Palmer’s Homecoming Is an Open Invitation : Golf: Some take issue when place in Oakmont field is made for him, but he’s just happy to be playing.

Arnold Palmer is 64, hasn’t won a regular tour event in 21 years, hasn’t won a senior tournament in six years and hasn’t played in the U.S. Open in 11 years. So why has Palmer’s special invitation to play in the Open this month caused such a stir?

Is somebody afraid that he might actually scorch the greens at Oakmont Country Club, near Pittsburgh, or maybe turn it into nothing more than a private bivouac area for Arnie’s Army?

Palmer returns to one of his old playgrounds for his 32nd and what he says his will be last U.S. Open. The dispute is over his invitation.

It is seen by some as keeping somebody else out. Palmer knows everybody isn’t happy about it.

“I think there’s going to be controversy,” Palmer said Friday from Birmingham, Ala., where he is playing in the Bruno’s Memorial Classic, a senior PGA tournament. “This (exemption) was something that was in the works for a long time.

“As I said to the Open committee and everyone, I certainly don’t want to keep someone out of the Open that might have a chance to win. I accepted the invitation with the thought that everyone that was in the position to play should be able to play.

“I know everyone isn’t going to think I should do it. And certainly there are players and people who are going to take exception to my being invited. But this is a one-shot deal for me. If I can enhance the Open and draw more attention to it by playing, I’ll be there. But this is the last time.”

The United States Golf Assn., which conducts the Open, gave Palmer a special exemption so he could play at Oakmont, where he has been a member for more than 30 years. Ben Crenshaw, Seve Ballesteros, Johnny Miller and Larry Mize also received USGA special exemptions.

Palmer has been absent from the Open since the 1983 tournament, also at Oakmont, where he finished in a tie for 59th.

Palmer played in his first U.S. Open at Oakmont as an amateur in 1953 and says he is merely completing the cycle by returning.

He qualified for the Open five times when he was not exempt. He also received special exemptions in 1978, 1980, 1981 and 1983. Then the USGA decided to stop giving him exemptions, which meant Palmer had to qualify. He tried and failed from 1984 through ’89 and has not tried since.

Before he received his own exemption this week, Ballesteros blasted the USGA because of Palmer’s invitation.

“I think I deserve (an exemption) more than Arnold Palmer,” Ballesteros said. “Why should Palmer keep getting an invitation?”

Frank Hannigan, former USGA executive director, wrote in a commentary in the June issue of Golf Digest that Palmer’s invitation is a mistake and that some more worthy golfer would be left out.

Hannigan said he thought the USGA executive committee members were confused.

“(They) had forgotten the difference between the U.S. Open Championship and the Skins Game,” he wrote.

Palmer said he understands.

“I certainly gave some thought to keeping someone else out that might deserve to be there,” he said. “On the other hand, if they deserve it and they can play well enough, it isn’t going to prevent them from the potential of winning the Open.”

In other words, at 64, Palmer doesn’t expect to win his second U.S. Open. He earned his only U.S. Open trophy at Cherry Hills in Denver in 1960. Palmer lost three U.S. Open playoffs--to Jack Nicklaus at Oakmont in 1962, to Julius Boros at the Country Club near Boston in 1963 and to Billy Casper at the Olympic Club in San Francisco in 1966. He has five other top-five finishes.

“I could have won about five or six more, no question,” Palmer said. “(Trouble) happened a lot to me at the Open. It was either me or a bad bounce or a bad putt.”

Palmer said he is working hard on his game. He finished tied for 17th last week at the senior event in Malvern, Pa. He was eight strokes off the lead after shooting par 72 Friday at Birmingham.

He may not have all the shots anymore, but he is trying to revive a few from memory.

“I’m hoping to find something that will get me sparking a little bit,” he said. “I’ve had some encouraging signs lately, so we’re just going to see what happens.”