The first major event after a patriarch’s passing can be rough on his family. As the golf community gathers at Augusta National Golf Club for the Masters this week, Arnold Palmer’s absence from the tournament he dearly loved and won four times will be acutely felt.
“It will never be the same,” said Curtis Strange, a two-time United States Open winner who attended Wake Forest on a scholarship named after Palmer, the most famous Demon Deacon golfer. “The tournament will go on and players will come and go, but there will be a void.”
Palmer played in 50 Masters tournaments and hit the ceremonial first shot nine consecutive years after that.