LA QUINTA – Dozens of interviews. Hundreds of autographs. Thousands of handshakes. And more, so many more smiling salutations.
All part of being host of Bob Hope Chrysler Classic?
Just part of being Arnold Palmer.
By design, the most popular golfer at the 50th Bob Hope Chrysler Classic isn’t in the field. In fact, the five-time winner of this event rarely golfs anymore.
That doesn’t mean Palmer, the ultra-successful sportsman turned ultra-successful businessman, is any less of an influence on the game than before.
And the King, as he’s long been known, always had an awesome impact.
“He’s probably the biggest impacter on the growth of game from ’60s to the ’90s,” PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem said.
“He’s probably the best example for our players to follow in terms of the consummate gentleman and how a professional should relate to fans. He’s better, probably, than anybody else in sports.”
And that’s why he’s turned out to be a swell fit as tournament host, fans concurred.
“I’ve seen him with all the people, he’s just so genuine and so nice and he’s just been a great host,” said Palm Desert’s Jeannie Simpson, a volunteer marshal and longtime member of Arnie’s Army. “It’s perfect for the 50th.”
That’s what he’s saying.
Palmer was the winner of the first Classic – then called the Palm Springs Golf Classic – in 1960, when he shot a final-round 65.
Since then, he delighted in watching the tournament grow.
“The prominence of the tournament has increased rather dramatically over the last 50 years,” Palmer said. “In 1960, you could have probably shot a gun off and not hit anybody. But it has steadily increased from that first one.”
Though substantially bigger than it was when it launched half a century ago, the current incarnation of the Classic is missing the game’s biggest current stars, who’ve made a habit of skipping the 90-hole event that requires its pros to play four rounds with amateurs.
“There’s not a way you can predict what the top players are going to do,” Palmer said. “I hope that (players) would understand that they need to support the tournaments as much as they possibly can.
“I was a player and I knew and I know that you can’t play every week. But when I hear some of the reasons for not playing, it disturbs me a little. They do need to get out and support the events.
“I used to try to spread my tournament appearances so that I never missed a tournament more than two years in a row.”
While Palmer might not have attracted the game’s top players to this year’s event – only two players ranked among the top 30 in the World Golf Rankings in the field – he certainly attracted many of his old fans, and some new ones.
On Saturday, Palmer gamely participated in a Make A Wish Foundation event that introduced him to Brock Marvin. The 15-year-old from Elizabethtown, N.Y., suffers from an enlarged heart, a condition that’s called Familial Dialated Cardiomyopathy and that nearly cost him his life.
Palmer listened to the young player’s story and then headed out to the driving range with him, where he carefully taught Marvin the same grip Deacon Palmer taught his son many years ago.
Afterward, a clearly moved Marvin shook his head and marveled that one of golf’s greatest figures took the time for him.
“For him to do something like that … most people aren’t like that,” Marvin said. “Most people with fame and money aren’t at all like him. He’s a real down-to-earth guy.
“And he is the King,” Marvin added. “He knows what he’s talking about.”
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