Register columnists recall covering Arnold Palmer
Whether you know him as a golfing legend or just the lemonade and iced tea drink, Arnold Palmer's death Sunday night rocked the sports world.
Known as "The King," Palmer, 87, was born in Latrobe, Pa., in 1929 and went on to win numerous championships during his career as a professional golfer.
In July 1999, current Register sports columnist Randy Peterson was covering the U.S. Senior Open at Des Moines Golf and Country Club in West Des Moines. Peterson was charged with following Palmer from the moment he stepped onto the golf course to the moment he stepped off it.
"The only place I didn't follow him was in the bathroom," Peterson said. "I followed him from hole to hole, and my story was just to see how he interacted with the crowd and how the crowd interacted with him. And by the third hole, he noticed this guy stalking him, and I noticed him, noticing me. So I introduced myself and we talked throughout the whole tournament. He asked about my family, I asked about his, he was a genuinely good guy."
Peterson has been with the Register since the '70s and says he doesn't get "gaga" over celebrities and tries to be professional. But, after Palmer's final hole and a slew of interviews with local media, Palmer reached into his pocket and grabbed the ball he used on the final hole.
"He pulls the golf ball out of his pocket, autographs it, puts his mark on it (three dots) then just flips it to me," Peterson says. "I was embarrassed because we don't get memorabilia. So I caught it and put it in my pocket so nobody would see it. It's the only autograph I ever got."
Peterson tweeted a picture of the ball Sunday night:
Palmer shot 1 over par that day, at the age of 70.
During his Hall of Fame career covering sports for The Des Moines Register, Rick Brown covered and interviewed Palmer several times. Brown covered that U.S. Senior Open in 1999 along with Peterson and saw him play again two years later in the first Champions Tour event.
His favorite moment involving Palmer happened in 2002 when Brown spent two hours riding around in a golf cart with "The King" at the Tournament Club of Iowa course in Polk City. That's a course designed by Palmer's own design company.
Look back: How Arnold Palmer invented the Arnold Palmer
"He was a guy I looked up to when I was a kid playing golf," Brown said. "It gave me goosebumps."
Brown said Palmer was pro for the "working class."
"He had an aura about him, people felt that he was approachable." Brown said. "He was someone that everyone from all levels of society could identify with. And at the time, that was very rare in that sport. And when he came to Des Moines, it gave people a chance to see him. He was such a huge name and he lived up to his billing."
Brown tweeted a picture of the front page of The Des Moines Register from 1999, when Palmer came to Des Moines.
Then there was that time we saw Arnold Palmer make an Arnold Palmer.
Want to take a few strokes off your golf game? Let "The King" give you some advice:
17 pictures that prove Arnold Palmer was the coolest golfer of all time