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Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient Arnold Palmer
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Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient Arnold Palmer
Recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom Arnold Palmer compares golf grips with President George W. Bush before receiving his award in the East Room of the White House on June 23, 2004.
11distinguished individuals to receive Medal of Freedom at the White House
Arnold Palmer
President George W. Bush will award the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor on Wednesday June 23, 2004, to Mormon Church President Gordon B. Hinckley, actress Doris Day, golfer Arnold Palmer, politician Edward Brooke, historian Vartan Gregorian, National Geographic Society Chairman Gilbert Grosvenor, cosmetics mogul Estee Lauder, actress Rita Moreno, ophthalmology researcher Arnall Patz, journalist Norman Podhoretz and economist and banker Walter Wriston the White House announced Friday.
They will join Pope John Paul II and journalist Robert Bartley as 2004 recipients.
President Truman established the award in 1945 to honor civilian contributions during World War II. It was reinstated by President Kennedy in 1963 to recognize distinguished peacetime service. The medal has been conferred on roughly 400 individuals since its introduction.
Bush will present the medals at a White House ceremony on Wednesday, although the president delivered the award to the pope during a visit to the Vatican earlier this month.
Honorees are recommended to the president by a Distinguished Civilian Service Awards Board. Past recipients include former presidents, astronauts, entertainers, scientists, religious leaders and victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Arnold Palmer's Coast Guard Golf Career
EXEMPT STATUS: 75 or more All-Time Victories
FULL NAME: Arnold Palmer
HEIGHT: 5-10
WEIGHT: 185
BIRTHDATE: September 10, 1929
BIRTHPLACE: Latrobe, PA
RESIDENCE: Latrobe, PA; Bay Hill, FL
FAMILY: Peggy (2/26/56), Amy (8/4/58); seven grandchildren
EDUCATION: Wake Forest University
SPECIAL INTERESTS: Flying, business, clubmaking
TURNED PROFESSIONAL: 1954
JOINED TOUR: 1980
U.S. President George W. Bush jokes with golf legend Arnold Palmer before presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civil award, to Palmer 23 June 2004 at the White House in Washington, DC. Palmer, who has won 92 golf championships -- including four Masters, two British Opens, and the U.S. Open -- has been the inspiration behind "Arnie's Army," entertaining generations of fans and helping secure golf's place in the mainstream of American sport.
PGA TOUR Victories
(62) 1955 Canadian Open. 1956 Insurance City Open, Eastern Open. 1957 Houston Open, Azalea Open Invitational, Rubber City Open Invitational, San Diego Open Invitational. 1958 St. Petersburg Open Invitational, Masters Tournament, Pepsi Championship. 1959 Thunderbird Invitational, Oklahoma City Open Invitational, West Palm Beach Open Invitational. 1960 Palm Springs Desert Golf Classic, Texas Open Invitational, Baton Rouge Open Invitational, Pensacola Open Invitational, Masters Tournament, U.S. Open Championship, Insurance City Open Invitational, Mobile Sertoma Open Invitational. 1961 San Diego Open Invitational, Phoenix Open Invitational, Baton Rouge Open Invitational, Texas Open Invitational, Western Open, British Open Championship. 1962 Palm Springs Golf Classic, Phoenix Open Invitational, Masters Tournament, Texas Open Invitational, Tournament of Champions, Colonial National Invitation Tournament, British Open Championship, American Golf Classic. 1963 Los Angeles Open, Phoenix Open Invitational, Pensacola Open Invitational, Thunderbird Classic Invitational, Cleveland Open Invitational, Western Open, Whitemarsh Open Invitational. 1964 Masters Tournament, Oklahoma City Open Invitational. 1965 Tournament of Champions. 1966 Los Angeles Open, Tournament of Champions, Houston Champions International. 1967 Los Angeles Open, Tucson Open Invitational, American Golf Classic, Thunderbird Classic. 1968 Bob Hope Desert Classic, Kemper Open. 1969 Heritage Golf Classic, Danny Thomas-Diplomat Classic. 1970 National Four-Ball Championship. 1971 Bob Hope Desert Classic, Florida Citrus Invitational, Westchester Classic, National Team Championship. 1973 Bob Hope Desert Classic.
Champions Tour Victories
(10) 1980 PGA Seniors' Championship. 1981 U.S. Senior Open. 1982 Marlboro Classic, Denver Post Champions of Golf. 1983 Boca Grove Classic. 1984 General Foods PGA Seniors' Championship, Senior Tournament Players Championship, Quadel Senior Classic. 1985 Senior Tournament Players Championship. 1988 Crestar Classic.
International Victories
1984 Doug Sanders Celebrity Pro-Am. 1986 Union Mutual Classic. 1990 Senior Skins Game. 1992 Senior Skins Game. 1993 Senior Skins Game.
