Taking the last curtain call

THE MASTERS: As a true Master bows out, Philip Reid recalls Arnold Palmer's Augusta exploits.

"Young as Augusta National is relative to how long the game of golf has existed, it exudes more history and is home to more ghosts than any other golfing mecca, to the degree that it still pumps me up driving down Magnolia Lane." - Jack Nicklaus

This is how golfing legends speak, uttering words that grab us by the soul. On Thursday next, one of golf's legends will bid farewell to the US Masters, but, ironically enough, not for the first time. Two years ago, in 2002, in the 66th Masters, Arnold Palmer was so disgusted with a first-round 89 that, when he'd finished, he confided in those around him there would be no more, that he had reached the end.

I remember the scene the next day, on that Friday, as Arnie, a silver-haired old man with his memories of the past, moved from the practice putting green towards the first tee.

A hush descended and, then, a Pinkerton security man started to clap, and so did everyone around, and the spontaneous outpouring of emotion grew so loud it caused those players over on the ninth green to pause.

Vijay Singh stopped examining his line and cast a glance over and a grin crossed his face as he realised what was happening. By the time the security men and the FBI men had escorted Arnold Palmer from the putting green to the tee, the noise resembled the sort of din associated with someone holing a winning putt on the final green on Masters Sunday.

The men in green jackets shook his hand, and his playing partners - the young amateur Robert Hamilton and Japan's Toru Taniguchi - felt they were privileged to be sharing the moment with the man himself.

Arnie's army of fans - young and old - gave him a rousing farewell, the man of the people waved and appeared to wipe away a tear or two before hitting off the first tee in competition for what we thought would be the final time at Augusta National.

The previous day, he had four-putted the first green. For much of that stretch, his score was one bogey followed by another, an all too familiar tale of a once-great player. It was a round that saw him go triple bogey-double bogey-double bogey to finish his front nine. It was a round that produced the kind of golf for which Palmer should not be remembered.

Afterwards, Palmer - a four-time Masters champion - talked of his favourite memories. They included the embedded ball ruling that sparked his first victory in 1958 (and controversially brought up again in a recent book, Getting Up & Down: My 60 years in Golf by Ken Venturi); the defiant chip-in on the 16th to win again in 1964; the premature celebration and shaking hands with spectators by the 18th tee in 1961 before he double-bogeyed that final hole to lose to Gary Player; and the day he first walked the course in 1955 and knew that he would love the place.

Not since 1983 has Palmer made a cut at the Masters, and yet the aura of the man survives. But, to observers, it was increasingly obvious that Palmer, who came back to shoot 89-87 in 1999 after battling prostate cancer, was not able to conquer the Augusta National course any longer.

Rather than waiting for a letter asking him to step aside, he initially made the move himself.

Ironically, his supposed final farewell in 2002 was postponed into the weekend, after a weather front closed in and caused play to be suspended. At the time, it seemed as if the golfing gods were having their say, letting Arnie play on the weekend at the Masters for one final time.

Then, the man, as legends are entitled to do, changed his mind, and decided to play another year. He played last year, and missed the cut. Palmer shot rounds of 83, 83 and finished 90th of 93 starters. This year is his 50th consecutive time to play in the Masters and this time, for sure, it will be his last. Definitely.

"The jig is up, this will be my final Masters as a competitor," insisted Palmer. "I don't think of it as retiring on my own terms, I just think it is time. You know it is time to quit when you look at the gallery and you either know them all by their first name or they're a relative."

Palmer will always be indelibly linked with the Masters, a tournament he won four times. Yet, the link was forged even before he played there for the first time in 1955. As the son of a greenkeeper growing up in Pennsylvania, Palmer read about Bobby Jones's career and still counts Jones's Down The Fairway as being among the most influential books he's ever read.

It convinced Palmer he wanted to pattern his career after Jones. He received his first invite to play the year after winning the US National Amateur title in 1954 and, as he drove down Magnolia Lane for the first time, he told his late wife Winnie that it was "like a slice of heaven".

It was at Augusta the Palmer legend came to life. Palmer became golf's populist hero. He made golf passionate and Augusta National his theatre.

When he won the Masters for the first time in 1958, Jones was among those following him. "He was sort of the witness to the whole thing that happened at Augusta. I was thrilled to have him watching. I was flattered."

Yet, that win of 1958 has been rehashed by Venturi. In his book, Venturi claims that Palmer broke the rules - the allegation is that a drop Palmer took behind the 12th green was illegal. Palmer sought relief from an embedded ball, but the rules official declined his request that he was entitled to a free drop.

"Palmer announced that he would be playing two balls. He made double bogey playing the embedded ball, then returned to the location, took a drop and saved par. The rules allow golfers to play a second ball when a dispute arises, but they are to announce their intention before 'any further action'."

Venturi says Palmer decided to play a second ball only after taking double bogey.

In the Masters Journal, Palmer explains the situation from his perspective. "My tee shot carried over the green and, due to heavy rains that had softened the ground, embedded in the fringe.

"I sought out tournament official Arthur Lacey and informed him that under the wet-weather rules we were supposed to be playing, I intended to take relief without penalty. I informed him I would play two balls and let the tournament rules committee make a decision.

"A poor chip out of the buried lie yielded a costly double bogey. Then, returning to the original spot, I accepted a ball from my caddie, Nathaniel 'Ironman' Avery, and chipped the second ball to within three feet of the cup and sank the putt for par. I suspect there were thousands witnessing the drama who believed they were watching Arnie Palmer play his way out of Bobby Jones's tournament. But I knew the rule and I knew I was right.

"Confirmation of that, however, didn't come until the par-five 15th when I was invited to huddle briefly with the rules committee and informed they collectively had decided in my favour."

Palmer's fourth and last Masters win came in 1964, his fourth title in seven years. "The desire to win again was always there in spades and even remains today . . . you'll see that I am trying as hard as ever to give a good account of myself.

"Frankly, I would love nothing better than to put it all together once more and make it to the weekend, just for old times' sake."

Unless the rain god interferes, it is unlikely Palmer will get to play into the weekend. One way or another, though, the 2004 US Masters will be remembered as his swansong. Definitely, this time for sure.

Palmer and The Masters

Masters won: Four (1958, '60, '62, '64).

Rounds played: 149 (including play-off win in 1962).

Rounds under par: 42 (including play-off in 1962).

Total strokes taken: 11,012.

Scoring average: 74.36.

Low round: 66 (1962)

Palmer's Tournament Records

Most starts: 49.

Most consecutive starts: 49.

Sub-70 rounds in one Masters: Three (tied with 21 others).

Most times leading after 54 holes: Five (tied with Jack Nicklaus).

Records in The Masters

Most wins: 6 Jack Nicklaus.

Youngest winner: 21 Tiger Woods.

Oldest winner: 46 Jack Nicklaus.

Low round: 63 Nick Price, Greg Norman.

Low total: 270 Tiger Woods.

Biggest win: 12 Tiger Woods.

Low front nine: 30 Johnny Miller, Greg Norman.

Low back nine: 29 Mark Calcavecchia, David Toms.

High winning score: 289 Sam Snead, Jack Burke.

Best last day comeback: 8 shots Jack Burke

High total: 340 Charles Kunkle.

Most birdies: 500 Jack Nicklaus.

Most birdies in a tournament: 25 Phil Mickelson.

Lowest cut: 145.

Highest cut: 154.

Most attempts before win: 15 Mark O'Meara.

Wire-to-wire winners: Craig Wood, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Raymond Floyd.