Late Sunday evening it was reported by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that golfs greatest ambassador, 87-year-old, Arnold Palmer had passed away due to heart complications at the UPMC Presbyterian Hospital. During his career Palmer won seven major championships and a total of 62 PGA Tour events but no matter win or lose he had the support of "Arnie's Army."
“Arnold’s place in history will be as the man who took golf from being a game for the few to a sport for the masses,” Palmer’s greatest rival Jack Nicklaus told the USGA. “He was the catalyst who made that happen.”
From having a drink named after him to helping found the Golf Channel alongside businessman Joe Gibbs, the charismatic Palmer has left an imprint on the game that will last for as long as the game is played.
“Arnold is the greatest role model that any sport ever had. Study that man," golf icon Lee Trevino said to the USGA. "Look at the way he loves the game, conducts himself and treats other people. Arnold Palmer is the one you want to be like.”
Born on September 10, 1929 in Latrobe, PA, Palmer put together a successful amateur career that culminated with a 1 up win in the championship match of the 1954 U.S. Amateur over Robert Sweeny Jr. The first of his three USGA championships was the last of his 26 wins as an amateur.
“Winning the National Amateur Championship gave me the confidence to do what I really wanted to do with my life,” Palmer said of his U.S. Amateur win. “Not only was it one of my proudest moments, it led to me going out on tour as a professional golfer. And, obviously, it led to everything afterward.”
Arnold Palmer's Amateur Victories1946: WPIAL Championship, PIAA Championship 1947: WPIAL Championship, PIAA Championship, Western Pennsylvania Junior, Western Pennsylvania Amateur 1948: Southern Conference Championship, Sunnehanna Invitational, Western Pennsylvania Junior 1950: Southern Intercollegiate, Western Pennsylvania Amateur, Greensburg Invitational 1951: Western Pennsylvania Amateur, Worsharn Memorial 1952: Western Pennsylvania Amateur, Greensburg Invitational 1953: Ohio Amateur, Cleveland Amateur, Greensburg Invitational, Mayfield Heights Open, Evergreen Pitch and Putt Invitational 1954: U.S. Amateur, Ohio Amateur, All-American Amateur, Atlantic Coast Conference Championship, Bill Waite Memorial
-The USGA contributed to this story