Augusta Is Missing Its King
Golf Digest|April 2017

The First Masters in 63 Years Without Arnold Palmer.

Tom Callahan
Augusta Is Missing Its King

PHIL MICKELSON “As an amateur, I played my first Masters practice round with Arnold, at his invitation. I saw how he kept looking over at the spectators, smiling at everyone, giving the two thumbs-up, and really seeing them. ‘Don’t ever walk by them as though they’re not there,’ he told me. ‘They’re there.’

“In 1996, the tour set aside an area for autograph signing. I don’t know why, but it never really took, and they dropped it after that one year. But it worked for me, helped me organize my practice day. I still do it. Practicing is more demanding than playing, you know. You’re concentrating just as hard, but you’re hitting three times as many shots. I found myself avoiding the people during practice, and I didn’t like that feeling. So, being able to block out a set time for autographing helped me. And, at Arnold’s urging, I’ve tried to make my signature a little more legible. ‘Sometimes,’ he said, ‘you only have a few seconds to make the only impression you’ll ever make on that individual. Take the full time. These are the people who make it possible for us to play golf for a living.’

“He was always the one to emulate, wasn’t he? And there was never anything phony about it.”final-round birdies at the 16th and 17th in 1962 forced a playoff that palmer won over gary player and Dow Finsterwald.

This story is from the April 2017 edition of Golf Digest.

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This story is from the April 2017 edition of Golf Digest.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.