The Daily: The Golf World Remembers Arnie

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Joel Cook
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Monday means reminiscing about the weekend golf action, and this Monday comes on the heels of an unforgettable Sunday. The final round of the Tour Championship, the finale of the FedEx Cup playoffs came to a thrilling ending where Rory McIlroy held off Ryan Moore and Kevin Chappell in a playoff to take both the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup (and its $10 million prize).

 
It was not a good day for presumptive Player of the Year Dustin Johnson, who was a co-leader going into round 4, but had the worst round in the field, and did not get the help he needed from others to hold onto the #1 spot in the FedEx Cup Standings. While Ryan Moore didn’t win, something great came out of the Tour Championship for him: Davis Love III chose him with his final Ryder Cup Captain’s pick.

 
The other reason yesterday was unforgettable a sad one: PGA Tour legend Arnold Palmer passed away. A universally loved figure in golf, there has been a lot of emotion expressed in the aftermath of his passing. Today, the golf world remembers and celebrates Arnie.

Remembering The King

As exciting as yesterday’s FedEx Cup finale was, the story ended up taking a back seat to the awful news that legendary golfer Arnold Palmer passed away at the age of 87.

 
The reactions and tributes from Palmer’s contemporaries have been especially tear-inducing.

This one is from Gary Player, who dueled with Palmer many times on the course.

The Champions Tour put out an amazing video about Arnie’s greatness.

From Phil Mickelson, who is possibly the Arnie of his generation.

From new FedEx Cup Champion Rory McIlroy.

Many players, such as this one from Ben Crane, shared classic pictures of Palmer in his prime. He seems to perfectly exemplify “Old School Cool”.

And this one from the PGA Tour.

Another (sort of) contemporary, Tom Watson.

Most everyone in golf sent out a tweet. Here are a few more.

Suzann Petterson, who happened to be at Bay Hill  (considered Arnie’s course) took a picture of Arnie’s spot on the practice range.

President Barack Obama even got in on the tributes.

The most touching thoughts may have come from Jack Nicklaus, Arnie’s greatest rival.

Reactions to Ryder Cup Ryan

Ryan Moore being named to the American Ryder Cup team as Davis Love III’s last captain’s pick ended weeks of speculation. Moore, mostly due to his recent hot play, was believed to be in the mix with Bubba Watson, Justin Thomas, Jim Furyk, and maybe even Tiger Woods. The reactions to the move were overwhelmingly positive.

Bubba Watson, who likely would have been the pick had Moore not gotten hot lately, posted a classy response. There may not have been anyone who wanted to be at the Ryder Cup more than Bubba. He will be back.

Justin Thomas, another talented young player who was believed to be under consideration for that last captain’s pick, responded similarly to Bubba:

American Ryder Cup vet Hunter Mahan believes it was the right pick:

Trolls Out

As one of the bigger personalities on Tour, Bubba Watson has a lot of fans and haters. Getting passed up for the Ryder Cup brought out a lot of trolls.

https://twitter.com/christops300/status/780226969401233409

https://twitter.com/IamTheChu/status/780228734544584704

Bubba has taken the high road so far, but nobody would fault him if he went Robert Allenby on those trolls.

Commercial of the Day

ESPN’s Sportscenter has been a paragon of genius advertising. One of their recent commercials featured Arnold Palmer at SportsCenter headquarters in Bristol, CT. It was some of their finest work:

Stat(s) of the Day

In the eight year stretch from 1957 to 1964, Arnold Palmer was had the following statistics:

 
– 41 wins
– 7 Major Championship Victories
– PGA Tour money leader four times
– PGA Leader in victories five times
– Nine playoff victories

Palmer was unquestionably dominant in the late 50s and early 60s, one of the most dominant stretches of golf the game has ever seen. He finished his career with 62 wins, the fifth most in PGA history.

Video of the Day

Rory McIlroy is Europe’s highest ranked player, and is likely their biggest asset in their quest to retain the cup in America. The European Ryder Cup team watched the end of the Tour Championship, where McIlroy went 5-under on the back nine to get into a playoff that he would win. His teammates appear to be happy for him:

Speaking of the European Ryder Cup team, their twitter account posted a picture illustrating

Charity of the Day

A group of Web.com tour wives assembled a cart for the children at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, OH.

As for the tournament itself, the final round of the third leg of the Web.com finals, American Grayson Murray shot a three-under on the back nine to defeat young Australian golf prodigy Cameron Smith. With the win, Murray secured his PGA Tour Card for next season. Joining Murray on the Tour next year will be Kevin Tway (T3), Martin Flores (T4), and Ryan Blaum (T13), who all their their cards via the top 25 on the Web.com finals money list.

The last tournament of the Web.com finals will be the Web.com Tour Championship in two weeks in Atlantic Beach, FL.

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