World Golf Hall of Fame's night to remember

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla.—The moon was full, the sky was clear and the night was full of emotion as the World Golf Hall of Fame inducted four new members Monday night.

Two-time Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal of Spain, Ryder Cup legend Christy O’Connor Sr. of Ireland, PGA champion Lanny Wadkins and former President Dwight Eisenhower were installed during ceremonies at the World Golf Village.

Some highlights of the evening:

- The introduction of Olazabal included a video message by fellow Hall of Famer and countryman Seve Ballesteros, who is battling cancer. Seve sent his friend a message of heartfelt congratulations and his fans a message that he’s still alive and fighting. Ballesteros looked haggard and wore a cap but spoke with energy and sincerity.

- O’Connor’s nephew, Christy O’Connor Jr., a former Ryder Cupper himself, accepted the honor on behalf of his uncle, who didn’t feel up to the challenge of flying across the Atlantic to appear in person. The senior O’Connor did send a wonderful video message in which he apologized profusely for his absence. The video also showed him still playing golf at his home course, Royal Dublin, robust for a man of 84. “It’s a great honor at my age—22 and a bit,” said O’Connor, drawing a laugh from the audience. “I wonder if I might have enjoyed the honor earlier, but this time is as good as any.”

- Olazabal paused several times during his speech, choking up with emotion, as he thanked the many people who helped his career. He made a special gesture to his parents, Gaspar and Julianna, who were sitting in the front row, and thanked them in Spanish.

- Arnold Palmer accepted the honor for Eisenhower, a good friend of his, and told the story of how Ike (Eisenhower asked Palmer to call him that) had called Masters chairman Clifford Roberts to see if he could play with the Masters champion on the Monday after the tournament. Roberts said he’d ask the winner if it was OK. It turned out to be Palmer. Shortly after the awards ceremony, Roberts approached Palmer with Eisenhower’s request and wondered if Palmer could adjust his schedule for Monday golf. “If the President can adjust his schedule,” Palmer told him, “I can adjust mine.”

- The one awkward moment of the ceremony came when Palmer began to tell a story about his late wife, Winnie, wanting to surprise him for his birthday. She set up a surprise visit from Eisenhower and his wife, Mamie. As Palmer told the story, Golf Channel cameras zoomed in on Kit, his current wife. It was a look-away moment. The punchline of the story, by the way, was Arnie answering the doorbell as he was about to head over to the golf club. He was stunned to see the Eisenhowers on his doorstep. “Can you put up an old man for the weekend?” Ike asked. Palmer was pleased to do so.

- Wadkins rivaled Olazabal for the most emotional speech. Lanny made a point to thank a lot of people who helped him along the way, from Wake Forest Coach Jesse Haddock to the late Dick Harmon, among others. He saved a special thank you for his brother, Bobby, who also played on the tour. Bobby, sitting in the crowd, turned red and had quivering lips as he tried to hold back tears while Lanny, also battling his emotions, said haltingly, “I wouldn’t be here without Bobby. He pushed me at every point along the way. So thank you, Bobby.”

- A number of Hall of Fame members in attendance were introduced to the crowd by the night’s emcee, Rich Lerner of Golf Channel. The Hall of Famers on site included LPGA founder Louise Suggs, Carol Semple Thompson, Palmer, Charlie Sifford (who got a loud roar), Carol Mann, Marlene Streit Stewart, JoAnne Carner and former PGA Tour Commissioner Deane Beman.

More from Golf.com: Wadkins | Olazabal | Palmer

Idylls of the King

Some of the Tour's biggest names are at the HP Byron Nelson Championship this week, including Anthony Kim, Vijay Singh and Adam Scott, but the best stories coming out of the TPC club in Irving, Texas, are about Arnold Palmer, as they always are when he visits a Tour event.

Palmer is at this year's tournament as the recipient of the Byron Nelson Prize, which recognizes a player or organization for charitable contributions. Accepting the award, a gracious Palmer talked about how much Nelson meant to him as a young golfer.

"This is a great pleasure to be able to say a few words about Byron Nelson, who was my hero and a guy that I suppose other than my father I probably got more from Byron and the things that he did in golf than probably any other pro or person," Palmer said Tuesday.

