- With that all done, let's let the audience in the theater
and the folks who at home know who you are
and what your line really is.
(applauding)
- Arnold Palmer ushered gold into the modern era,
giving players the blueprints to make a living
and become known for more than just their play.
His name graces a drink, clothing lines,
an airport, hospitals, car dealerships,
there are 300 plus Arnold Palmer designed golf courses.
But, if he hadn't taken a certain flight in 1960
one of golf's most legendary championships
would be just a bullet on the radar of American golfers.
(upbeat music)
Arnold Palmer had an incredible start to 1960.
In April, he won the Masters wire-to-wire,
birdieing the final two holes to win by one stroke.
Two months later, he erased a seven hole deficit
to pull off the greatest comeback in U.S. Open history.
Along with the two majors,
he had four other tournament victories on the year.
And then, he decided to do the unthinkable.
Arnold Palmer was going to play in the Open Championship.
Or, the British Open for us yanks.
Now a must play tournament for professional golfers,
back in the '50s American pros were avoiding it
for more reasons than just the unpredictable weather.
While Mother Nature would often make it rain,
the tournament organizers would not.
In 1959, Gary Player won and took home 1000 pounds,
roughly 28 hundred American dollars, at the time.
This paled in comparison
with the purse of American tournaments.
The PGA Championship, U.S. Open, and Masters
had been well past this mark, since the 1940s.
And non-major competitions, in the states,
were also routinely awarding
more than five grand to their winners.
To make matters worse,
in an American were to take part in the British Open
they'd be there, at least, two weeks
for practice, qualifying rounds, and then tournament itself.
This meant they'd miss the chance to play
in multiple tournaments with greater payouts,
scheduled around the same time, in the U.S.
If they did decide to travel for it,
there was no guarantee they'd even play in the tournament
as every single person still had to play
a qualifying round to get into the Open.
Finally, if after all that they managed to win,
$1,000 of that prize money
would go towards their travel and lodging.
Since they had a better chance to lose money in the process,
you can't really blame American golfers for dodging it.
But for Palmer, despite all of that,
he still headed to Britain.
Now, Arnie was the money leader on the year,
having won over 30 grand
between the Masters and the U.S. Open alone,
so he wasn't sweating the finances.
He, also, was selected to represent the U.S.
in the Canada Cup, which was played in Dublin
a few weeks prior to the Open,
so he'd already be across the pond.
Most importantly, though,
he knew the golfer he wanted to become.
Bobby Jones completed a Grand Slam in 1930,
winning the Open Championship, the Amateur Championship,
the U.S. Open, and the U.S. Amateur.
Palmer wanted to be on that level
and also recognized what no other golfer did,
the power of marketing.
See, Palmer was kind of the James Dean of golf.
He did things differently, he played his own way,
he looked great in a pair of slacks,
and on his flight to Britain he had a conversation
that would change golf history.
Chatting with sports writer, Bob Drum,
the topic shifted to Bobby Jones.
Drum said that Palmer had a chance to have a year
more impressive than what Jones did back in in 1930.
But the concept of winning a Grand Slam had ended,
partially, thanks to game growing
and more tournaments sprouting up.
Palmer responded, "Why don't we create a new Grand Slam?"
Having already won the Masters and U.S. Open,
if he finished the year with two more Major victories
why couldn't that be a Grand Slam?
Drum bought in, spreading the idea to his peers.
And as Palmer teed off at a tournament
Americans had previously ignored,
record numbers tuned in to witness a new era.
It was exactly what the Open needed
to regain its illustrious status
and bring back top competition from overseas.
But Palmer didn't have to go.
Hell, he didn't even pull off
the Grand Slam that he invented.
He very easily could've stayed stateside and, if he had,
shaped golf on a global scale in a different way.
For starters, there were plenty of other tournaments
gaining notoriety.
With Palmer's help, one of those could've become a Major.
Because, at the time, there really wasn't much
in the way of an official list.
It wasn't until Arnie declared what made up a Grand Slam,
so who's to say another storied tournament
couldn't take its place?
Take the Western Open, for instance.
Established in 1899, it was older than the Masters
and took place within a week of the British Open in 1960.
Palmer went on to win it in 1961 and '63,
so it would've been advantageous for him, as a marketer,
to elevate the Western.
It was far more friendly when it came to travel
and was more generous in its payouts,
so the rest of the top talent wouldn't have to be convinced
to battle it out here.
Granted, this would have had disastrous effects
for British Golf.
Obviously, the Open would suffer
ad the big names would continue to avoid it.
But, the individual golfers, in the U.K.
Would also continue to struggle.
Because tournament payouts were lower,
professional golfers were usually forced to keep day jobs.
Up until 1966, the Open was played from Wednesday to Friday
just to free up the weekend for the golf pros
to work in the shops at the course.
Because, hey, folks aren't supposed
to get rich and famous off of golf.
With this change, we do have to do
some quick rewriting of history though.
If the Western replaced the British,
we'd miss out on Jack Nicklaus'
1970 Open Championship playoff victory.
Everyone's creepy uncle, John Daly,
would lose one of his two majors.
Hell, we'd even have to give facelift to 1970 through 1983
when all but two British Opens were won by an American.
The man most effected by this would be Tom Watson,
who won five of his eight Majors at the British Open.
Thankfully, for all of us,
Arnold Palmer knew what he was doing.
He put the sport on his shoulders
and injected life back into the British Open.
This led Americans to return
and raised to the competition level of international play,
which also led to bigger payouts.
So, while Arnie did all he could
to make sure his name would never die,
he did even more for the entire sport of golf.
(upbeat string music)