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WORLD GOLF HALL-OF-FAME INDUCTION

November 15, 2004

Arnold Palmer

ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA

THE MODERATOR: Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you again for joining us for this press conference. At this point, Mr. Palmer, we'll take a question or two.

Q. I know you're going back this year to play.

ARNOLD PALMER: Next year, for the Canadian Open, which was my first tour win. It was exciting because I played for almost a year. I hadn't won a professional event. I really was getting a little frustrated. Of course, when I arrived in Toronto, things were pretty good. I was playing well. I wasn't sure what was wrong, why I hadn't been winning. It all sort of clicked there. I started hitting the ball very well, and I had an old well, it wasn't too old then, but a Wilson birdie putter, which was a blade somewhat like the Calamity Jane. It just started working. I putted very well along with playing pretty well. Things fell into place for four rounds. I was fortunate enough to win.

Q. (No microphone.)

ARNOLD PALMER: Well, of course, aside from the fact that I played in the Jacksonville tournaments all the year, up until they actually stopped having the tournament in Jacksonville, I always enjoyed it.

Then, of course, my association with Ed Seay, who is a native of the area, our offices are in Ponte Vedra, and have been for 35 years, where we design our golf courses from there. I just spent the morning there this morning. Of course, looking at all the things that are happening, I can recall the first golf course I designed, we hardly had any drawings. I just drew the golf course out on a piece of paper, then went out in the field and put it in the ground.

Today, just by comparison, the things we can do, we can do a duplicate 18 hole layout in less than an hour just by using the computers and going through, put all the ingredients into a machine with the topos, the routing plans, elevations, and you got a golf course in no time at all.

You can pull that right off any time with copies. It's just truly amazing what the designing has changed from the time that we started doing golf courses.

But the Jacksonville area has been a favorite of mine for many years, even though I haven't had a lot of success winning golf tournaments there.

Q. You've seen the exhibit, all these artifacts before and having here at one place, I'm assuming this is just a portion of what you have, if you were to take all of your things, how big of a space could you fill?

ARNOLD PALMER: This whole building. The man right there in the striped shirt is the guy that's in charge of all the memorabilia and has helped Jack and his guys get all the stuff here from the collection.

Is it safe to say we have at least a couple times over what we have here?

Q. Mr. Palmer, Charlie Sifford is going into the Hall of Fame tonight. I wonder if you could talk about what kind of a player he was coming up in his 20s and would he have been a dominant player on the PGA TOUR, if given the chance?

ARNOLD PALMER: Well, my answer to that is he would have been a very dominant player almost at any time in his life. The tournament that I won, the Canadian Open, he led the first round, and played very, very well. I just happened to play a little bit better that week.

As a matter of fact, the score that I shot to beat Charlie is the lowest score that I have shot in professional golf in 72 holes. It's my lowest of all the tournaments I won. And Charlie was the leader in that event.

Q. (No microphone.)

ARNOLD PALMER: No. I couldn't say a favorite, favorite thing. I paused for a little bit there just a few moments ago walking through. What I was looking for, many times in my life people ask me if I lifted weights when I was young. Of course, I was going to be a bit of a smartallec and tell you that I never lifted weights as a youngster.

But there is some pictures on video in there of the other tractor, not this tractor, but a steel wheeled tractor. If you watch the videos, you'll see the steel wheeled tractor. I started sitting in my father's lap when I was three years old, and he would let me steer it. To turn it was so hard that I had to stand up. Even when I was about six or seven, I got to drive it by myself. It was so hard that it helped build up my arms like I had been lifting weights. That came from that steel wheeled tractor.

Q. Who is older, you or the tractor?

ARNOLD PALMER: Do you know what Pittsburgh did to Cleveland (laughter)?

Q. You live your life day to day like all the rest of us. When you come to a place like this and see the totality of all the people you've known and the things you've done, is it a little overwhelming and humbling to you perhaps?

ARNOLD PALMER: Very. Last night was very overwhelming and humbling. Of course, the accolades, the things that I saw, the memories that it brought back, I haven't seen some of this stuff in years. Very touching for me to look at it and remember all the things.

You know, I don't have really time to just stand around and look at memorabilia. Cory, who you just saw here a minute ago, is working with all that stuff all the time. Every once in a while, he'll bring something up that is unusual or that I haven't seen for a while. But last night was really an exhibit of all of that stuff.

There were some very there's some great stuff, fond memories, like the steel wheeled tractor. I have been trying to find a steel wheeled tractor like that for years, and I haven't been able to find one.

