moment in my playing career, and how much fun it was to take that clock out of Jackie Burke’s hands.” The 1967 U.S. team’s margin of victory was 15 points, validating the claim made during the opening ceremony by the captain, Ben Hogan, who had motioned to his players and described them as “the finest golfers in the world.”