Arnold Palmer is regarded as one of the best golfers in the history of the sport. While he didn’t win the same number of major tournaments as colleague Jack Nicklaus, Palmer was one of golf’s elite stars. A seven-time major winner, Palmer won four Masters tournaments during his career. While Nicklaus was able to win golf’s grand slam, Palmer was not. The PGA Championship was the bane of Palmer’s career and winning the tournament was always just out of his reach. The legendary golfer finished second three times at the tournament.
Palmer’s professional golf career began in 1954. It took Palmer just a year to claim the first of his 62 PGA Tour wins. In 1958, Palmer claimed his first green jacket, winning by one stroke on the hallowed greens of Augusta.
It would be the early 1960s that Palmer found his most success on the golf course. Between 1960 and 1963, Palmer won an incredible 29 PGA tournaments. He recorded five major victories during that span. In 1960 and 1962, Palmer was named the PGA Player of the Year, and he was also the Tour’s leading money winner during that time.
Palmer won at least one PGA Tour event in 16 consecutive years between 1955 and 1971. Palmer went on to play on the Senior PGA Tour. There, he collected five of the competition’s major trophies.
Off the golf course, Palmer was just as important as on it. He had several golf businesses that generated him millions of dollars when not playing the sport. Due to his off the course business interests and play on the PGA Tour, it is claimed that no other golfer raised the profile of the sport as Palmer. It was Palmer who took golf into the mainstream and onto magazine covers across the United States. His ability to connect to others helped millions learn to play the sport for fun and leisure.
Palmer died in September 2016 at the age of 87. His passing was due to heart problems. Palmer left the world of golf in a much stronger position than when he first entered it. Thanks to ‘The King’, golf had grown into one of the most popular sports in the world.
Arnold Palmer’s Major Wins
| Years | Masters | US PGA | U.S. Open | Open |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | ✅ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
| 1960 | ✅ | ✕ | ✅ | ✕ |
| 1961 | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✅ |
| 1962 | ✅ | ✕ | ✕ | ✅ |
| 1964 | ✅ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
Masters Wins: 4
Considered by many to be one of golf’s greatest and most charismatic players, Arnold Palmer won the Masters Tournament more than any other Major. ‘The King’, as he was known, was seen as something of a trailblazer thanks to his wins coming at the start of the television age of golf. That wasn’t necessarily the case with the Masters, of course, given the televised nature of the event, but Palmer’s plain-spoken nature and modest origins certainly flew in the face of what many people expected of golfers and the Masters in particular. It is one of the most exclusive courses in the world, so the fact a guy from a modist background could win it changed how many people saw the sport.
1958 – One Stroke Victory to Claim First Green Jacket
The 1958 Masters Tournament was the first win of any Major for Palmer, who would soon be thought as part of the ‘Big Three’ in golf alongside Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player. He was just 28-years-old at the time, going up against three-time champion Sam Snead, who was 17 years his senior. He was tied-sixth at the end of day one having finished with a two under par 70, then shot a 73 on day two. Day three was a good one for him, moving him to tied-first alongside Snead, but an eagle on the 13th on the Sunday put him in prime position for the win, which was just as well given he three-putted on the 18th. He ended up at -4 with 284 for the week.
1960 – Wire-to-Wire Win at Augusta
There is something neat about the fact that Palmer won the Masters every two years until he stopped winning it. In the same year that he ended up as the runner-up in the Open Championship, he became just the second wire-to-wire winner of the Tournament after Craig Wood had managed it in 1941. His opening gambit of 67 put him on -5, two clear of the chasing pack, which he followed up with a 73 on day two. That put him at -4 and only one in front of those looking to overtake him, whilst a 72 on the Sunday kept him there. A final round 70 saw him score 282 for the week, putting him on -6, one clear of Ken Venturi in second.
1962 – Three-Way Playoff Victory
Two years on and another Palmer win, this one coming thanks to the first three-way play-off in the Tournament’s history. He was up against defending Masters champion Gary Player and the 1958 PGA Championship winner Dow Finsterwald. He ended day one tied for third, then on day two moved into a two-shot lead ahead of Player. Day three saw him maintain that two shot lead, this time ahead of Finsterwald, but a final day 75 meant that the three of them headed off the play-off the following day. It was over 18 holes, with Palmer ending with a four under par 68, three shots clear of Player and nine from Finsterwald.
