By D.A. Weibring
Last week I played in Houston at the Administaff Small Business Classic and we continued our challenge with the weather. The week before we were in Raleigh and before that at the Greater Hickory Classic in North Carolina and before that in Baltimore, each one where we also had rain issues. Thank goodness we brought some of that rain from the East Coast to Texas where they really needed it, but it wound up being a little too much. Sunday's play was cancelled, two weeks in a row; Jay Haas won the event shooting 65, 63 and has moved into the number one position on the money list over Loren Roberts in the challenge for the Charles Schwab Cup, with two only events to go. This week we're in San Antonio and then the top 30 money winners for the year qualify to go play in the Charles Schwab Cup in Sonoma, California, to wrap up the year.
Even though the event was shortened, there was still some great golf played at the Administaff Small Business Classic, but the real story last week was Arnold Palmer. Although Arnold has cut back his schedule the last two years, he still played an exhibition here and there. He was in Houston as a competitor. At 77 Arnold is slowing down a little bit, but for a guy with some hip and back issues, this man has kept a pretty busy schedule in professional golf. Not simply in competing and playing, but in promoting the game.
Arnold arrived on Thursday morning to play in the pro-am and I got a chance to visit with him. You could tell he was a little tired and worn out with some aches and pains. He began to play Friday in a specially made pairing that included Lee Trevino. There was a wonderful opening ceremony that included the National Anthem followed by two Blackhawk helicopters roaring down the first fairway. The Tournament began with Arnold Palmer teeing off first, followed by Lee Trevino.
Through four holes Arnold struggled with his game and with his back aching, he turned to his playing partners and said he didn't know if he could finish. Seeing the difficulty he was having, everyone was encouraging him to stop. "Don't force it," they told him. Most players would have stopped. But Arnold saw the big crowd who'd showed up to see him play, and he said, "I just can't quit." Which is a tribute for the passion he has for the game. "I'm going to stay here and finish all 18 holes," he said and did.
On 18 Lee Trevino came over and asked for Arnold's golf ball, which he signed, and then signed his glove and gave it to John Mahaffey. Then Lee Trevino proceeded to give him a big hug and thanked him for everybody in golf for all that he's done for the game.
That evening I saw Lee and Arnold at dinner. Arnold was feeling sad, because he realized it was over. It was an emotional evening for Arnold and everyone else as we all said our thank yous for what he's done for the game. He expects the rest of us to continue to play hard but to give something back not only to the people who come, watch and support professional golf, but also the charities involved with golf.
He will always be the king!
