Last week at Augusta National, the Masters said goodbye to one of its greatest legends. Arnold Palmer shot an 85 in his final round of the tournament he won four times when he was younger, but the score didn't even matter. Palmer showed us all something much greater than championships in his final few years at the tournament. He showed something missing in many sports arenas and venues around the world: love for the game.
At the bright young age of 72, Palmer played on the same course, at the same time as all of the tour's new stars, and finished his two rounds a combined 30 over par and in dead last. But nobody was looking at his score. After 48 consecutive Masters appearances, every player stopped, if just for a moment, to catch one last glimpse of Arnie as he played the course for the last time.
There is no player who is bigger than Palmer, no player more widely respected and beloved. Even Tiger Woods, the undisputed best golfer in the world, was in his shadow for the first two rounds.
"There will come a point in time where it will be neat to tell my grandkids that, 'Hey, I played with the great Arnold Palmer - even if it was a par-3 course-in his final Masters," Woods said after Palmer's round.
What Palmer's round displayed to everyone watching was something great, something intangible. It showed a lack of concern for money, trophies, and championships, and an absolute love for the game of golf. Even though he won his last Masters in 1964, Palmer continued to play in the tournament that he loved for almost 40 more years.
Though many people say that they have had enough of all of the emotional goodbyes, between Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, I say that there is something great about watching a legend play in his final round. It's true that the world won't end with Palmer's final round, and that he will still be in commercials and playing recreationally for years to come. But he will never again walk with the field at Augusta, never again cross Sarazen's Bridge on the 15th, and never again save par as part of the Masters.
Even though he's done, Arnie is still one of the greatest players of all time. Finishing at 30 over and in last place did not tarnish his image in any way, and he will still be seen as one of the greatest ever to pick up a club.
It has become a popular sentiment in recent years that players should quit while they're on top and go out with a bang. Most applauded Michael Jordan for retiring after his last championship, and chastised him when he decided to come back, afraid that he wouldn't still be the best in the game and that he would hurt his image.
When did sports become all about image? When did a player's image become more important than his love for the game? This is one of the biggest problems with professional sports today. Somehow image became the most important thing. Somewhere along the way, it became a sin to look bad.
Is that why Jordan and Palmer played? So that they could look good? Not a chance. The two played because they loved to play. It's as simple as that. And in playing they created an image for themselves. They created an image of greatness that will stay with them no longer how many years they play the game. There's nothing they could do to change that.
So what if Jordan wasn't the greatest player in the league when he came back? Would it matter if he hung around until he was 50 and played two minutes per game? Would that mean that he wasn't the greatest player ever to play the game? Of course not. Just as Palmer playing in the Masters until he is 72 doesn't mean that he wasn't one of the best golfers of all time. And both of these players know this. Part of what makes Jordan and Palmer so great is their lack of concern for image, and their love of their respective sports.
Each will play until he is good and ready to stop. When he feels that he has had enough, or when he is physically unable to play anymore, he will stop playing - not when other people tell him to. Not because his image will be hurt, but on his own terms. Palmer felt that it was time for him stop playing in the Masters, so he stopped - not because somebody told him that he was hurting his legacy; because he thought it was time to go.
Maybe Palmer explained his leaving best when he said, "If I continue to play as poorly as I have recently, I'll be faded away. I won't be out there. But I'm like most people. I hit a couple of shots today that I got encouraged about. Hell, I can't wait to get back out on the practice tee and see what I can do."
So it is with this statement that Arnold Palmer says goodbye to the Masters. And it is with that statement that we will remember him - not as someone who played long after he should have quit, but as someone who can't wait to get out and play tomorrow.
