Power of Caring
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Mister Palmer's neighborhood

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Posted: Monday March 29, 1999 05:12 PM

While Jack Nicklaus is respected by today's PGA Tour players, who were amazed by his weekend run at Augusta last year at the age of 58, Arnold Palmer is beloved. One reason is that players see Palmer as one of their own. He's a golfaholic, in a good sense, and he has helped more golfers than we'll probably ever know.

Steve Lowery's name has been in the headlines twice in the last two months. The second time was when he was the early first-round leader at Bay Hill two weeks ago. The first time was when his house, which overlooks the fourth hole at the Bay Hill Club, burned down while he was playing in Tucson. His wife and children luckily escaped injury but the house is a total loss. (The Oops Award goes to Colin Montgomerie, paired with Lowery in the first round of the Bay Hill Invitational. Monty asked on the third green if Lowery lived around there, then hastily added, "But wasn't there some kind of problem with your house?" "Yes," Lowery said, "it burned down ... and it's right over there.")

Looking Ahead It's early to be thinking about the 1999 Ryder Cup at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., although a lot of media members are grumbling about it after learning that rooms at the media hotel will cost $236 a night. Yeow. One thing to be aware of is that once again, the U.S. team is not going to have a home-course advantage. The PGA of America selected a great course for the event but it's one that most American tour pros haven't seen since the 1988 U.S. Open, which was won by Curtis Strange. It is a choice reminiscent of Oak Hill in 1995, another great course that American players weren't familiar with, either. Need I remind you that the U.S. lost that one? "The Country Club is a different course," Ben Crenshaw, the U.S. captain, said recently. "It's not a straightforward American golf course. There is a lot to learn and feel and imagine. It has smallish greens. You'll want a precise iron player who has the right range. It's a very exacting, second-shot golf course." Which makes it a good golf course for a player such as Mark O'Meara, who, coincidentally, tied for third in that '88 Open, his best Open finish. Or David Duval. "I happened to talk to David Duval the night he shot that 59 and won," Crenshaw said. "I knew he was going skiing and I told him, 'Would you please, please, please take it easy on the slopes? And get somebody to massage your feet because you'll be playing every down in Boston.' " A lack of course knowledge appeared to be a factor in the Americans' loss at Valderrama in 1997, too. Captain Tom Kite invited players to stop by for a few practice rounds on their way to the British Open that year but only a few players showed up, including Tiger Woods, O'Meara and one player Kite overlooked as a captain's pick -- some guy named Duval. Crenshaw realizes familiarity with the course is important. "That's why I'm intent on getting these guys in there," he said. "They definitely have a sense of urgency because of the Presidents Cup and the past few Ryder Cups." Which means The Country Club can expect frequent visitors between now and September.

The Lowerys were not without a place to stay for long, however. Palmer put them up in one of Bay Hill's guest houses for several weeks. Now the Lowerys are renting a house in Isleworth, another golf community where Palmer is a member, while deciding whether to rebuild. "That was pretty nice," Lowery said. "People from Bay Hill have been so generous and helpful."

Dicky Pride played college golf at Alabama before turning pro. He was looking for a home base, a place to practice, when a friend who was a member at Bay Hill suggested he apply for a junior membership. Pride applied but didn't hear anything for a while. One day while visiting at Bay HIll, his friend pointed out Palmer making the turn and told him, "There's the guy you have to talk to." So Pride did. "I was 23 and my eyes were this big," Pride said, making saucer-sized gestures with his hands. I walk over and say, 'Mister Palmer?' You know how he looks at you with those eyes? He goes, 'Yeah?' I said, 'My name is Dicky Pride, I'm up for junior membership and I appreciate you letting me come out and hit balls.' I'm looking at his hands -- his hand is like doubling over mine. It's twice as big and I'm scared to death. He said, 'You've got your application in?' I said, 'Yes, sir, I've had it in for two months.' At 9:05 the next morning, his secretary called me to tell me I was in. I moved down here."

Later, Pride met Palmer again to thank him for the membership. "He said, 'Are you going to play pro?' I said, 'Yes, sir.' He told me one thing and I wrote it down -- Hah! Like I'm going to forget it? I have it on my desk. He said, 'Dicky, there are no miracles in golf. You get out of it what you put into it.' I've taken that to heart, I've lived by that. If you can't learn something from him, you're either not listening or you're deaf."

Palmer likes to interact with young players or anyone else who shows up to play in the daily game every afternoon at Bay HIll. "He's like a father figure," Pride said. "I'll see him out here and he'll say, 'Why aren't you playing in my tournament?' I'll say, 'I didn't get in.' Then he'll say, 'Well, why aren't you shooting better scores so you can get in?' He tells it like it is. He treats me like he's my dad. He says, 'Get off your butt and score better.' And he'll come out and watch me hit balls. We were out playing recently and I'd been working with my teacher and Mister Palmer goes, 'You know, Dicky, I don't say anything to anybody about their golf swing unless they ask but I have something I want to tell you.' What am I gonna say, no? I said I'd love to hear it. So what he told me was exactly what my teacher and I were working on, to the letter. I just looked at him and said, 'King, right? That's what I thought.'

"This is a guy who's what, almost 70, and his eyes light up when he's talking golf. I'll always remember the first time I played a practice round with him. I go birdie-birdie-bogey-birdie-birdie. I was his partner and he was like, 'Yeah! C'mon Pride!' I'll tell you, you've got to be ready to play against him. You've got to be ready to play golf. He can still play. He can go shoot 65. And, oh god, if he does, get ready, boys. If you don't beat him, he's going to wear you out. I don't care how long I've known the man, every time I tee up with him, I'm so nervous on the first tee."

Pride received another gift from Palmer. When Robert Allenby, who had been given a sponsor's exemption for the Bay Hill Invitational, earned his way in via the money list, tournament officials offered the exemption to Pride. "As a member here," he said, "this would be a tournament I'd hate to sit out. I was very thankful."

Pride took full advantage of his opportunity and his local knowledge. He tied for fifth and won $81,750, which was nearly as much as he'd won in the previous two seasons combined.

 

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