Enjoy the charisma...

[Iwastherein1969]

that is so thick you can see it from the old black and whites taken of him back in the early 60's. The fans adoring grins. Women loved him, and I do mean literally loved him. And men ? Well men wanted to be just like him. The Popeye forearms rippling with muscles the average man could only dream of in those days. The crowds who stood around the green or near the rough and would take an errant shot off the shin just to keep this great man's ball in play. In the 1960 U.S. Open driving #1, the par 4 opening hole at Cherry Hills in Denver in route to a closing 65 to win our national tournament. Who chased him that day only to be rebuffed, a young Jack Nicklaus and an aging but still unbelievably talented, Ben Hogan. This man made golf what it is today. A game loved by many and televised weekly to millions. This man has paved the way for Nicklaus, Player, Trevino, Miller, Watson, Norman, Woods, McIlroy and now Spieth.  This Master's besides being boring, hurt my golfing heart like none in the past ever has. Why ? Because I can see that my hero is fighting for his life. The great man could do wonderful things with a set of golf clubs, but father time is going to win the last match 1-up on Arnie. Arnold, and I'm literally holding the tears back now, will always be my hero. He came along before I was of age to know what golf was but for some reason, I was drawn to this man and the excitement that seemed to follow him as though he was the Pied Piper. No one is promised tomorrow.  Not me, not you. But I can see the end coming soon for my hero and it not only makes me sad, but feel quite a bit older than I really am. God give you strength, Arnie, the game still needs you, I still need you.

[Jackrabbit Hog]

that is so thick you can see it from the old black and whites taken of him back in the early 60's. The fans adoring grins. Women loved him, and I do mean literally loved him. And men ? Well men wanted to be just like him. The Popeye forearms rippling with muscles the average man could only dream of in those days. The crowds who stood around the green or near the rough and would take an errant shot off the shin just to keep this great man's ball in play. In the 1960 U.S. Open driving #1, the par 4 opening hole at Cherry Hills in Denver in route to a closing 65 to win our national tournament. Who chased him that day only to be rebuffed, a young Jack Nicklaus and an aging but still unbelievably talented, Ben Hogan. This man made golf what it is today. A game loved by many and televised weekly to millions. This man has paved the way for Nicklaus, Player, Trevino, Miller, Watson, Norman, Woods, McIlroy and now Spieth.  This Master's besides being boring, hurt my golfing heart like none in the past ever has. Why ? Because I can see that my hero is fighting for his life. The great man could do wonderful things with a set of golf clubs, but father time is going to win the last match 1-up on Arnie. Arnold, and I'm literally holding the tears back now, will always be my hero. He came along before I was of age to know what golf was but for some reason, I was drawn to this man and the excitement that seemed to follow him as though he was the Pied Piper. No one is promised tomorrow.  Not me, not you. But I can see the end coming soon for my hero and it not only makes me sad, but feel quite a bit older than I really am. God give you strength, Arnie, the game still needs you, I still need you.

Gosh, until you finally mentioned Arnie about 2/3 of the way through your post, I thought you were talking about Robert Garrigus.

[cosmodrum]

Yeah, it was hard to see him. It look like he's aged 10 years in one year. I'm afraid he's not long for this world.

I always hoped to get down to Bay Hill with a chance to play and maybe see him/meet him. Doesn't look like that will happen.

[EastexHawg]

I'm lucky enough to have been able to follow him around a few courses over the years. 

[Pulled(PP)pork]

I'm lucky enough to remember his Pennzoil commercials


PP

[EastexHawg]

I'm lucky enough to remember his Pennzoil commercials


PP

And running through airports with O.J.

[EastexHawg]

Over 20 years ago Arnie was playing in the Doug Sanders tournament in Kingwood, TX.  Three of us went down mainly to follow him, but also to see Lee Trevino and a few others.  There was a long rain delay and a lot of people left.  When they finally started playing only a small gallery remained to follow Arnie.  We got to get very close to him numerous times.  He was (as usual) very interactive with the gallery.  One lady beside us had a small dog in a pouch that she was carrying around and Arnie came over to pet it.

One shot in particular that I remember was a par four where he hit his drive way right and under a tree.  They had to move the gallery back and from where we were standing I was looking right down into his bag as he was trying to pick a club.  He grabbed a mid iron and as I was looking at the overhanging limbs right in front of him and the steep rise to the elevated green I thought to myself "no freaking way."  Arnie hit a laser that looked like a cruise missile, seemingly rising in relation to the topography and landing on the green.  To me it was an amazing shot and he seemed to really enjoy it.

He brought several...and I do mean several...drivers to the practice tee and hit all of them.  He was a relentless tinkerer with his clubs.  After he busted a particularly long drive on one hole someone in the gallery said something about it to his caddie, Royce, and Royce smiled and said, "Oh, yeah, he's still strong as an ox."