The presence of Palmer in the room brought out some classic Arnie stories as well. It's not often that PGA Tour commish Tim Finchem and Palmer aren't the wealthiest guys in the room, but Tuesday at the Byron Nelson they were joined by oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens, who could probably buy the PGA Tour ten times over and still have enough money to purchase Florida. Pickens is a member of Augusta National and he talked about how a chance meeting with Palmer on the course led to the shot of his life.

I have a quick story about Arnold and me. You know how you like to be connected to a legend? But we both are members down at Augusta, and he was finishing 18, and he was through for the day, and I was finishing 9. So we were right there at the same point. We shook hands and had a few minutes' conversation. I went over and teed off 10.

But about two months later I saw him, and he said, "Last time I saw you was there at the club. How are you playing?" I said, "You don't realize what a person of your power does to a person that's not much of a golfer." "Oh, what's this story?" I said, "No, I'm serious. I shook hands with you and I went over to 10 and I hit a nice drive and bogeyed the hole but played it pretty well. But I was thinking about you when I teed off 11 and I hit a really good drive, and my second shot was something that I know you've done many times on 11 at Augusta." He said, "What's that?" I said, "I knocked it in the hole." He said, "You eagled 11?" I said, "That's right. After I shook hands with you it inspired me." This is a true story. And he said, "I've never eagled 11." I said, "I thought you guys eagled 11 many, many times, that it wasn't that unusual." He said, "Well, it is."

Event MC and local sportscaster Babe Laufenberg, a former NFL quarterback, had another great Palmer story. Laufenberg talked about caddying for Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman as he played against Arnold Palmer at a charity event.

So I was caddying for Troy on Saturday when we were playing with Mr. Palmer. They're giving the amateurs the front tees. Mr. Palmer is playing from the championship tees and the back tees. He was in the tournament.

Now, Troy Aikman was still playing at the time, 6'4", 230, big, strong bull of a man. Mr. Palmer was spotting him about 40 yards on every drive and then blowing it over his ball, and I told Troy, I am going to drop this bag right in the middle of this fairway if this 71-year-old man keeps outdriving you. I asked Mr. Palmer's caddie -- on every par-5, he'd hit the drive and the caddie would immediately hand him a 3-wood. I said to the caddie, "Does Mr. Palmer have any irons in that bag?" He looked at me kind of quizzically, and he said, "Why do you ask that?" I said, "Every time he hits a drive, you just hand him the 3-wood; you don't see the lie, you don't see how far it is, you don't see the trouble ahead." He said, "One time I handed him an iron. He looked at me at said, 'See all these people out here? They didn't come here to watch Arnold Palmer lay up.'"

Now, the downside to this story, I told the story to Troy after his caddie told me and Troy was tickled with it too. So we get to a par-5 and he has 270 over water, so he wants the 3-wood, and after it went in the water then I handed him the iron to lay up, and we took double bogey. I said, "Remind me not to tell you any more stories about Mr. Palmer."

Not a chance.

Ron Paul votes against Congressional Gold Medal for Arnold Palmer

The House of Representatives last week approved legislation to award Arnold Palmer the Congressional Gold Medal by a 422 to 1 vote. The lone vote against Palmer was cast by Republican iconoclast and former presidential candidate Ron Paul.

So what gives? Is Paul a Nicklaus guy? Did Palmer not concede Paul a putt during a money match in 1974? Does Paul think golfers aren't real athletes? None of the above. As enterprising Press-Enterprise reporter Ben Goad discovered, Paul votes against all Congressional Gold Medal awards, no matter how deserving the nominee.

Here's the explanation from Paul spokeswoman Rachel Mills:

"It is certainly nothing personal against Mr. Palmer. In fact, Congressman Paul admires him greatly. Dr. Paul opposes using public monies for any and all of these gold medals given to private citizens, just on principle. Not to mention, it is unconstitutional to use taxpayer dollars in this way. He even suggested on the House Floor before he voted against Rosa Parks's medal that if it meant so much to the Members of Congress, why not fund the award out of their own pockets? He pulled $100 out of his own wallet, but had no other takers. At a time like this when all budgets are stretched so thin, it seems especially inappropriate to lavish gifts like this on private citizens, as much as he may admire the individual."

If Paul voted against Rosa Parks, Arnie never had much of a chance.

Palmer gets a hand with honorary tee shot

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Moments before patrons were allowed to power walk onto the grounds of Augusta National and claim prime viewing spots, there was a subdued laughter on the first tee.

