Interviews

An Interview With: ARNOLD PALMER

MARTY PARKES: It's my pleasure to welcome the 1981 U.S. senior Open champion, Arnold Palmer.  Mr. Palmer, why don't we start off by asking you about your play this year, and your goals for coming into the championship this week.

ARNOLD PALMER:  Do we have to talk about my play this year?  Well, as you know, I won't go into the boring details about my play, it has not been very good, as you obviously have noticed.  I may be a little more hopeful that things are coming together a little bit.  I recently have started hitting some shots a little bit better than I have most of the year and I played here on Saturday and probably had about as good a round as I've had this year.  I shot -- kind of a forgiving 71 and that's about as good as I've played this year anywhere.

So, my golf is suspect, and of course I've been pretty busy.  I've been doing a lot of golf courses around the United States and a lot of openings of golf courses.  And I've been doing some charity exhibitions at various places.  And as recently as yesterday did an environmental impact appearance that has a lot to do with golf and, of course, the opening of what we would say an environmentally pristine golf course out in Nebraska.  So, I've been busy, but it hasn't been a lot of good golf.

Q.  Arnold, you're going to be one of the big draws, if not the biggest draw out here this week, people for weeks now have been talking about Arnold and Jack coming.  Jack's not here.  Can you talk about what it means after all these years to still have people waiting for you when you pull up in your car and people following you around the golf course?

ARNOLD PALMER:  Well, of course I could attribute the answer to your question to a number of things.  As I said at Augusta and I said some other places, I've been around so long I know most of the people by their first names and the ones I don't know by their first names are relatives (laughter.) So, that's kind of the way that works.  And the fans have been, for 50 years, they have been just very, very supportive and wonderful to me.  And of course I suppose it would be pretty easy for me to just say, "Hey, I'm not going to play in the Open or in any other events," but there's a yes and a no to that, and it's a double-edged sword, I guess.

I'm still hopeful that I might play some good golf and I enjoy it, I suppose that's the other thing that brings me here to play, and I'm also hoping that I'm being supportive of the USGA and their ultimate goals by having this championship.  I can remember when there was no USGA Senior Open and it has lent itself very well to golf and to the USGA.

Q.  How difficult a course is this compared to others that the Senior Open has been played on, especially under these conditions?

ARNOLD PALMER:  This golf course?  Well, I have played this golf course a number of times, most recently Saturday and I can tell you that it's probably as good a Senior Open venue as I have seen in the 20 years of the Senior Open.

MARTY PARKES:  Since 1980.

ARNOLD PALMER:  The golf course is tremendous.  The fairways are generous.  The greens are very good and they're going to be very fast.  I suppose that if I were looking for something that someone might complain about, and I'm not complaining, don't misunderstand that statement, it would be that the other day when I played I wasn't hitting it really very long and I couldn't reach all the par-4s in two.  I loved it, for that reason.  And I have not a problem in this world with this golf course and the long finishing holes.  I think they're very, very good and I think the golf course is very good.

Q.  Arnold, you were one of the early proponents and I guess organizers of the Senior Tour way back when it began.  Can you talk a little bit about where you think this thing is going now, are you pleased the way it's come, and if you had to tweak it at all, what would you do?

ARNOLD PALMER:  Well, I'd first stop delayed broadcast.  You can't blame -- I guess you can't blame anyone for that situation, that is a situation that certainly we're interested in doing as lucrative a Senior Tour as we can do.  But I think that was a hit, that was a bad hit and I think everyone knows it.  And they're trying to rectify it as we speak.  So that's going to have -- take its toll.  I think the Senior Tour probably needs to look at itself right now.

There's a couple of things that bother me, they've bothered me from the beginning that I tried to correct or have some influence on that I didn't.

One is golf carts.  I love golf carts at the country club, and I love golf carts to play.  Some days I use one every day myself, but when I'm playing in a competition such as this competition which incidentally has no golf carts, I think that the PGA and the Senior Tour needs to drop the golf cart.  I really believe that.  I think that it has hurt them and I think it will continue to hurt them.  I'm 72 years old and if I'm going to play in an event I want to walk.  And I don't have any problem with that at all.

I suppose that right now it wouldn't hurt the Senior Tour to take a look at making maybe a little more of a situation where they put themselves in demand.  There is no demand right now and part of the reason for that is that it's pretty easy to get a senior event.  All you have to do is put up money.  I think that if he limited the Senior Tour to a specific number of events each year and then to a degree guaranteed the field, I think it would improve tremendously and I think the demand for the Senior Tour would become much greater than it presently is.  And I could go on and on and just pick little things, but those are some of the major things that I think can affect the Senior Tour and make it even more lasting and more fruitful than it's ever been.

Q.  What about the age requirement, do you think it should be lowered?

ARNOLD PALMER:  I think if they lower the age, they've shot it in the belly.  That's a gut shot.  It's not good.  I think the Senior Tour, the USGA, the PGA and the PGA TOUR would be remiss if they lowered the age.  I don't see a reason in this world for that.  I'm not going to play much more, so it doesn't affect me either way, but I think a Senior Tour is a Senior Tour.  I'm not sure that it wouldn't be -- if they're going to do that then they have to do a lot of other things.

