Let us resolve to tell just one Arnold Palmer story. If we try to do more, if we try to recount or summarize or, dare I say it, capture the essence of the impossibly wonderful life of Arnold Daniel Palmer, well, we will fail miserably. The King did not live a life that can or should be summed up. He was the son of a hardened golf pro and groundskeeper in Latrobe, Pa. He played college golf at Wake Forest. He ran away to join the coast guard.
He returned with a slashing swing and a gambler’s nerve, and he played golf in such a daring way that he made it seem thrilling on television.