My favorite Sports Moment

My best day as a Sports Fan

It was June of 1982. My golf buddies and I drove five hours from Lafayette, Indiana to just outside Columbus, Ohio to watch the Jack Nicklaus hosted Memorial Tournament. My golfing hero was Arnold Palmer who hadn’t won since the 1973 Bob Hope Desert Classic. Arnie had shot a solid 72 on Thursday. It was before the Golf equipment Revolution. In those days six or eight under par could win the Memorial.

I Was was ready to follow the King on Friday amidst a huge Gallery. Mr. Palmer didn’t disappoint. He proceeded to birdie the first, second, third and yes, the fourth hole.

The crowd exploded. Grown men were running. They were screaming “Go gettem Arnie!” The earth shook with a euphoria I had never witnessed at a sporting event.

Palmer stalked off the green hitching up his pants like on the old films with the veins in his neck visibly popping.

I will NEVER forget the scene of men racing to the next tee in shirts and ties and one fan in bib overalls with no shirt. He called out “Come on Arn..get anothern.”

The moment when I felt the chills from head to toe is when I saw Palmer’s name go up on he Electronic Leader Board by the fourth green in second place behind leader Roger Maltbie.

For a moment Arnie and his Army were fully engaged like it was twenty years earlier. I’ve been to Final Fours and World Series games and Rose Bowls but I could never surpass the deep thrill of watching Arnold Palmer do that. He was a Folk Hero like no other. He brought golf to the masses. He was Sinatra or Elvis or the Beatles at a concert.

His magical moment faded under the painful grip of Father Time but I had seen enough. I saw what sportswriter Jim Murray meant when he wrote “Watching Arnold Palmer walk onto a tee box is like watching a Pirate board a ship.” Thanks Arnie for a glorious memory that still makes me cry.