With Arnold Palmer moments away from making his entrance and hitting the ceremonial first tee shot to start the 2009 Masters, a tournament official moved the tee markers 10 feet forward.

Palmer and Masters chairman Billy Payne walked from the clubhouse to the tee at precisely 7:45 a.m. EST. Payne welcomed the crowd and made an introduction that was completely unnecessary.

"No one has meant more to the great game of golf than our honorary starter," Payne said in the morning sunshine. "He is a fierce competitor and loved around the world. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming four-time Masters champion, Mr. Arnold Palmer."

Palmer, 79, teed up a ball moments later and smacked it into the blue sky and down the right side of the fairway.

Palmer then slid a Masters green jacket over his yellow golf shirt, posed for photos with Payne and other members of the club, and made his way back to the clubhouse.

For years, Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead and Byron Nelson answered the call and hit shots to start the Masters. Now, with Gary Player announcing this week that he will no longer compete here and Jack Nicklaus on hand as a guest, it seems to be only a matter of time before a second triumvirate of honorary starters is created.

With 13 Masters wins between them, Palmer, Nicklaus and Player should be allowed to tee it up wherever they please.

(Photo: Fred Vuich/SI)

Padraig Harrington: Hard for today's PGA Tour players to be like Arnold Palmer

The PGA Tour's Bay Hill stop is always fun to watch because of host Arnold Palmer and the way you see the genuine admiration guys in their 20s and 30s still have for him. But Padraig Harrington, one of the Tour's most intelligent and observant members, said that while today's pros admire Palmer, they find it difficult to be like him.

"I think Arnold Palmer gave so much of himself to the people, and he was out there, and players, all sports people, are protected more because there's more issues going on," Harrington said. "Now sports people tend to be a bit more aloof and detached, maybe because it's bigger hype, bigger stage to be on, maybe it's because of the way society has moved. I can't give you those answers. But it is a different era, and I don't know if it will ever happen again. Maybe it will."

Harrington's comments come at a time when accessibility has become an important issue on Tour. As the economic outlook has darkened, players are feeling pressure to reach out to fans and sponsors the way Palmer did.

What would Tiger Woods's drink be?

At his press conference Tuesday at Bay Hill, Padraig Harrington said "nobody has taken golf to the level" like Arnold Palmer has, not even Tiger Woods. His evidence? A certain mixture of iced tea and lemonade. Harrington described a recent trip to an Italian restaurant in Florida.

"A guy came up to the bar, and he ordered an Arnold Palmer, and the barman knew what that drink was. Now that's getting to another level. Think about it, you don't go up there and order a Tiger Woods at the bar. ...When the guy ordered it, I thought, maybe you could do it in a golf club, but he's ordered it in a random bar, and the guy, who probably wouldn't know one end of a club from the other, knew what it was."

Sure, Tiger has his own Gatorade, but you can't order that at too many bars. So this begs the question: If there were a Tiger Woods drink, what would be in it? Sergio's tears? Tell us your suggestions in the comments section below.

Tiger Woods to play Arnold Palmer's Bay Hill tournament

Tiger Woods will play in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in Orlando, Fla., next week, according to tigerwoods.com. No surprises here. Woods is the defending champion and it's a home game. (Woods lives in Orlando.) Plus, no way Woods disrespects Arnie by bypassing his tournament, especially after playing in the goofy Tavistock Cup earlier this week. Bay Hill always gets one of the year's best fields--despite its average $6 million purse--because even Tour pros must pay their respects to the King.

Expect Woods to be the favorite as well. Tiger has won this tournament five times, including four straight from 2000-2003. He owns Bay Hill as much as any course except for maybe Torrey Pines, and we all know what he did there last year. It will also be the last time we'll see Woods before the Masters since he's more likely to wear Reeboks to a golf lesson with Jessica Simpson than he is to show up at the Shell Houston Open.

Palmer picks Steelers over pal Whisenhunt

Arnold Palmer grew up in Latrobe, Pa., just an hour's drive from Heinz Field, in a state where everyone west of the Philly suburbs bleeds black and gold. So why does he have mixed feelings about picking the Pittsburgh Steelers over the Arizona Cardinals in next week's Super Bowl? Well, Arizona Cardinals Coach Ken Whisenhunt is an ex-Steeler assistant, a serious golfer and a certified Friend of Arnie.