Q. Could you talk a little about what it means to golf to have Charlie included alongside all of the greats, the legends, considering the struggle that he went through?

ARNOLD PALMER: Well, of course, he and I have been pretty good friends over the years. I have talked to him quite a lot in the early days. You know, in those days I don't think we were quite aware or as aware of what was missing on the tour by his absence.

When I started, it was early. He was starting about the same time to play the tour. It wasn't something that just jumped out in front of me. I knew him as another competitor. I knew him as a player that was a formidable player. I ran into him in some competitions numerous times, and he played very well as recently as a few years ago when we were playing on the Seniors Tour, the Champions Tour competition, he still played quite well.

So the fact that he had a struggle makes it even more important that he is now in the Hall of Fame.

Q. If you were given the ultimate authority to determine the direction of the game of golf, where would you lead it?

ARNOLD PALMER: Well, I'm not sure that I can answer your question. You're asking me where would I like to see it today or in the future?

Q. In the future.

ARNOLD PALMER: In the future?

Well, right now we have a being a golf course architect and doing a lot of golf courses, one of the major things and this came up this morning at our offices where we do the golf courses and of course I have a staff of 23 people, and one of their questions, a very prominent question, was, "What do we design into the golf courses of the future? Do we try to go to 7500 yards or 7600 yards, or do we stay a 7200 yards? What do we do?"

You can't avoid that question from any architect. He can't tell you the answer to that right now. How do you do it? How do you design it? Do you design it with very narrow fairways, with very deep rough, keep the distances the way they are? Do you go to 7600?

What we're doing, I'm doing two golf courses presently that are 7600 yards in length. You think about that, 7600 yards. We can't continue to do 7600 yard golf courses. Once you get to that, you go to 77, 78. The bottom line on my feeling is that if there is a major concern in golf course architecture and in golf generally, it would be the golf ball. We need to really slow the ball down. Then a lot of the things that I have just talked about, the 76, 77...

I've asked my people to keep the normal country club golf course that we've designed in the 7200 yards. If you look back, you could go back to the Oakmonts, Wingfoots, Olympic clubs, all those golf courses, and without too much trouble, taking into consideration the strength of the young players and all the other things, that's a good number, 7200 yards.

But with the golf ball, it sort of makes it that you don't know for sure. So my opinion is you need to slow it down. And that's critical.

Q. Mr. Aoki has said you've been a big inspiration to him, and that is one of the reasons he wanted to come and play in the US. You spent a lot of time in Japan. What are your thoughts about him being inducted into the Hall of Fame?

ARNOLD PALMER: This is a great year for the Hall of Fame, the fact that Aoki and Charlie Sifford are coming aboard, I think that says something for the golf in the world. Of course, one of the things that I have always maintained, that golf is for the whole world and all the people in the world. One of the questions that was asked me when I went to the British Open the first time in 1960 was, why was I going, that I could play for a lot more money in America, I wouldn't have to go over there and spend more money than I was going to win if I won the tournament.

Aoki and Charlie and Marlene, those people, are an example of that. The fact that golf belongs to the world. Aoki is a tremendous example of what can happen to a young person coming from Japan or anywhere else in the world, and doing as well as he does. He's certainly been a great credit to the game and a very fine player. We're all very proud to have him in the Hall of Fame, and for his representing golf outside the United States as well.

Q. I think in the past you've said something about winning the US Amateur in 1954, you turned it into a tournament turning point for you. Is that your Amateur trophy that's on display? Would you talk about how that changed your life?

ARNOLD PALMER: Yes, it is.

Q. Would you talk about how that changed your life.

ARNOLD PALMER: Well, I'm sorry we do we have the little book here, the turning point? When I won the Amateur, there was decision to be made in my mind. Of course, the decision was kind of a decision that a lot of young people have even today, and that is financial: how was I going to sustain playing golf like I wanted to and do a job at the same time? That was something that was pretty difficult.

I worked for a concern, for a man, that wanted me to try to stay amateur, play amateur golf, do all the things that I wanted to do golf wise without turning professional. At the same time I met my wife Winnie a week after I won the Amateur. All of those things just mounted up. It was obvious that I couldn't get married, do the things that I wanted to do golf wise for the income that I was making. It just wasn't possible.

After carefully looking at the situation, I made the decision that I had to turn pro to do the things that I wanted to do in my life and get on with it, and that's what I did.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Mr. Palmer. That concludes the press conference for today. The exhibit will be on display through the spring, middle of April. Please tell everyone you know. Remember, if you love golf, you've got to go. Thank you, all.

End of FastScripts.

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