Arnold Palmer's everyman appeal a catalyst for golf's growth

There is an old axiom in life that it's what a person does when no one is looking that defines their character.

Following his death from heart complications on Sunday at age 87, Arnold Palmer's exploits on the golf course are fondly remembered — he was one of the game's all-time greats. But the stories and anecdotes about Palmer's actions away from the glare of television say much about the man who was known as "The King."

One of those occasions took place at Weston Golf and Country Club in Toronto's northwest in 2005. Palmer returned to the site of his first PGA Tour victory to mark the 50th anniversary of his win.

Palmer was 76 at the time and those who were there that day were amazed at his stamina and the grace he showed. He always held Canada in high esteem because it was the place that gave him his first victory.

A half-century earlier, Palmer won at Weston by four shots over Jack Burke Jr. The photo taken that day of Palmer hugging the Canadian Open trophy remains one of the iconic shots of the golfer.

He just seemed like such a nice old man. What a gentleman.- Woman who attended 50th anniversary of Palmer's 1955 Canadian Open win

Of the hundreds of people who attended the 50th anniversary 11 years ago, one comment from a non-golfer stuck.

"It was like finding out your grandfather was a sports legend," said a woman, who attended the function with her husband who was a Weston member.

"To me, he just seemed like such a nice old man. What a gentleman."

Another Canadian, vacationing in Florida around the same time, once told a story about finding Palmer puttering around in his garage near the Bay Hill course he owned and that hosts his tournament every year on the PGA Tour schedule.

"He invited me in to the garage, I couldn't believe it," said Bryan Azevedo, who was staying at a friend's house in the gated community near the golf course. "I was so nervous I could barely walk up the driveway. I got in there, and he was tinkering around on his work bench…. He put me at ease and when he found out I was from Canada, he told me he really enjoyed the company of Canadians.

"I knew that he had won the Canadian Open but he never mentioned it… I don't think he wanted to sound like he was bragging. The King, not wanting to brag!

"He sent me on my way with [directions] how to get out to the main road quicker."

A conversation with Al Balding shortly before the Canadian golf Hall of Famer's death in 2006 revealed the wide range of people with whom Palmer made a connection.

7 majors, 55 other PGA titles

Balding was a Second World War veteran and told a story of meeting Allied Supreme Commander and later U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower in Palm Desert, Calif. Balding had lost a playoff to Palmer not long before the meeting further south in San Diego.

"When he told me he was pleased to meet me, I said that it wasn't the first time I'd seen him," said Balding of his Eisenhower meeting. "He had addressed my unit in France … he told me he had often heard that type of [feedback]; then he was gone to go play golf with Arnold Palmer, who I had just lost to by a stroke."

Palmer, who was scheduled to have surgery on Monday, won seven major championships in his career and 55 other PGA Tour titles. He also won twice in Europe and the 1980 Canadian PGA Championship.

His second win in Canada came 25 years after his win at Weston and the same year he began to play the Senior Tour (now known as the Champions Tour). He eventually won 10 times on the 50-and-over circuit, including five majors.

As a young man he had a certain look and style that made galleries want to cheer for him that, combined with the go for broke way he played, helped golf make a connection with casual sports fans.

More than his success on the course, his charisma and everyman appeal was the catalyst for golf to grow in popularity through the new medium of television. Even back in its early days, but especially now, television's glare has the tendency to reveal warts on sports and entertainment figures.

Telegenic appeal

Not Palmer.

On television, his popularity only grew. Losses in three U.S. Open playoffs — truth be told, his competitive record should have been better given his talent — combined with his telegenic appeal pushed golf into the mainstream.

Had Palmer not come along, Jack Nicklaus wouldn't have come to be accepted by the masses the way he was a generation later. Tiger Woods inherited a golf world that Palmer and Nicklaus made possible and expanded it even further.

That his death came on the day Rory McIlroy picked up more than $11 million for winning the FedEx Cup was fitting.

To put that into context, Palmer won $2,400 for his Canadian Open victory, the first significant cheque of his career where he would ultimately earn about $1.8 million in tournament purses.

Palmer, of course, made many hundreds times that figure in endorsement money away from the course. His partnership with International Management Group defined the modern athlete-management business model that survives his death. That deal was struck with nothing more than a handshake with IMG founder Mark McCormack, until McCormack's death in 2003.

His role as golf's first superstar-turned-elder-statesman had other more subtle effects. Palmer has been known to speak privately with many modern players about the importance of trying to connect with fans in small ways, from signing autographs legibly, to looking fans, pro-am partners and sponsor representatives in the eye on the golf course.