We've seen Arnie at other tournaments, including the Tradition in Scottsdale and a few Senior Opens, but that day was a particularly intimate gathering that let us get up close with The King over and over.

I'll miss him tremendously when he is gone.

BTW, Lee Trevino and his caddie (Herman) were obnoxious as heck with the galleries that day.  The contrast between Arnie and them was stark.

[EastexHawg]

One of my favorite golf stories came from Dan Jenkins.  He was there covering the 1962 U.S. Open at Oakmont.  Arnie had won five majors in four years at that time and would win the British Open a month later.  He has in his prime and without a doubt the greatest...and most confident...golfer in the world.  He was at the time, and still is today, regarded as one of the greatest drivers of a golf ball in history.

On the first hole of the playoff Arnie had the honor and ripped one of his typical tee shots down the fairway.  Nicklaus then stepped up and hit missile that flew Arnie's ball by a mile.  Jenkins said the look on Arnie's face as he watched that ball was one of near disbelief.  Dan said, "We could have gone back to the clubhouse right then, because the playoff was over."

I wonder if Arnie ever thought to himself, "Why did this guy have to come along now?"

[Iwastherein1969]

One of my favorite golf stories came from Dan Jenkins.  He was there covering the 1962 U.S. Open at Oakmont.  Arnie had won five majors in four years at that time and would win the British Open a month later.  He has in his prime and without a doubt the greatest...and most confident...golfer in the world.  He was at the time, and still is today, regarded as one of the greatest drivers of a golf ball in history.

On the first hole of the playoff Arnie had the honor and ripped one of his typical tee shots down the fairway.  Nicklaus then stepped up and hit missile that flew Arnie's ball by a mile.  Jenkins said the look on Arnie's face as he watched that ball was one of near disbelief.  Dan said, "We could have gone back to the clubhouse right then, because the playoff was over."

I wonder if Arnie ever thought to himself, "Why did this guy have to come along now?"

What did Bobby Jones say about Jack ?  "He plays a game with which I am not familiar"....Jack was a machine, Arnie was one of us.

[EastexHawg]

When I saw Arnie at the Masters my first thought was that he has something bad...as in a terrible disease.  Maybe everyone is just going along with the story, but if you listen to those around him they say he has just become old and frail all of a sudden.  Nicklaus said that he didn't hit the ceremonial tee shot at Augusta because his balance is bad and he didn't want to take a chance on stumbling in front of the crowd.

Either way it sucks, but I hope it's a case of being old and not something more immediately dangerous.

[GolfNut57]

When I saw Arnie at the Masters my first thought was that he has something bad...as in a terrible disease.  Maybe everyone is just going along with the story, but if you listen to those around him they say he has just become old and frail all of a sudden.  Nicklaus said that he didn't hit the ceremonial tee shot at Augusta because his balance is bad and he didn't want to take a chance on stumbling in front of the crowd.

Either way it sucks, but I hope it's a case of being old and not something more immediately dangerous.

Terrible disease? The man is in his late 80's. Its called old age!

[EastexHawg]

Terrible disease? The man is in his late 80's. Its called old age!

Okay, I'll be more specific.  He looked like he might have cancer.  I know he had a bout with prostate cancer years ago.  I hope he doesn't have some form of cancer again.

My wife's stepfather will be 90 in August, around the same time Arnie turns 87.  There is no comparison in how they get up and move around.  Also...you could see the raw emotion in the faces of everyone at Augusta, including Arnie.  They all looked like they knew their old friend wouldn't be around much longer.

Again, I hope and pray I am wrong.

[majestic]

Rome just said, about Tiger Woods saying he could still beat Jack's record (after watching him hit three balls in the water), "I don't think he could beat Jack right now".  Haha!

[EastexHawg]

Rome just said, about Tiger Woods saying he could still beat Jack's record (after watching him hit three balls in the water), "I don't think he could beat Jack right now".  Haha!

My wife was looking at some news site online yesterday and mentioned a headline about Tiger duffing three wedges into the water.  I told her that must be from a year or more ago.  Did it happen recently?  Where was he playing?

[Jackrabbit Hog]

My wife was looking at some news site online yesterday and mentioned a headline about Tiger doffing three wedges into the water.  I told her that must be from a year or more ago.  Did it happen recently?  Where was he playing?

He was at Congressional for the PR stuff for his Quicken Loans Tournament that's a couple of months away.  People in the audience were taking shots at that par 3 over the water (9th?  18th?).  After a guy put one on the green Tiger stepped up with his wedge.  And he hit three in the water.  Had to be pretty humiliating for him.

[EastexHawg]

Yeah, I just looked it up.  I know he wants to come back, but honestly I think he should save himself the indignity and retire.  He has had a great career.  Leave it at that rather than having all his fans remember him as a shell of his former self.