HONOR THE KING
Stars must keep Palmer Invitational a premier event
ORLANDO, Fla. — The circus left Bay Hill shortly after sunset Sunday. The PGA Tour is a traveling circus of sorts that roots itself into a golf course for a week and then, as soon as a champion is crowned, everyone is gone as quickly as the final putt disappears.
After a week that saw crowds surrounding that beautiful new bronze statue of Arnold Palmer that stands between the first and 10th holes, as night fell Sunday for the first time all week Arnie stood alone.
When this year’s Arnold Palmer Invitational champion Marc Leishman was handed the commemorative red Palmer cardigan sweater as part of his haul that also included $1.56 million early Sunday evening, there was a different feel than other tournament endings.
There was a question that hung heavy in the Florida air about what will happen to this event, which has been a staple on the PGA Tour since 1979, as the years go by without its iconic host.
The moment Palmer died at age 87 in September, there was little question that this year’s tournament was going to be special. But it was without several big-name stars you would liked to have seen here to pay their respects — Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson, to name a few.
The week felt like a continuation of the poignant memorial service conducted for Palmer in October in his hometown of Latrobe, Pa.
There was the unveiling of the statue, signs of Palmer’s iconic multi-colored umbrella logo everywhere on players’ clothing, bags and shoes. There was a moving service on the practice range Wednesday that included 70 of the players hitting a ceremonial tee shot in the King’s honor and a Coast Guard helicopter flyover.
The entire week was special. But will next year’s tournament be special, too, and in the years to follow without Palmer’s presence?
The hope is that this tournament doesn’t fade into the similar haze of irrelevance that the Byron Nelson Classic has as the years have passed following Nelson’s death.
No disrespect to Nelson, one of the game’s all-time greats, but Palmer is a larger-than-life figure and his tournament should live on as one of the premier events on the PGA Tour schedule.
The PGA Tour, in an effort to ensure the Arnold Palmer Invitational tradition lives on, increased the prize money and awards a threeyear tournament exemption to the winner. That, however, is less of a factor in drawing the game’s top players, because they’re not chasing PGA Tour exemptions, the second-tier players are.
Also, the PGA Tour has done Palmer’s event no favor by moving the World Golf Championship event from Doral to Mexico, effectively breaking up the old concept of the “Florida Swing.’’ Now, the top players go to Mexico two weeks before Bay Hill and they’re playing the WGC World Match Play in Austin, Texas the week after Bay Hill.
That’s a big reason why Mickelson, Spieth and Johnson were not at Bay Hill this week.
Rickie Fowler actually is skipping next week’s World Match Play because playing in Palmer’s event was more important to him and he could not fit both into his schedule.
The game needs more like Fowler, who said he thinks the tournament “has the potential of being even stronger, as guys, I feel like, are going to want to come here just to keep it alive.” Hopefully, Fowler is right. Because it didn’t used to fit into his schedule — Rory McIlroy skipped Bay Hill until three years ago, when he had an epiphany.
“We all knew Arnold wasn’t in the best of health and I wanted to play before he passed,” McIlroy said. “I wanted to play here and get to spend some time with him before he wasn’t going to be here anymore.”
Hopefully for the tournament’s sake, McIlroy, who made a big weekend run and finished tied for fourth Sunday, does not make this a one-off now that Palmer is gone.
“Position in the schedule is a massive part of what makes this event relevant or a tough one for guys to play,’’ said Graeme McDowell, who was one of five newly named ambassadors for the tournament. “There have been some potential whispers about some schedule changes down the line in 2019. That could help this tournament.’’
Brandt Snedeker called “the outpouring of support’’ this week “awesome,’’ adding, “It was definitely a different vibe walking in the gates this week and it will be going forward, because you can’t replace him. I think we all kind of took Arnold for granted being here 50 years. We need to keep his legacy going.’’
Hopefully, we can all look back on Snedeker’s words in a few years and not view them as hollow.