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Arnold Daniel Palmer (born September 10, 1929 in
Latrobe, Pennsylvania) is an United
States|American golfer who has won numerous events
on both the PGA TOUR and Champions Tour, dating
back to 1955. Palmer is not generally regarded as
the greatest player in history (most would give
that accolade to Jack Nicklaus, some to Bobby
Jones (golf)|Bobby Jones, and Tiger Woods has
challenged them in recent years), but he is
arguably the most important in that he was the
first golf star when television started to air
golf tournaments in the 1950s. 

==Career outline==
Palmer learned golf from his father, who was a
golf professional at Latrobe Country Club near
Pittsburgh.  He attended Wake Forest University
from 1947 until 1954, taking time out for service
in the United States Coast Guard. He left college
without a degree and briefly worked as a salesman
but after winning the 1954 U.S. Amateur he turned
professional and he won the Canadian Open the
following year.

Palmer's charisma was a major factor in
establishing golf as a compelling television event
in the 1950s and 1960s, setting the stage for the
popularity it enjoys today. He is also credited by
many for securing the status of The Open
Championship (British Open) among United States|US
players. Before Palmer, relatively few American
professionals attempted to play The Open due to
its travel requirements, foreign environment, and
the style of its courses (radically different from
most American courses). Palmer's successive Open
wins in the early 1960s convinced many American
pros that a trip to Britain would be worth the
effort. Of course, the advent of transatlantic air
travel by jet at about that time also contributed
greatly to making The Open a more attractive
tournament for American pros.

He has won seven major championships:
*The Masters Tournament|The Masters: 1958, 1960,
1962, 1964
*US Open (golf)|US Open: 1960
*The Open Championship: 1961, 1962

Palmer's most prolific years were 1960-1963, when
he won 29 tournaments in four seasons. In 1960, he
won the Hickok Belt as the top professional
athlete of the year and Sports Illustrated
magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" award. He built
up a wide fan base, often referred to as "Arnie's
Army", and in 1967 he became the first man to
reach one million dollars in career earnings on
the PGA Tour. By the late 1960s Jack Nicklaus had
acquired clear ascendancy in their rivalry, but
Palmer won a PGA Tour event every year up to 1970,
and in 1971 he enjoyed a revival, winning four
events.

Palmer was eligible for the PGA Senior Tour (now
the Champions Tour) from its first season in 1980,
and he was one of the marquee names who helped it
to become successful. He won ten events on the
tour, including five senior majors.

Palmer was Mark McCormack|Mark McCormack's  first
client. He won the first World Match Play
Championship in England, an event which was
originally organised by McCormack to showcase his
stable of players. Their partnership was one of
the most significant in the history of sports
marketing. Long after he ceased to win
tournaments, Palmer remained one of the highest
earners in golf due to his appeal to sponsors and
the public.

In 2004, he competed in The Masters Tournament|The
Masters for the last time, marking his 50th
consecutive appearance in that event. After
missing the cut at the 2005 U.S. Senior Open by
twenty-one shots he announced that he would not
enter any more senior majors.

Palmer has had a diverse golf related business
career including owning "Arnold Palmer's Bay Hill
Club and Lodge", which is the venue for the PGA
Tour's Bay Hill Invitational, helping to found The
Golf Channel, and negotiating the deal to build
the first golf course in the People's Republic of
China. Since 1971 he has owned Latrobe Country
Club, where his father used to be the club
professional.

==PGA Tour wins==
*1955  Canadian Open  
*1956  Insurance City Open, Eastern Open  
*1957  Houston Open, Azalea Open Invitational,
Rubber City Open Invitational, Buick
Invitational|San Diego Open Invitational  
*1958  St. Petersburg Open Invitational, The
Masters Tournament|The Masters, Pepsi Championship
 
