The Early Years of Arnold Palmer

Arnold Palmer was born on September 10, 1929 in Pennsylvania and his father taught him how to play golf. His father worked at the Latrobe Country Club as the pro and head greens keeper. Arnold broke 70 at the Bent Creek Country Club at the age of seven. He went to Wake Forest University for a while then he enlisted into the Coast Gard. During his three year tour he continued to play golf.

In 1954 he won the U S Amateur Championship and decided to try the PGA Tour. In his rookie season he won the 1955 Canadian Open.

Arnold was a major factor in getting golf on television in the 50's and60's. He got his first major win at the 1998 Masters and that made him one of the leading star in the game of golf. In 1960 he was Mark McCormacks first client. Mark had him play in the Open Championship [British Open] so he would become a world wide star instead of just a leading American golfer. He missed winning by one stroke as Ken Nagle won, but he went on to win the Open in 1961 and 1962. That made many Americans to start playing in the British Open.

His best years on tour were 1960-1963 where he won 29 tour events and was named Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the year. He had a wide fan base and became referred to as Arnie's Army. In 1967 he became the first golfer to reach one million in career earnings on the PGA Tour. Arnold was able to win a tour event every year up to 1970 and in 1971 he won four times.

By the late 1960's Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player had joined Arnie in the sport lite.