Flags ordered to half staff in honor of Arnold Palmer

As one of the most beloved figures in the golf and sports world, Sports Illustrated is honoring Palmer with this week’s national cover and the headline “King of Kings – Arnold Palmer 1929-2016”.

Golf great Arnold Palmer greets fans before the 2010 Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia, on April 7, 2010.

In the wake of the death of golf legend Arnold Palmer, central Wisconsin golfers are remembering him as an ambassador of the game.

Palmer’s connection with the fans was so great that the massive galleries that followed him around courses was not known as simply a gallery, but as “Arnie’s Army”, and it only grew as he got older and less dominant on the course.

Gregg Verbeten says he’ll never forget meeting Arnold Palmer when his dad worked for him as a superintendent at one of his golf courses in Florida. “He is immortalized by a plaque on our Hill of Fame and will forever reign as King of the Hill”, said Oak Hill golf pro Jason Ballard in a statement.

Much to his surprise, a while later he received a letter back from The King of golf thanking him for the painting and book. Long after Palmer’s golf game had reached its peak, his galleries were huge, the cheers loud.

PGA golfers Arnold Palmer (right) and Tiger Woods share a light moment in Ligonier, Pennsylvania, in 1997.

“I enjoy the crowds, and I enjoyed playing to them. He kind of punished the golf ball, to put it out there, not quite as graceful, but was very, very effective in what he did”, he said.

Player had so many vivid memories of Palmer, he said, and his recollections matched many of those of Nicklaus. Palmer won two more majors after that loss, and his last PGA Tour win came in 1973 at the Bob Hope Classic.

Palmer burst onto the scene as a professional golfer in 1954 and soon became one of the world’s best golfers – winning more than 150 tournaments. We were blessed. It turned out to be an incredible golf course. Johnston says Palmer would not have wanted event he played six times and was a captain twice, to be overshadowed. He said the two had just spoken a couple of weeks ago on September 10, Palmer’s birthday.

“He was more than a golfer or even great golfer”, said the 18-times major victor.

“I said, ‘Let me say this to you: If I didn’t try to hit it through the trees a few times, none of us would be here, ‘” Palmer said in 2015.