*1959  Thunderbird Invitational, Oklahoma City
Open Invitational, West Palm Beach Open
Invitational  
*1960  Palm Springs Desert Golf Classic, Texas
Open Invitational, Baton Rouge Open Invitational, 
Pensacola Open Invitational, The Masters
Tournament|The Masters,  U.S. Open Championship
(golf)|U.S. Open, Insurance City Open
Invitational, Mobile Sertoma Open Invitational  
*1961  Buick Invitational|San Diego Open
Invitational, Phoenix Open|Phoenix Open
Invitational, Baton Rouge Open Invitational, 
Texas Open Invitational, Western Open, The Open
Championship  
*1962  Palm Springs Golf Classic, Phoenix
Open|Phoenix Open Invitational, The Masters
Tournament|The Masters, Texas Open Invitational,
Mercedes Championships|Tournament of Champions,
Colonial National Invitation, The Open
Championship, American Golf Classic  
*1963  Los Angeles Open, Phoenix Open|Phoenix Open
Invitational, Pensacola Open Invitational,
Thunderbird Classic Invitational, Cleveland Open
Invitational, Western Open, Whitemarsh Open
Invitational  
*1964  The Masters Tournament|The Masters,
Oklahoma City Open Invitational  
*1965  Mercedes Championships|Tournament of
Champions  
*1966  Los Angeles Open, Mercedes
Championships|Tournament of Champions, Houston
Champions International  
*1967  Los Angeles Open, Tucson Open Invitational,
American Golf Classic, Thunderbird Classic  
*1968  Bob Hope Desert Classic, Kemper Open  
*1969  Heritage Golf Classic, Danny
Thomas-Diplomat Classic  
*1970  National Four-Ball Championship  
*1971  Bob Hope Desert Classic, Bay Hill
Invitational|Florida Citrus Invitational,
Westchester Classic, National Team Championship  
*1973  Bob Hope Desert Classic

Major championships are shown in bold.

==Other regular career wins==
*1954 U.S. Amateur Championship|U.S. Amateur 
*1955 Panama Open, Colombia Open 
*1960 WGC-World Cup|Canada Cup (with Sam Snead)
*1962 WGC-World Cup|Canada Cup (with Sam Snead) 
*1963 Australian Wills Masters Tournament,
WGC-World Cup|Canada Cup (with Jack Nicklaus)
*1964 HSBC World Match Play
Championship|Piccadilly World Match Play
Championship (England, but not a PGA European
Tour|European Tour event at that time), WGC-World
Cup|Canada Cup (with Jack Nicklaus)
*1966 Australian Open (golf)|Australian Open,
WGC-World Cup|Canada Cup (with Jack Nicklaus), PGA
Team Championship (with Jack Nicklaus)
*1967 HSBC World Match Play
Championship|Piccadilly World Match Play
Championship (England, but not a European Tour
event at that time), WGC-World Cup|World Cup (team
with Jack Nicklaus and individual)
*1971 Trophée Lancôme|Lancome Trophy (France,
but not a European Tour event at that time)
*1974 Spanish Open (European Tour)
*1975 Penfold PGA Championship (European Tour)
*1980 Canadian PGA Championship

==Senior PGA Tour wins==
*1980  PGA Seniors' Championship  
*1981  U.S. Senior Open  
*1982  Marlboro Classic,  Denver Post Champions of
Golf  
*1983  Boca Grove Classic  
*1984  General Foods PGA Seniors' Championship, 
Senior Tournament Players Championship,  Quadel
Senior Classic  
*1985  Senior Tournament Players Championship  
*1988  Crestar Classic 
  
Senior majors are shown in bold. 

==Other senior wins==
*1984 Doug Sanders Celebrity Pro-Am 
*1986 Union Mutual Classic 
*1990 Senior Skins Game 
*1992 Senior Skins Game 
*1993 Senior Skins Game

==Miscellanea==
Palmer was one of the founders of The Golf
Channel.

One of Palmer's favorite drinks allegedly is a
combination of half iced tea and half lemonade, a
drink which is often referred to as an "Arnold
Palmer" in his honor. It is now available under
the name "The Original Arnold Palmer Tee" (sic)
http://www.arnoldpalmertee.com/

==See also==
*Golfers with most PGA Tour wins
*List of golfers with most major title wins
*Golfers with most Champions Tour major
championship wins

== External links ==
*http://www.arnoldpalmer.com/docscorner/default.as
p arnoldpalmer.com - a portal to many separate
sites about Palmer's businesses, sponsors and
other interests
*http://www.pgatour.com/players/intro/149734
Profile on the PGA Tour's official site
*http://www.golfstarsonline.com/P/Arnold_Palmer/
Golf Stars Online - directory of interviews, sites
and feature articles with or about Arnold Palmer