"Both football games I had a very keen interest in," Palmer said at a media conference Tuesday for the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, which he's hosting in Palm Springs this week. "One, the Steelers have been a team that I have rooted for since I knew what a football was; and the other thing is that Arizona, who happens to have a coach that is a very good friend of mine, and also a scratch player, golfer, you didn't know that, he is a very good player."

However, friendship is one thing and football is another. Palmer's Super Bowl pick: Steelers 28, Cardinals 14.

Palmer also talked about the possibility of Tiger Woods making his return to the PGA Tour at the Arnold Palmer Invitational on March 25 at Bay Hill in Orlando, the smart-money choice since it's near Woods's home and would give him a competitive tune up before the Masters two weeks later.

"What would it mean if he came and played at Bay Hill to defend it?" Palmer said. "It would mean a great deal if that was his first event back, which is certainly, let's say, possible. We would love to have him do that. And it would call attention to my tournament and the fact that he is the defending champion."

Not that Palmer has any inside information. Since Woods himself has said he doesn't know when his knee will allow him to return, no one else does either.

"I think that the most recent situation is that he will come and he will be back, and what tournament he chooses, who knows. I don't know," Palmer said.

Palmer: Tiger will return as good as ever

For Arnold Palmer, there's no question that when Tiger Woods returns from his nine-plus-month layoff he will be the great player he's always been. Palmer said Wednesday that he's seen Woods in Orlando working on rehabbing his surgically repaired knee and getting his game back on track.

"How it will affect his golf, laying off as long as he has, is difficult to say," Palmer said."But I certainly expect that he will come on very strong and be the great player that he has been in the past. I don't think there's much question about that."

Speaking to reporters to promote the 50th annual Bob Hope Classic, which he's hosting in Palm Springs, Calif., later this month, Palmer said he expected someone to challenge Woods as well. Or at least that's what he would have done.

"I know if I were there playing and competing, I would certainly put forth a greater effort to be a top player," Palmer said. "If you're going to be a top player, you've got to somewhere along the way fess up to Tiger and play him and do something about it.

"I think that is very important. Of course, we see a lot of these guys that are so good, I expect that some of them are going to challenge him. I think that would be good for the game," Palmer said.

So who's going to do it? Palmer offered some usual suspects: Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington and Vijay Singh. Then he named some other players he's been watching that might be capable of taking a run at Woods.

"I have a guy that I'm watching very closely, like Adam Scott, Trevor Immelman, and Anthony Kim, who is really coming on. I expect to see him do some pretty good golfing here in the next couple years," Palmer said. "To just say there's a guy there that is going to do it. I've watched Daniel Chopra, who has won a couple events and certainly looks outstanding to me as an upcoming golfer. I suppose I'd look for a little more from Steve Stricker also, who has certainly some real potential. I could go on and on for a long time."

The Hope Classic is especially significant for Palmer since he won five times here, including the last of his 62 PGA Tour wins in 1973.

"Well, that was a pretty special event, one that I guess I will always enjoy, the fact that I won. I was playing with my good friend Jack Nicklaus on that particular occasion," Palmer said.

"You never know that it was your last, and hopefully it wasn't, but it turned out that way."

Palmer won't play Senior Skins after 20-year run

OK, I adjusted to watching the PGA Tour without Tiger Woods. I ditched the fist-pump for a Padraig Harrington-like grimace and started a stretching program to read greens like Camilo Villegas instead of conferring with my imaginary Steve Williams.

But I don’t think I can watch a Senior Skins Game without Arnold Palmer.

For the first time since 1997, Palmer won’t be playing in this year’s Senior Skins Game at Royal Ka'anapali Golf Course in Hawaii on Jan. 17-Jan. 18, according to The Honolulu Advertiser.

Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson played in the original made-for-television Skins Game in 1983. Nicklaus, Player and Watson will all be at Ka'anapali, but Palmer opted out according to promoters, who did not give a reason.

Palmer, 79, played in 20 Senior Skins, missing only in 1997 when he was recovering from prostate cancer surgery. He won in 1990, '92 and '93.

Watching Palmer now, you can see that he's clearly pained by the effect of age on his golf and how much it hurts him — the game’s ultimate showman — to hit a wild slice in front of his still-adoring fans. But if you’re healthy, Arnie, please play the Senior Skins Game. We don’t care what you shoot, we just love watching how you play.