Make way for Arnie’s Army

Richard Dunn

NEWPORT BEACH -- Arnold Palmer, perhaps the most famous player in the

history of golf, on Wednesday committed to the Toshiba Senior Classic at

Newport Beach Country Club.

It will be Palmer’s first appearance in the Senior PGA Tour event.

The 70-year-old legend plays a limited schedule on the senior tour, but

had always passed up the Toshiba Classic, mainly because of the date. In

previous years, it was played a week before the PGA Tour’s Bay Hill

Invitational, which Palmer hosts.

This year, the Toshiba Classic was moved up a week to March 3-5. It is

the sixth of 39 official senior tour events in the 2000 schedule.

“This is obviously a big day for us,” Toshiba Classic tournament director

Jeff Purser said Wednesday. “I’ve been striving to get him, not since

I’ve been here (for three years), but since I’ve been at Grand Rapids

(Mich., as director for two years of another senior tour event).

“It’s terribly exciting. Arnie brings an element to the tournament that’s

very special. When you run a tournament, you always want the legends, so

it’s pretty gratifying. Not just for me, but for the whole tournament. To

get someone like Arnie is somewhat of a stamp of approval.”

The owner of 92 victories worldwide, Palmer has captured eight major

championships in his career: four Masters titles, two British Opens, one

U.S. Open and one U.S. Amateur (1954), the springboard to his

professional fame.

He ranks fourth on the all-time PGA Tour victory list with 60 titles and

was the first player in tour history to reach the $1 million mark in

official earnings.

The Senior PGA Tour was created in 1980 largely to keep legends like

Palmer active in competitive golf. He was the first player to win the

U.S. Open and U.S. Senior Open, which he captured in 1981.

Named the Associated Press’ Athlete of the Decade for the 1960s, Palmer

in 1960 was named the Hickok Athlete of the Year and Sports Illustrated’s

Sportsman of the Year.

In 1960, Palmer helped usher in the practice of sports agents as his

worldwide popularity grew and his dominance on the professional golf tour

increased. That year, Mike McCormick founded the International Management

Group -- with Palmer as his first client -- and a sports revolution was

born.

Palmer, the PGA Tour Player of the Year in 1960 and ‘62, has also been

greatly influential in golf course design, construction and development

around the world.

No player older than 63 has ever won a senior tour event, and Palmer

hasn’t won since 1988. But Purser believes his appearance should boost

ticket sales by a “few thousand.”

“It is entertainment, and there isn’t a much more entertaining player

than Arnie,” Purser said.

Palmer has won 10 senior tour events in his career. Last year, he made

only 10 appearances on the tour, his fewest on the circuit since 1983,

after recovering from prostate cancer surgery.

The Toshiba Classic features a field of 78 seniors (50 and older). The

event benefits Hoag Hospital. For tickets, call (949) 515-4840.