Arnold Palmer

This article is about the American professional golfer. For the golf tournament, see Arnold Palmer Invitational. For the drink, see Arnold Palmer (drink). For the British real tennis player, see Arnold Palmer (tennis).

Arnold Palmer
Palmer while in the U.S. Coast Guard, 1953
Personal information
Full nameArnold Daniel Palmer
NicknameThe King
Born(1929-09-10)September 10, 1929
Latrobe, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedSeptember 25, 2016(2016-09-25) (aged 87)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Height5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Sporting nationality United States
Spouse
Winifred Walzer
​
​
(m. 1954; died 1999)​
Kathleen Gawthrop
​
(m. 2005)​
Children2
Career
CollegeWake Forest College
Turned professional1954
Former tour(s)
Professional wins95
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour62 (5th all-time)
European Tour2
PGA Tour of Australasia2
PGA Tour Champions10
Other21
Best results in major championships
(wins: 7)
Masters TournamentWon: 1958, 1960, 1962, 1964
PGA ChampionshipT2: 1964, 1968, 1970
U.S. OpenWon: 1960
The Open ChampionshipWon: 1961, 1962
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame1974 (member page)
PGA Tour
money list winner		1958, 1960, 1962, 1963
PGA Player of the Year1960, 1962
Sports Illustrated
Sportsman of the Year		1960
Vardon Trophy1961, 1962, 1964, 1967
Bob Jones Award1971
Old Tom Morris Award1983
PGA Tour
Lifetime Achievement Award		1998
Payne Stewart Award2000

Arnold Daniel Palmer (September 10, 1929 – September 25, 2016) was an American professional golfer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most charismatic players in the sport's history. Since embarking on a professional career in 1955, he won numerous events on both the PGA Tour and the circuit now known as PGA Tour Champions. Nicknamed "The King", Palmer was one of golf's most popular stars and seen as a trailblazer, the first superstar of the sport's television age, which began in the 1950s.

Palmer's social impact on golf was unrivaled among fellow professionals; his modest origins and plain-spoken popularity helped change the perception of golf from an elite, upper-class pastime of private clubs to a more populist sport accessible to middle and working classes via public courses.[1] Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Gary Player were "The Big Three" in golf during the 1960s; they are credited with popularizing and commercializing the sport around the world.

In a career spanning more than six decades, Palmer won 62 PGA Tour titles from 1955 to 1973. He is fifth on the Tour's all-time victory list, trailing only Sam Snead, Tiger Woods, Nicklaus, and Ben Hogan. He won seven major titles in a six-plus-year domination from the 1958 Masters to the 1964 Masters. He also won the PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998, and in 1974 was one of the 13 original inductees into the World Golf Hall of Fame.[2]

  1. ^ Reilly, Rick (June 17, 2013). "Sunday might never be the same". ESPN. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
  2. ^ World Golf Hall of Fame website