Photo: © Scott Halleran/Getty Images |
| Palmer received standing ovations every place he turns. |
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Commissioner Tim Finchem agreed that the move was one that is certainly deserved. "This is a special situation, I guess I would characterize it that way," Finchem said, "with a unique individual and a unique history and a universal set of facts.
"I think all of us in the game, whether we're players or administrators or fans, television people, media - owe Arnold an awfully lot for what he has given. To have him agree that his name would be on a tournament on the PGA Tour for the indefinite future is a very positive step for the PGA Tour."
Palmer wasn't even aware that a move was underfoot to change the name from the Bay Hill Classic. "While I was playing, I would have never allowed it," he said. "That was the first stipulation for not making any name change. I liked the Bay Hill Invitational logo. But when I stopped playing, then that sort of opened the door for the possible name change."
Not many people are still aware that the Orlando tournament was around several years before Palmer brought it to Bay Hill. The Citrus Open was at Rio Pinar Country Club for 13 years and included among its winners one Arnold Palmer in 1971, along with names such as Lionel Hebert at the inaugural in 1966, Lee Trevino in 1975 and Hale Irwin one year later in 1976.
Palmer, in fact, didn't purchase Bay Hill with the intention of bringing a tournament to the site. He first played the course at an exhibition in 1965 when it was still new, alongside Jack Nicklaus, Dave Ragan and Don Cherry. Arnold fell in love with the course immediately and instructed a couple of real estate attorneys to try to buy it.
The attorneys tried unsuccessfully until they finally swung the deal in 1969. "And I couldn't have been happier," said Arnold. "The condition of the golf course and the surroundings was very meager. But it was just what I was looking for. It was quiet, it was about a 15-, 20-minute drive to downtown, which was great, small town, farming town, the whole thing."
In less than two years, though, the area was turned upside-down when Walt Disney decided to plunk down Disneyworld 10 miles from Arnie's playpen. Palmer had no idea of the scope of Disney's plans, which would turn Orlando from a sleepy little farming area to the international tourist destination that it was to become.
Photo: © Stephen Munday/Getty Images |
| Arnold and Jack Nicklaus played together the first time that Palmer ever saw Bay Hill over 40 years ago. |
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"I had no idea, and was really looking for a quiet place to just do a nice golf course," Arnold said.
Palmer and Bay Hill were about as far away from Rio Pinar and the tournament as you could get and still be in the same county. However, eventually the Citrus Open people made unofficial inquiries to Palmer about taking over the tournament, which just wasn't progressing. "And I consulted for a little bit and decided that that would be a pretty good idea," he said.
"So 29 years ago, we had our first Bay Hill Invitational, and we've been going ever since; this being our 29th year. And it's worked out pretty well. As you know, the first tournament was a $100,000 tournament, and that was about the average on the tour in those days. Of course as you know, this year we're $5.5 million. That's a reasonable progress in 29 years."
Arnold himself is amazed at what has transpired.
"We can just start with the prize money, $100,000 versus $5.5 million," he said. "That's a pretty major thing. And of course the thing that always scared me a little, playing at the same time as I was trying to get a tournament started, was that sponsors and people that would be interested in this area. Rio Pinar and the Citrus Open, I would say they had modest success over the years; not really successful, and for a number of reasons I suspect. There weren't a lot of people here, and it just doesn't gather a lot of steam and the fields were modest.
Photo: © Warren Little/Getty Images |
| Palmer always gives the fans a good laugh. |
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"Although, I played, but a lot of the guys chose not to come to Central Florida.
That has all changed now. And with the attractiveness of the area, and then in addition to all of the things that are now available here, whether it be Universal, Disney or all of the other things that are happening here, - I would say it's one of the most attractive places on the tour to come to and play short of the major championships like Augusta and the Open."
Palmer is 77 years old now and limits his golf to regular rounds with a group of buddies at Bay Hill. "How much do I play?" he asked rhetorically? "I go out on the golf course with a set of clubs a lot. I don't play much golf.
"My golf is - I could use all kind of words, but that's just not pleasing. I don't get the snap in the shots that I want, and when I play in front of people, I'm embarrassed, because I don't hit the shots that I used to hit. You know, I always felt in my playing days that when I had a shot or I hit a few bad shots, if I really tightened my belt and got down to it, I could hit a shot that I wanted to hit. That doesn't happen anymore, and that's embarrassing to me."
The world doesn't notice, or even care. Arnold Palmer IS golf. Even if he doesn't like being labeled as "The King."
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