At 76, Palmer Still Has Spirit of a Competitor

When it’s time to think about such things, the two most memorable picture moments of the year were probably Tiger Woods’ reaction with his chip-in at the 16th hole on the final day of the Masters and Jack Nicklaus posing atop the old stone bridge that crosses the Swilcan Burn at St. Andrews on Friday at the British Open.

Chances probably are good that Woods is up for duplicating that kind of pose somewhere down the line and probably zero that Nicklaus will. At 65, Nicklaus has vowed that he won’t hang around to be a ceremonial golfer, which is certainly his prerogative, but at the same time it’s a position that is not shared by someone just as famous and a lot older than him.

Thank goodness we’ve still got Arnold Palmer.

You may remember that Palmer had his wave-goodbye-on-the-bridge moment too, at the 1995 Open at St. Andrews. And the year before that, he played his final U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club, a sentimental venue for the Pennsylvania native. His final PGA Championship also was in 1994, at Southern Hills Country Club.

Last year, Palmer played his final Masters, and produced a classic going-away moment when he walked up the 18th fairway, his red shirt ablaze in the bright sunshine, waving his visor and saluting the crowd that strained against the ropes.

The majors are done for Palmer, who turned 76 a couple of weeks ago, but he isn’t going away. That doesn’t mean he hasn’t talked about putting away the sticks for good, not at all. In fact, this year, more than any other, the speculation that Palmer would play his last competitive golf was picked up and passed along with surprising regularity.

Palmer’s last tournament was pegged for the Administaff Small Business Classic, Oct. 14-16, at Augusta Pines Golf Club in Spring, Texas. As it looks now, it’s going to be Palmer’s last tournament, all right ... his last tournament this year.

As a ceremonial golfer, Palmer shows no signs he’s a quitter.

To prove it, Palmer is planning to enter the Father/Son Challenge, an unofficial Champions Tour event, in early December at Orlando and play with his grandson, Sam. And though he hasn’t officially entered any tournaments for 2006, he’s all but certain to open the season in January at the MasterCard and at Turtle Bay, both in Hawaii, the same as he did this year.

Then there’s the Wendy’s Champions Skins Game in February in Hawaii, where there’s no apparent reason for him not to play if he’s invited, and later in the season the First Tee Open at Pebble Beach.

So if that’s not playing, then Palmer may be really busy not playing next year.

How well he plays is hardly important. Clearly, it wasn’t this year, because Palmer’s results weren’t so great. In seven stroke-play events, not counting the Skins Game, he played a total of 19 rounds and was a total of 184 over par. He had five rounds in the 70s.

Palmer’s best finish was 37th at the MasterCard, but that was in a 37-player field.

And exactly zero of that matters.

Palmer is the most well-known player on the Champions Tour, a league that continues to redefine its emphasis from a nostalgia tour into a results-oriented, competition tour.

How important to the sporting public are the results of the Champions Tour? Who won last week’s tournament? Who won any of the majors this year?

Here’s a better question and it could come from anyone who has attended a Champions Tour event:

“Did you see Arnold?”

No one knows Palmer better than his longtime right-hand man, Arnold W. “Doc” Giffen, who helps run Arnold Palmer Enterprises in Youngstown, Pa., and at Palmer’s Bay Hill Club in Orlando, Fla.

Giffen scoffed at the speculation Palmer’s through playing after this year. He said Palmer has been saying that for 10 years.

“Then he gets his zest back and then he goes out and plays again,” Giffen said. “He just loves the people, the reaction he gets. That gives him such a lift. If he didn’t have that, he probably would stop playing. He’ll never retire.”

Maybe not, as long as his fans act as they always do, Arnie’s Army remembering all his charges, his 62 PGA Tour victories and seven major championships. Palmer doesn’t have to play great to make a favorable impression and for sure, he doesn’t have to stand on ceremony. All he has to do is be himself.

*

This week

INTERNATIONAL: Presidents Cup

* When: Today-Sunday.

* Where: Robert Trent Jones Golf Club (7,335 yards, par 72); Gainesville, Va.

* TV: TNT (today, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.; Friday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.) and Channel 4 (Saturday, 5 a.m.-3 p.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.).

* Format: United States vs. International team from non-Ryder Cup nations. Today, six alternate-shot matches; Friday, six best-ball matches; Saturday, five morning best-ball matches and five afternoon alternate-shot matches; Sunday, 12 singles matches.

* U.S. team (c-captain’s pick): Stewart Cink, c-Fred Couples, Chris DiMarco, Fred Funk, Jim Furyk, c-Justin Leonard, Davis Love III, Phil Mickelson, Kenny Perry, David Toms, Scott Verplank and Tiger Woods. Captain: Jack Nicklaus.

* International team: Stuart Appleby, Australia; Angel Cabrera, Argentina; Michael Campbell, New Zealand; Tim Clark, South Africa; Retief Goosen, South Africa; Mark Hensby, Australia; c-Trevor Immelman, South Africa; c-Peter Lonard, Australia; Nick O’Hern, Australia; Vijay Singh, Fiji; Adam Scott, Australia; and Mike Weir, Canada. Captain: Gary Player, South Africa.

* 2003 winner: Captains Nicklaus and Player agreed to a tie in 2003 in South Africa, when it was too dark to continue a dramatic playoff between Woods and Ernie Els.

* Today’s alternate-shot pairings (times PDT): 10:10 a.m. -- Woods-Couples vs. Scott-Goosen; 10:20 a.m. -- Funk-Furyk vs. Singh-Hensby; 10:30 a.m. -- Mickelson-DiMarco vs. O’Hern-Clark; 10:40 a.m. -- Leonard-Verplank vs. Lonard-Appleby; 10:50 a.m. -- Love III-Perry vs. Campbell-Cabrera; 11 a.m. -- Toms-Cink vs. Immelman-Weir.

PGA TOUR: Texas Open

* When: Today-Sunday.

* Where: LaCantera Golf Club, (6,881 yards, par 70), San Antonio.

* Purse: $3.5 million. Winner’s share: $630,000.

* TV: ESPN (today-Saturday, 1-3 p.m.; Sunday, 1-4 p.m.).

* 2004 winner: Bart Bryant.

CHAMPIONS TOUR: Georgia-Pacific Grand Champions Championship

* When: Friday-Sunday.

* Where: Hawks Ridge Golf Club (6,826 yards, par 72); Ball Ground, Ga.

* Purse: $400,000. Winner’s share: $85,000.

* TV: None.

* 2004 winner: Mike Hill.

* Next week: SAS Championship in Cary, N.C.