Arnold Palmer named honouree of 2004 Nissan Open

BY iseekgolf.com | US PGA Tour | 2004 Nissan Open | General | 13 Feb 2004

The Nissan Open announced that Arnold Palmer has been named the 2004 Tournament Honouree. Palmer joins a distinguished list of past champions who have been honoured each year at the tournament since 1990.

Palmer won the Los Angeles Open in 1963, 1966 and 1967, when he posted a four-round total of 269, defeating Gay Brewer by five shots.

After winning the 1954 U.S. Amateur Championship, Palmer began his professional career. In his first year as a professional in 1955, he won the Canadian Open and totaled US$7,958 in earnings. In his Hall of Fame career Palmer had 62 PGA Tour victories. He won seven majors-the Masters in 1958, 1960, 1962, and 1964, the U.S. Open in 1960, as well as the British Open in 1961 and 1962. Palmer’s most impressive years were 1960-1963. In that four-year period, he won 29 tournaments including four major championships. In the 1960 U.S. Open at Cherry Hills, Palmer began his final round seven strokes behind the leader. On the 340-yard first hole Palmer drove the green which ignited a tremendous front nine 30. He finished with a 65 and won the Open by two strokes, defeating amateur Jack Nicklaus. His loyal fans loved to watch Palmer compete and became known throughout golf as Arnie’s Army.

In 1963, Palmer became the first player to win more than US$100,000 in a year, and in 1968 he became the first player to earn US$1 million in career earnings. He was a member of six Ryder Cup teams and was a captain twice.

Palmer helped form the Senior PGA Tour in 1980, winning 10 tournaments and earning US$1,734,432 through 2003. Palmer joined Jack Nicklaus and Byron Nelson as the first recipients of the Payne Stewart award. In 2000, Palmer reached a milestone by playing in his 1,000th PGA TOUR and Champions Tour events.

One of Palmer’s recent accomplishments was shooting his age (71) in the fourth round of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in 2001. He joined Jerry Barber as the only golfers to ever shoot their age or better in a PGA TOUR event.

A resident of Latrobe, Pa., and Bay Hill, Fla., Palmer annually plays host to the PGA TOUR’s Bay Hill Invitational presented by MasterCard. He has two children and seven grandchildren.

Other past champions that have been named tournament honourees include:

1990 – Ben Hogan (1942,47,48)
1991 – Harry “Lighthorse” Cooper (1926,37)
1992 – Sam Snead (1945,50)
1993 – Tommy Bolt (1952)
1994 – Harold “Jug” McSpaden (1944)
1995 – Ken Venturi (1959)
1996 – Byron Nelson (1946)
1997 – Billy Casper (1968,70)
1998 – Charles Sifford (1969)
1999 – Dow Finsterwald (1960)
2000 – Lloyd Mangrum (1949,51,53,56)
2001 – McDonald Smith (1928,29,32,34)
2002 – Bob Goalby (1961)
2003 – Gene Littler (1955)

Source – PGA Tour