First, they have to drop Senior, because it isn't a Senior anymore.  And I'm not sure that that isn't something they should look at just dropping the word Senior from in front of the Tour.  But it is and should be a Senior Tour and that's part of the mystique of the whole thing.

Q.  I'm wondering how much you think the heat and humidity this week will affect the players, specifically you and the other guys.  Second part of my question is the term ceremonial golfer has been attached to your name.  What's your reaction to that when you hear it?

ARNOLD PALMER:  Well, when you play as poorly as I've played it becomes a little ceremonial.  I don't like it and that will probably have a lot to do with how little I play in the future.  As far as the heat and humidity, Frankly I don't mind.  If I can't handle it -- I think I can.  I don't give a damn how hot it gets, I'll try it and make it work.  Whether I play well or poorly, I won't blame it on the heat and humidity, I've been doing that all my life and I'm prepared for it right now.

Q.  I'm sure you've been asked this enough times in the past couple of weeks, but one more time, what do you think of Tiger's attempt at the Grand Slam.  And where do you rank the golf Grand Slam with the other great achievements in sports, tennis Grand Slam, baseball's triple crown, et cetera?

ARNOLD PALMER:  Well, where do I rank Tiger's chances, I put them very high.  Right now, I would start at 60/40 that he will.  And part of that and part of the reason for that is that some of the better players, and I don't say all, so don't misconstrue what I'm saying or sort of saying they think he's going to do it.  Well, hell, if I were playing I'd tell you I'd say he wasn't, because I'm going to beat him.  But that isn't the case.  But I think that that is part of the mystique of the whole thing.  He is so strong and so good that there's a good chance that he will do it.

Comparing the slam, the golf slam to other major events, I think -- of course I'm a golfer, so I'm going to be partial to that answer, that I think that it ranks as high as you can rank in major sporting events.  It is the thing in golf and certainly as high as you can go in the triple crown or World Series or the football Super Bowl, that's where it belongs, and that's where it should be.  And if he wins it, I think it would be great.  I think it would be great for golf and it would give all the young people coming along in years to come, a goal, something to shoot at, much the same as Jones's Grand Slam.  And of course as you know and I know the likelihood of anyone ever beating or tying Jones's Grand Slam isn't very good.

Q.  When you gave your impressions of the golf course a lot of other people this week have mentioned how difficult it is to walk.  But you didn't seem to point that out as a negative against this course.  You said it was fair and you would want to walk a course.  Are other people just making too much of this, the difficulty of walking this course or should it be difficult to a degree, because it is a major?

ARNOLD PALMER:  Well, first the answer is yes, I think -- as I said, I think Tiger Woods is so good -- now, this is way off of your question -- I think he's so good and doing so well because of his physical ability and his ability to take the situation in hand and do something about it, mentally and physically.  And I think sports and athletes, that's what we're out here for.  We are athletes and we're playing a game and it is a game and we must remember that.

But when you start complaining about walking and the heat and humidity, the hell with that.  Just go home and sit in front of the TV and have a beer (laughter.)

Q.  Arnold, getting back to Tiger for a minute, I know it's hard to compare players of different generations, but from what you've seen of the way his game has evolved, is he playing at a higher level than maybe even Jack played in his prime or what you played in terms of the total game?

ARNOLD PALMER:  Well, you know, I've said a lot about Tiger and what he's done and what he's likely to do.  I think that's still a little unanswered.  I think we've got a ways to go on that, whether it was Jack or myself or whoever it might have been, Tiger is, what, 26 years old.  I didn't start playing professionally until I was 25 years old.

So, there's some ways to go before you make that bottom line determination.  How does he handle it from here?  There's no question that the pace that he is set up to now is unbelievable, it's fantastic, and it looks like it's going to continue.  But I think we have to look at it a few more years and see how he handles it from here before we make that final determination.  If you look at Nicklaus, you know, that's a pretty tough record to beat, and right now I give Nicklaus the nod.  When Tiger is 35, 40 years old, take another look at it and see how it looks from there.

Q.  The Senior Open means that you've played in every Senior Open since they started it.  How many more Senior Opens for you and just talk about senior majors and general, how many more you will play in?

ARNOLD PALMER:  Well, I haven't made any determination on anything that I do as far as playing is concerned.  I really thought maybe this year I wouldn't play much at all and haven't, at this point.  But I have made some commitments and I will keep those commitments if the heat and humidity don't kill me (laughter.) But I'll tell you what, if the heat and humidity kills me this week, it's the best way I know to die (laughter.)

Q.  Back on the topic of great feats.  Gary Player is actually trying to be in 50 executive British Opens.  Right now he is 46 under his belt.  Here he is, age 66, having to grind it out to qualify.  Talk about how humbling it must be for Gary to have to qualify for the British Open, and do you have any words of encouragement for him?

ARNOLD PALMER:  First of all, Gary is a good friend of mine and I admire him for doing it.  It's just a little extra ambition and desire.  I like the rule, I have nothing -- I don't have any problem with the rule that the R&A have put on the British Open, and I think it's fair for everyone.  At 65, it's time.  But if someone, I don't care whether it's Gary Player or Jack Nicklaus or myself or who it is, if they want to play in the British Open, they know the rules, they know the circumstances, have at it.  And I admire him for doing it, I think it's wonderful.

