The Great Arnold Palmer

In 1958 at the Augusta, Georgia Masters Tournament, Arnold Palmer became the youngest tournament champion of that time and ranked as the highest paid golfer for that year. Over the next five years Palmer rose to become the world’s best golfer, experiencing insurmountable levels of success. He gained 29 titles and over $400,000 in prize money. He continued blazing his trail for success and capturing four wins at the Masters Tournament in 1958,1960, 1962 and 1964. In 1968 he became the first golfer to surpass $1 million dollars in purse winnings. Palmer's early life was defined by great triumphs and great trials. Learn more about the early years of Arnold Palmer in this detailed biography.

Arnold Daniel Palmer was born on September 10, 1929, in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. The son of a golf pro, Palmer picked up the sport as a toddler after his father, Milfred J. "Deacon" Palmer, shortened a set of regulation clubs so that his son could use them. The game came easily to Palmer, and by the time he was 17, he'd already captured two state interscholastic championships. He eventually earned a golf scholarship to Wake Forest University, where he won three Atlantic Coast Conference Championships. But Palmer's life took an unexpected and tragic turn in 1950, when his close friend and teammate, Bud Worsham, was killed in a car accident. His death so rattled Palmer that he quit college his senior year and joined the U.S. Coast Guard, embarking on a three-year hiatus from golf. By 1954, however, Palmer had returned to the game and quickly resumed his old form. That year, he won the second of two consecutive Ohio Amateur Championships as well as the U.S. Amateur title. By the fall of 1954, he'd turned pro.

— Arnold Palmer Bio

Palmer known throughout the world of golf for both his experience and wisdom, has shaped the career of many up and coming golfers. Read his wise words captured below by Golf Digest.

"How do we make the game of golf accessible again to regular people? That's a hell of a question. For one thing, the pros have to do a better job of connecting with the fans. I see players and I wonder sometimes when they ignore the press why they're not interested. It may be that the money just came too easy for them. ... It's something that I tried to create -- the money, the purses -- and it may be working a little in reverse. Players need to remember they didn't make golf. Golf made them."

— Arnold Palmer