Woods and Palmer share a link

ORLANDO, Fla. -- By the way Tiger Woods beamed at the discussion of Arnold Palmer, you’d think the two traded barbs, clubhouse fries and sand wedges every Sunday.

After Woods tied Palmer’s total of 62 wins at the Buick Invitational in late January -- a mark he surpassed four weeks later at the WGC-Accenture Match Play -- Woods talked about how Palmer “gives me the needle,” and how he’ll have the verbal edge once he reaches 63. All this came with an ear-to-ear smile from a guy who doesn’t exactly hug everyone he sees.

There’s a mutual admiration between golf’s classic legend and the pricier, limited-edition model.

If some expect that admiration to extend to a deep friendship, it’s probably not the case.

This week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club and Lodge, a seven-minute drive from Woods’ Isleworth home, is a rare opportunity for the two to glad hand.

A special dinner more than 10 years ago and the chummy talk at an occasional tournament seem to be enough to sustain the friendship.

“We don’t spend a whole lot of time talking,” Palmer said. “He’s playing the tour, and when he’s at home, he’s with his family.”

With a generational gap of more than four decades, their styles are glaringly different.

Palmer, 78, is the approachable, everyman’s autograph signer, commonly seen walking around the Bay Hill campus that he helped build. Woods, 32, plays golf early in the morning to get in and out.

Somehow a spark between the two started over a dinner in Napa Valley, while Woods was a Stanford star in 1995. That’s when Woods asked Palmer for advice on the PGA Tour, about the ins and outs.

It was a spark that’s hardly rekindled these days, Palmer said. Besides, there’s only so much you can do through messaging systems.

Woods, as his PGA Tour friends attest, likes text messaging. Palmer’s text arrives by pen.

Palmer said he knows what text messaging is, but longtime friend and assistant Doc Giffin “handles all that.”

Someone such as Palmer might have a better time getting hold of Woods via tigerwoods.com.

“From time to time I’ll send him messages about his golf, that’s about it,” Palmer said. “It’s usually a congratulations. If I just keep sending him congratulations, that takes a lot of correspondence.”

If the quality time is lacking these days, Woods must have enough great memories from that dinner at Napa’s Silverado Resort.

Palmer said Woods, a budding star approaching his first year on tour, asked him what to expect when he got out there. Palmer remembers answering every question and “just encouraging him, that’s all.”

Woods didn’t ask about how to become great because, as Palmer assumed, “he had that figured out.”

Thirteen years later, Woods still speaks fondly of Palmer, one of golf’s best ambassadors, in a playful manner.

“Well, I think it’s -- the relationship Arnold and I have, I think it’ll be more fun when I get to the point where I get one up on him and I can jab him a little bit because he’s always jabbed me,” Woods said in late January.

“That’s the great thing about Arnold; he’s the best that way.”

Palmer admits the two have a friendship, but says it might be more of an admiration.

“I admire the golf he plays, and I think he’s done a very good job of conducting himself properly,” Palmer said. “I think there are a lot of similarities in our relationships with our father. We both respected and loved our father. That’s part of the reason we both enjoyed success. We’ll always have that together.”

Maybe scarce meetings with Palmer are enough for Woods because he’s just like the other players on tour who still revel in the mere presence of Palmer. Even if that doesn’t include many words exchanged.

Sean O’Hair, last week’s champion at the PODS Championship in Innisbrook, said he couldn’t remember what Palmer said to him during a photo opportunity Monday.

Didn’t matter.

“You look into his eyes and it’s just like, I don’t know, it’s just he’s still got it in his eyes,” O’Hair said.

Apparently Palmer doesn’t have to call Woods every week to get him to commit to Bay Hill every year. Woods never misses Bay Hill largely because of his respect for Palmer.

Frank Lickliter said he wouldn’t be surprised if many, including Woods, continue to play Bay Hill for decades, even after Palmer is no longer involved in the tournament.

“This is one of the tournaments you can always count on to preserve tradition,” Lickliter said. “Not every tournament does that. Some tournaments change their names and make all sorts of changes.”

One thing hasn’t changed for Palmer and his relationship with Woods.

“I’m always here if he wants to call me,” he said.

No texts, please.