Q.  Any words of encouragement for him this week?

ARNOLD PALMER:  Play like hell, that's all.  (Laughter.)

Q.  You've accomplished virtually everything there is to do in golf.  Looking at your career, is there one thing that stands out you're most proud of?

ARNOLD PALMER:  Is there one thing that stands out?

Q.  Just one accomplishment that stands out you're most proud of?

ARNOLD PALMER:  Yeah.  Being here, you guys listening to me, me sitting here talking, that's a great accomplishment to me, that you still want to hear me (laughter.) I love the game.  As Eddie Murphy would say, "simple as that."

Q.  Obviously, you galvanized this Tour for years and years.  Do you see another person out here that has that ability or someone coming up, perhaps Norman could have the same effect?

ARNOLD PALMER:  There are a lot of people that could give it a kick, yeah.  I don't know, what is Greg, he's 46 or 47, I think he'd be a great addition to the Senior Tour.  I think that when he -- if he chooses to play, I think he will be someone that will attract attention.  When you think -- and I'm not taking a thing away from him -- if you look at his record and look at the attention he gets, that tells you something.  And I think that it will be a great addition to the Senior Tour to have someone like Greg Norman out there.

Q.  I guess the point being that in a way a guy like him, like you're saying, when the record maybe isn't quite as great as the attention he gets, a guy like that seems to be what this Tour is all about?

ARNOLD PALMER:  Well, that's right.  And of course he gets attention, that's the name of the game.

Q.  I wanted to ask you about the responsibility of the Senior Tour to kind of preserve golf history in the sense that a lot of people who became golf fans because of Tiger don't know much about what happened before him.  I'm wondering to what degree do you feel you and other players have to making sure that people remember there was a lot of good golf played before the late 1980s?

ARNOLD PALMER:  Well, of course you're not really referring to the Senior Tour, you're referring to golf, generally, right?  And when you say that, I think that the golf history -- the more people that are involved and the more people like Tiger or whomever it might be attracts, whether it be Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Gary Player, you name it, I think that enriches the history of the game.  I have seen more in print that you people in this room have been printing about going back in history and talking about the records of Jones and Sarazen and Hagen and Snead, for an example or Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, and I think that is all prompted a little bit by the things that Tiger Woods is doing.  You're comparing.  And I think you'll continue to do that and I think it will continue to be a highlight in the history of golf.

Q.  Throughout the history of the Senior Tour, first we had you as the man that sort of led the way in terms of marketing and promoting the Tour, then we had, to some degree Jack.  My point is we've always had an individual.  And the Senior Tour executives have always looked to an individual.  Do you think that's a fair thing to do to people like you, put that much pressure on you.  Now we have Fuzzy who has to be the bell-ringer for the Senior Tour this year.  And I wonder what your thoughts were on that, should it be that way?

ARNOLD PALMER:  Well, I don't think there's any question about, if I understand your question correctly, that a bell-ringer is needed.  And Fuzzy right now is a bell-ringer.  He can be someone that will attract attention and get people back interested in the Senior Tour.  Tom Watson is one that I think -- Tom needs to play a little bit more, and he certainly could be another person to attract attention, be a bell-ringer, if you wish.  And there are others that we need to kind of pull that bell, so it does ring.  And Fuzzy winning the PGA will help.

There's one thing that when you -- the PGA Senior Tour was founded, and it became an entity, the one thing that was very, very important and that was that all of us, including myself or Jack or Gary or whoever it was as they came along, we had cocktail parties and we had events, entertaining sponsors.  And we talked to the sponsors and we made light with them, and I think that had a lot to do with the eventual and early success of the Senior Tour.  There's no question in my mind.

Now, all of that has faded.  All of a sudden we don't have that anymore.  It's just sort of get to the tournament, tee it up and play.  And the bells and whistles that happen in the evenings, where you entertain and you talk to the amateurs, and you talk to the sponsors, very little of that anymore.  So that has something to do with it.

But the fact is that you still need those guys that ring the bell.

Q.  You've been fortunate enough in your long career to have a chance to play with a lot of U.S. presidents.  I believe you even played a round here with one in the past.  Who is the best out of all the Presidents that you've played with?  I think it was with President Bush here, the former President Bush here?

ARNOLD PALMER:  I have played with President, 41, that's how we identify him now, is it, 41?  President Bush, here.  And we had a great time.  And that was the first time I had played this golf course.  And I have played with a lot of Presidents.  And I'm not going to pick one as the best.  I think they were all pretty good.

Q.  Playing with Mr. Ridge, here?

ARNOLD PALMER:  I played with Mr. Ridge Saturday.

Q.  You and he are good friends?

ARNOLD PALMER:  We are very close.

Q.  How is he doing in his new role?

ARNOLD PALMER:  I think -- I think he's terrific, and I think he's doing a terrific job.  I really hope that the events to follow will carry out what the President and I think Tom Ridge are both looking for.  I think this country needs it very much.

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