By Ward Clayton
Sports Editor
Augusta Chronicle

For the second straight year, the Tuesday of Masters Week will honor Arnold Palmer.

On Monday, Augusta-Richmond County Mayor-Chairman Larry Sconyers declared Tuesday Arnold Palmer Day in the city and county.

Mr. Palmer, the 66-year-old four-time Masters champion, will unveil his own statue at 9:30 a.m., during ceremonies at Riverwalk Augusta in front of the Radisson Riverfront Hotel Augusta.

Mr. Palmer's statue shows him leaning on a driver as he peers down an imaginary fairway.

Last year, on the Tuesday before the tournament, Augusta National Golf Club had its own Palmer Day and dedicated a huge plaque to him. The plaque was placed next to a newly constructed water fountain behind the 16th tee.

Mr. Palmer's statue will be one of eight golf greats to be placed along the riverwalk. Ted Sprague, executive director of the Golf Hall of Fame, announced in early January that 7-foot-high bronze sculptures of Mr. Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Byron Nelson, Gene Sarazen and Gary Player have been or will be commissioned to sculptors for eventual display in the Hall's Golf and Gardens attraction.

The sculptures will be funded by sponsoring companies and individuals at a cost of about $100,000 apiece. They will be lighted and placed along the Eighthth Street Plaza at the Riverwalk Amphitheater to 10th Street behind the Bankers First building.

The multimillion-dollar Hall of Fame, including the sculptures, garden and interactive theater, is scheduled to open in 1998 on Reynolds Street in the blocks from 10th to 13th streets.

Philadelphia-based sculptor Zenos Frudakis was commissioned for the Palmer sculpture. Bankers First sponsored the work, which cost $82,000, not including transportation and mounting.

Two other sculptures are in the works and should be in place by January.

The Hogan's sculpture, sponsored by Georgia Power Co. and Tommy Stone, will be done by William Behrends of Tryon, N.C. The Sarazen sculpture, sponsored by Smile Gas, will be done by George Lundeen of Colorado.

Mr. Lundeen will also do a sculpture of Mr. Nelson, which is sponsored by Phil Harison. The Jones will be sponsored by Callaway Golf. Sponsorship of the remaining sculptures is not finalized.

The Palmer and Nicklaus sculptures will serve as bookends for the eight-figure display. The Nicklaus sculpture depicts the six-time Masters champion's pose as he made a birdie putt on the 17th green on the way to winning the 1986 Masters. It will be placed on a tall pedestal just below the second level of the riverwalk.

Mr. Palmer's statue will be the only other statue on ground level. The other six will be on the second level of the riverwalk, with the Jones statue fronting the future site of the Hall of Fame.