1964 – Six Shot Win After Scoring 276
The ‘win the Masters every two years’ trick finally reached its conclusion in 1964, when a field of 96 players took the Augusta National course. Palmer, now 34-years-old, began with a three under par 69, tying with four other players for first at the end of day one. When day two reached its conclusion, Palmer held the position all on his own thanks to a 68, putting him on -7, then a third round 69 all but secured the win as he moved to -10, five clear of Bruce Devlin. He carded a 70 on the final day for 276 over the course of the week, ending on -12 and six shots clear of Dave Marr and previous champion Jack Nicklaus in second.
PGA Championship Wins: None
There is an extent to which Arnold Palmer was ‘always the bridesmaid’ when it comes to the PGA Championship. He finished second three times across his career, but never quite managed to get one across the line. The first time it happened was in 1964, moving into second on day two and staying there, missing out by three shots to Bobby Nichols. In 1968 it was much closer, being tied-third at the end of the third round and then shooting a final day 70 to end up on +2, with the winner, Julius Boros, winning with +1. His final close call came in 1970, this time ending level with Bob Murphy on +1, two shots off winner Dave Stockton.
US Open Wins: 1
The US Open is one of the toughest tournaments in the world to win, largely thanks to the fact that it is a competition that anyone can enter. Obviously there are normally ways of whittling down the entrants who are never likely to win it, but such was Palmer’s ability that he never really had to worry about that. Unlike the PGA Championship, which he never won, he did at least manage to get a solitary win in the US Open during his career. He also won it in spectacular fashion, as you’ll read. In addition to his victory, Palmer missed out when he came second or tied for second four times during the 1960s and third in 1972.
1960 – Final Round 65 Cancels Out 7-Shot Deficit
If you’re only going to win the US Open once, do it in style. That might well have been what Arnold Palmer was thinking in 1960, overturning a seven-stroke deficit on the final day as he staged the greatest comeback in the history of the competition. The tournament was played at Cherry Hills Country Club in Colorado, with Palmer shooting 72, 71 and 72 over the first three days to mean that he at no point troubled the top ten. Having trailed Mike Souchak by eight shots at the end of day two and seven after day three, Palmer shot 65 on the final day to card a total of 280, which was -4 and two shots clear of Jack Nicklaus in second place.
Open Championship Wins: 2
Of all of the golfers that have won Majors, perhaps none have had quite the influence that Arnold Palmer had on the Open Championship. There are many that think that he was responsible for securing the interest of American players in the British tournament, thanks in no small part to his investment of time and money to travel over at a time when doing so was difficult and the financial rewards were few. His appearance in the Open in 1960, when he shot 70, 71, 70 and 68, left him one off the winner but drew the attention of an American audience to a competition that they had largely ignored prior to that.
1961 – Single Shot Victory in Turbulent Conditions
Having missed out in cruel fashion a year earlier, Palmer flew to England in order to take part in the 1961 Open Championship, which was played at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport. With no American having lifted the claret jug since Ben Hogan in 1953, he wasn’t overly well-fancied. It was a true test of links golf, with gale-force winds on the Thursday and heavy rain on the Friday. Having shot 70 on day one, day two saw him card a 73 to sit on -1, one off the leader. The third and final rounds were both played on the Saturday, with Palmer carding a 69 and a 72 to finish on 284, which was four under par, one ahead of Dai Rees in second.
1962 – Record Low at Royal Troon
Not content with winning just one Open Championship title, Palmer flew to South Ayrshire in Scotland in order to take on Royal Troon Golf Club’s Old Course in 1962. It was played just a week before the PGA Championship, meaning that many Americans chose not to take part. A first round 71 put him two off the lead, but a 69 on day two saw him shoot to four under and take the lead. That was bettered on the Friday morning when he shot 67 and extended his lead at the top to five shots, ending up with another 69 on the Friday morning that saw him end up with a twelve under par 276, winning the claret jug by six shots.