Arnold Palmer missed the Senior PGA cut after shooting a 168 in the first two rounds. Andy Lyons/Getty Images

LIGONIER, Pa. -- The 66th Senior PGA Championship was a success for a lot of reasons. Laurel Valley is an overlooked gem of a golf course, worthy of a regular-tour major. Also, Arnold Palmer was the tournament host and played in front of his home fans -- he grew up and still lives in nearby Latrobe, Pa. -- for what was the probably the last time.

Palmer isn't known as the King simply because of his stirring play years ago and because he practically invented golf on TV and brought big money into the game. He's the King because he treats other players and fans he meets like they're the King. At 75, Palmer's body and his game aren't as strong as they used to be, but he remains a diehard golfer -- he plays a lot even when he's not in tournaments, he's fun to be around and most of all, he's always just one of the guys.

I was talking with senior tour player Jerry McGee and his family after the PGA's first round. His son, Mike, had caddied for him. We were standing on the curb around the corner from the clubhouse by the driveway that leads out when in mid-conversation, a pearl-colored Cadillac Escalade slows to a stop behind McGee.

"Heyyyy, no soliciting!" barked a familiar voice from the car. McGee turned around. Palmer, his teal green sweater still draped over his shoulders, was behind the wheel. His new wife, Kit, was riding shotgun. McGee laughed and stepped over to Kit's open window. They all exchanged hellos.

"How'd you play today?" McGee asked Palmer. "You do any good?"

Palmer hesitated. He'd just gotten done telling reporters a few minutes ago how disgusted he was with his game. After a pause, Palmer said, "Ohhh, I don't know -- what did you shoot?"

McGee shook his head and smiled. "About 80," he said.

"Eighty-eight?" asked Palmer, who wears a hearing aid.

"Eighty," McGee said, more plainly and loudly. "Or maybe 81."

Palmer grinned. "Well," he said, starting to move the Escalade slowly away from the curb, "then I probably beat you or tied you." Palmer drove off and McGee returned to our conversation.

"He's the best, isn't he?" McGee asked. I agreed and then informed McGee that Arnie had, in fact, shot 82. He laughed.

Speaking of McGee, nobody was happier with the gift in the tournament's goodie bag that each player received than he was. Every player got a Pittsburgh Steelers football jersey with the number, "05" (for 2005), and their name stitched on the back. McGee lives just across the Pennsylvania-Ohio border in East Palestine, about an hour from Pittsburgh, and has Steelers season tickets. He's a big fan. He won more than $3.2 million in 11 years on the Champions Tour but at 61, isn't exempt and is semi-retired from the tour. The Senior PGA was his first tournament of the year.

"It was great," McGee said of the jersey. "My wife and I go to every game. We love it."

McGee showed off the jersey during Friday's second round. He pulled it on over his shirt to play the ninth hole, his final hole of the round, but didn't get as many comments as he expected about wearing it. The reason? Hardly anybody was watching play at the ninth hole because Palmer was coming up the 18th in his final round at Laurel Valley at about the same time. Gotcha again, Jerry.