Memories of Palmer everywhere at Bay Hill

ORLANDO, Fla. — The photo was never published out of respect for Arnold Palmer.

Palmer was walking his dog early one morning when he turned down Marina Drive across from the Bay Hill Club & Lodge, a tiny lane next to the tennis courts where sunlight filtered through a canopy of trees. He was 85, moving slower than anyone was used to seeing, his shoulders slightly drooped.

What made the picture so poignant was that he looked so real, a man of the people, perhaps Palmer’s greatest appeal.

The Bay Hill staff asked the Arnold Palmer magazine not to use the photo simply because Palmer preferred to be seen in public wearing slacks and a golf shirt (usually pink, always with the Bay Hill umbrella logo), sometimes a sweater. The King was out of uniform.

To look down Marina Drive now is to see the image of Palmer walking his dog, and to be reminded of his presence.

It will not go away anytime soon.

There are sure to be somber moments at the Arnold Palmer Invitational this week. That 13foot bronze statue of Palmer behind the first tee at Bay Hill was attracting plenty of attention Tuesday. The cart that Palmer used to drive, with two sets of clubs strapped on the back, will be behind the 16th tree starting today.

Players have put the umbrella on their caps, their shirts or their golf bags for the week. They are taking turns going to his office, sitting behind his desk and signing memorabilia for fans, because that’s what Palmer would have done.

Golf Channel, the network Palmer co-founded with Joe Gibbs in 1995, is devoting 50 hours of programming from Bay Hill this week, including live coverage of the opening ceremony today.

But it would be a mistake in this week of remembering the King to think of this as the end.

Since his death in September, Arnold Palmer Enterprises already has renewed corporate deals with MasterCard, equipment maker Textron and Arizona Beverages, which includes the famous Arnold Palmer (half iced tea, half lemonade).

The greater concern is the tournament, and whether it will lose any prestige now that Palmer is gone.

There have been comparisons with the AT&T Byron Nelson outside Dallas, and how it struggled to get a strong field after Nelson died in 2006, in part because the golf course wasn’t exactly on anyone’s bucket list to play. There’s a big difference, though. Nelson had his name on a tournament that moved from Preston Trail to the TPC Four Seasons Las Colinas.

Bay Hill had Palmer’s prints from the very start in 1979, long before his name became the title in 2007. He owned the place. He nurtured it. He was everywhere at the club, playing the shootouts with his friends, sipping on his Ketel One in the clubhouse, signing autographs upstairs in his office, and yes, walking his dog down Marina Drive.