Golf gives Arnold Palmer its annual salute

16 March 2016 - 02:13 By Iain Carter

With another $6.3-million up for grabs when the PGA Tour completes its Florida swing, it is an opportune moment to salute the prime architect behind such riches.No one did more to glamourise and popularise professional golf than Arnold Palmer, 86, host of the invitational tournament that bears his name and which starts at Bay Hill tomorrow.Without his charismatic showmanship, it is hard to imagine golf enjoying the status it does today.Tiger Woods has been one of the world's most eminent sportsmen in the past two decades, but the impact of the 14-time major champion's brilliance would not have been so great without the foundations laid by Palmer.Between 1958 and 1964 the man they called "The King" won seven major titles and harnessed the new television era for golf as viewers fell in love with Arnie and his heart-on-sleeve style.He was followed by hordes of fans on both sides of the Atlantic, who became known as Arnie's Army.Jack Nicklaus may have come along to wrest the mantle from Palmer, but his fame never waned.To this day you can order an Arnold Palmer and the bartender will know it's iced tea with lemonade.He still ranks the fifth-highest earner in the game. According to Golf Digest , Palmer's $40-million income last year was beaten only by Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson, Woods and Rory McIlroy.Palmer has always been an energetic ambassador for his event . But, sadly, this year he is likely to be less visible."I don't think his liveliness is there like it has been," his grandson, Sam Saunders, a PGA Tour player, told ESPN.The stature of this golfing great helps attract what are always strong fields at Bay Hill. McIlroy is joined in Orlando by Jason Day, Justin Rose, Ernie Els, Henrik Stenson and Retief Goosen.But no one has been more successful there than Woods, who misses the tournament for the third year running.Woods may not be there but, like all PGA Tour events, it will still be screened nationwide and internationally.This, in large part, is Palmer's legacy.BBC Sport..

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