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two The King and the Bear The Arnold Palmer–Jack Nicklaus Rivalry and the Rise of Modern Golf G E O R G E B . K I R S C H On Wednesday afternoon, June 2, 1993, fifteen hundred golf fans gathered in a drenching rain around the eighteenth green at the Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, to pay tribute to Arnold Palmer, that year’s honoree of Jack Nicklaus’s Memorial Tournament. Previously, the committee that chose the recipient had selected a person who had long since retired or was deceased. But this time, at the suggestion of Nicklaus, it skipped the waiting period and honored Palmer for his lifetime achievements and especially for his contributions to golf. The program featured written tributes from President George Bush and celebrities and speeches from fellow golfers and friends, but what made the occasion especially poignant was the homage paid by Nicklaus to his longtime archrival. Nicklaus reflected: “When I turned pro in 1961, this was the guy you had to take aim at. He was the big winner. We’ve always competed against each other, but we’ve always been friends.”1 After thirty years, Nicklaus was widely recognized as the greatest golfer of the post–World War II era, but Palmer was still beloved by the public as the game’s “King.” The event that rainy springtime afternoon celebrated the career of Arnold Palmer, but it was also at least indirectly a testament to the rivalry between Palmer and Nicklaus that elevated both of their reputations and promoted golf as a mainstream sport in the United States. During the fifteen years that followed World War II American golf celebrated its second golden age, as the sport’s growing popularity exceeded its progress achieved during the flush times of the 1920s. Although many commentators have attributed this boom to President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s obsession with the game during the mid-1950s, 1WIGGINS_pages:Layout 1 2/11/10 3:25 PM Page 29 in fact it began a few years before his first inauguration in 1953 and resulted from several more influential factors. Among these were the prosperity of the period that generated a rising standard of living for blue- and white-collar workers, new rounds of suburbanization and the extension of resort and retirement communities, the promotion of golf by media celebrities (especially Bing Crosby and Bob Hope), the advent of golf cars (today called “carts”), popular heroes (especially Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, and Arnold Palmer), and the rise of television. While some of these forces (most notably the economy, residential trends, and the role of champions) had shaped golf’s fortunes during earlier eras and were cyclical, others (especially the introduction of golf cars and television ) were unique to this period. As Arnold Palmer began his ascendancy to the pinnacle of American golf, Snead and Hogan were in the twilight of their long careers that stretched back to the 1930s. Snead’s humble origins, folksy, homespun humor, and early success made him a darling of the media. Although he never won the U.S. Open, over forty-two years of tournament golf on the regular and senior PGA Tours he compiled a remarkable record of 135 titles, including eighty-two PGA events (nine more than Jack Nicklaus) and seven major championships. Hogan became a legendary figure during the post–World War II period because of the character and courage he displayed in recovering from a near fatal automobile accident in 1949 and because of his dramatic victories in major championships. His two PGA titles in 1946 and 1948 and his first U.S. Open crown in 1948 preceded his car crash, but after his rehabilitation he stunned the golfing world with wins at the U.S. Open in 1950 and the Masters and the U.S. Open again in 1951. But it was his heroic performances in 1953 that elevated him to the ranks of golf’s immortals, as he captured the championships of the Masters, the U.S. Open, and the British Open. The rise of Palmer, golf’s newest superstar, during the late 1950s coincided with the first attempts to televise the sport across the nation, and Palmer’s aggressive style of play and charismatic personality perfectly suited the new medium. Earlier in the decade local radio and television golf shows that combined instruction and consumer information with some commentary by professionals and celebrities enjoyed a modest success with audiences. But network producers hoped that...

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