Numerous athletes, including current basketball behemoth LeBron James and Cy Young Award-winning pitcher Felix Hernandez, have earned nicknames that feature “King” in them, but for many sports enthusiasts, only one star, Arnold Palmer, deserves the sobriquet “The King.” (Fans of NASCAR dynamo Richard Petty, lob your complaints here.) The golfing legend left us Sept. 25 at age 87, but his influence will receive the royal treatment tomorrow through Sunday, as a few of the 120 entrants in the Arnold Palmer Invitational will cart equipment or don apparel featuring his umbrella logo.
The artistic tribute will occur over the course of the tournament’s 39th celebration, with the Florida-situated Bay Hill Club and Lodge as the setting. It comes as a result of December outreach to equipment and apparel companies in the hope that many would want to give today’s stars a colorful and respectful way to acknowledge the seven-time major champion and owner of 62 PGA Tour triumphs.
“There were no stipulations to it,” Arnold Palmer Golf chief marketing officer Kevin Smith told Golf Digest. “It’s simply their interpretation of what they want to do, but we wanted to provide an option beyond simply putting on a lapel pin.”
With freedom to fete the influential figure, whose aforementioned victories place him fifth on the all-time wins list, golfers will be hoping to play and look far above par thanks to the 1960s-issued symbol that Palmer, frustrated with proceedings during a session to choose a company logo, conceived upon exiting the gathering and glimpsing a woman with a multi-colored umbrella. The idea has met with considerable favor, with Smith saying that Puma and four-time Tour winner Rickie Fowler planned a special line that includes two pairs of shoes, one of which will become an auction item to benefit the Arnie’s Army Charitable Foundation. Three-time Tour winner Billy Horschel took to Twitter to relay his excitement over having the red, yellow, white and green emblem affixed to his collar and golf balls.
Excited to be able to have Arnold Palmer's logo on my @RalphLauren collar this week. @APinv pic.twitter.com/tPiW3ezE5o
— Billy Horschel (@BillyHo_Golf) March 13, 2017
Also, will be marking my @Titleist balls with his logo this week. Thanks to @TinCupMarker for making this happening! @APinv pic.twitter.com/yjslSEZntY
— Billy Horschel (@BillyHo_Golf) March 13, 2017
The $8.7 million event will also commend its namesake by endowing the victor with a red alpaca cardigan sweater, akin to what Palmer frequently donned, rather than a customary navy blue blazer. Some serious spoils, then, will go to the one who emerges from the field, with glasses of Arnold Palmer, a combination of iced tea and lemonade that Innovative Flavors has hawked since 2001, making an appropriate celebratory drink.
