Palmer Continues His Hold on Golf

When he shakes your hand, he still has the grip of a lumberjack. He flashes the signature, half-apologetic smile frequently. He waxes wistfully and willfully on his beloved game of golf.

Above all, Arnold Palmer, at 76, is still “the King.” And golf -- even the souped-up, modern version -- is still his game.

In Santa Clarita on Monday to trumpet plans for one of his “signature” golf courses, Palmer reflected on the game he helped build and how it differs from when he was the tiger few could tame.

“If I were playing the tour today, I would be doing what these young guys are doing: hitting the ball 320, 30, 40 yards and doing the things I would have to do to be competitive,” he said at an event for Los Valles Golf Club, which is scheduled to open in 2008.

Those very distances he rattles off rankle him, though. The long-distance ball and new-age equipment, he laments, may be making some venerable old courses obsolete.

“I am not happy [with the golf ball],” he says. “The major things I would do [to change today’s game] would be to slow the golf ball down right now, yes sir.” By mandating a retro-ball that does not travel as far, golf’s powers would not have to keep lengthening courses to keep up with today’s power hitters.

“They wouldn’t have to take such drastic measures to make courses like Oakmont and Winged Foot competitive,” Palmer says of the layouts that play host to majors.

“You don’t need to make that many big changes, but make it so the ball doesn’t fly 400 yards. These kids that are playing [now] are going to hit whatever you make a long ways.”

Chances are, a lot of those “kids” would not have drivers in their hands today had the son of a greenskeeper in Latrobe, Pa., not decided to take up the game. His flair and common-man charisma -- not to mention his 62 PGA victories -- are widely credited with the sport’s explosion in popularity in the last half-century.

Nor would many of today’s young stars be instant millionaires.

“In 1955, my first full year on tour, the total prize money was less than $900,000,” he says. “I was the leading money winner one year with ... $48,000. Today, a man wins ... over $1 million in one tournament.

“When I was winning tournaments, I didn’t even know what first prize was -- I had to ask when it was over, because I was playing to win and playing because I loved it. I hope [today’s golfers] play because they love it and not just because of the monetary values.”

Palmer concedes that it may be more difficult to win a single event today.

“When I was playing, there were probably 30 guys who could win,” he says. “Today, there’s probably double that number -- maybe even more....”

This might make Tiger Woods’ domination of the Tour even more impressive, he says, adding that does not make today’s top players better than those of the ‘50s and ‘60s.

“Probably, if the guys that were winning then were playing today, they would still be winning,” he says.

Old-time players didn’t always have great conditions, he says.

“I couldn’t wait to get to Augusta back then, because it was so pristine,” he says. “The other golf courses we played on tour -- sometimes the conditions were pretty rough. Today, the courses we play are all immaculate. There are no bad lies; everything is just about the way you want it.”

Palmer plays almost no tournament golf anymore because it “isn’t likely” that he can compete. “It’s hard, it’s difficult” to accept that, he says, “but it’s something you have to be realistic about.”

Still, he does not rule out playing in an occasional tournament. And if he does ... “I wouldn’t play if ... somewhere in the back of my mind, my imagination didn’t say, ‘Hey, you can still win.’ ”