Other Victories
1954 U.S. Amateur. 1955 Panama Open, Colombia Open. 1963 Australian Wills Masters Tournament. 1964 Piccadilly World Match Play Championship. 1966 Australian Open, PGA Team Championship [with Jack Nicklaus]. 1967 Piccadilly World Match Play Championship, World Cup [indiv]. 1971 Lancome Trophy. 1975 Spanish Open, British PGA Championship. 1980 Canadian PGA Championship. TEAM VICTORIES: 1960 Canada Cup [with Sam Snead]. 1962 Canada Cup [with Sam Snead]. 1963 Canada Cup [with Jack Nicklaus]. 1964 Canada Cup [with Jack Nicklaus]. 1966 Canada Cup [with Jack Nicklaus]. 1966 PGA Team Championship [with Jack Nicklaus]. 1967 World Cup [with Jack Nicklaus].
Current Year Champions Tour Money and Positions
$19,311 (126)
Current Year Best Champions Tour Finishes
Current Year PGA TOUR Best Round
83 at Round 1, Masters Tournament, at Round 2, Masters Tournament
Current Year Champions Tour Best Round
73 at Round 1, MasterCard Championship, at Round 1, Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf, at Round 1, SBC Championship
Current Year Champions Tour Highlights
Matched his age three times (seventh, eighth and ninth times in his career) and also bettered his age (second time in his career) in nine appearances during the campaign...Shot one better than his age in the opening round of the SBC Championship when he carded a 73. Later matched his age in the same event when he closed with a 74 in San Antonio...Earlier in the year he had matched his age with an opening-round 73 at the MasterCard Championship in Hawaii and a first-round 73 at the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf in Savannah, GA...Remained the only player to have competed in every U.S. Senior Open when he made his 23rd consecutive appearance in the tournament at the Inverness Club in Toledo...Made two starts on the PGA TOUR, including the Bay Hill Invitational and a record-tying 49th appearance at the Masters.
Best PGA TOUR Finishes
1--1955 Canadian Open. 1956 Insurance City Open, Eastern Open. 1957 Houston Open, Azalea Open Invitational, Rubber City Open Invitational, San Diego Open Invitational. 1958 St. Petersburg Open Invitational, Masters Tournament, Pepsi Championship. 1959 Thunderbird Invitational, Oklahoma City Open Invitational, West Palm Beach Open Invitational. 1960 Palm Springs Desert Golf Classic, Texas Open Invitational, Baton Rouge Open Invitational, Pensacola Open Invitational, Masters Tournament, U.S. Open Championship, Insurance City Open Invitational, Mobile Sertoma Open Invitational. 1961 San Diego Open Invitational, Phoenix Open Invitational, Baton Rouge Open Invitational, Texas Open Invitational, Western Open, British Open Championship. 1962 Palm Springs Golf Classic, Phoenix Open Invitational, Masters Tournament, Texas Open Invitational, Tournament of Champions, Colonial National Invitation Tournament, British Open Championship, American Golf Classic. 1963 Los Angeles Open, Phoenix Open Invitational, Pensacola Open Invitational, Thunderbird Classic Invitational, Cleveland Open Invitational, Western Open, Whitemarsh Open Invitational. 1964 Masters Tournament, Oklahoma City Open Invitational. 1965 Tournament of Champions. 1966 Los Angeles Open, Tournament of Champions, Houston Champions International. 1967 Los Angeles Open, Tucson Open Invitational, American Golf Classic, Thunderbird Classic. 1968 Bob Hope Desert Classic, Kemper Open. 1969 Heritage Golf Classic, Danny Thomas-Diplomat Classic. 1970 National Four-Ball Championship. 1971 Bob Hope Desert Classic, Florida Citrus Invitational, Westchester Classic, National Team Championship. 1973 Bob Hope Desert Classic.
Best Champions Tour Finishes
1--1980 PGA Seniors' Championship. 1981 U.S. Senior Open. 1982 Marlboro Classic, Denver Post Champions of Golf. 1983 Boca Grove Classic. 1984 General Foods PGA Seniors' Championship, Senior Tournament Players Championship, Quadel Senior Classic. 1985 Senior Tournament Players Championship. 1988 Crestar Classic.
Best 2002 Champions Tour Finishes
T70--Uniting Fore Care Classic Presented by Novell
2002 Season PGA TOUR
Tournaments Entered--3; in money--; Top 10 finishes--0
2002 Season Champions Tour
Tournaments Entered--8; in money--6; Top 10 finishes--0
2002 Season Highlights
Career Highlights
2002: Matched his age in the final round of the Napa Valley Championship when he shot a 1-over 73. It was the first time he shot his age since opening with a 1-under 71 at the 2001 Senior PGA Championship at Ridgewood CC in New Jersey. Accomplishment in Napa made him the eighth and final player to shoot or better his age on the Champions Tour during the season...Made three starts on the PGA TOUR, including his record 48th consecutive appearance at the Masters. 2001: Became just the third player in PGA TOUR history to shoot his age when he fired a 1-under-par 71 in the fourth round of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic...Shot his age again on the Champions Tour when he opened with another 1-under-par 71 in May at the Senior PGA Championship at Ridgewood CC in New Jersey. 2000: Reached a milestone in July when he played his 1,000th TOUR event at The Instinet Classic...Bettered his age for the first time when he fired a 3-under-par 69 in the second round of the FleetBoston Classic. One week earlier had matched his age with a final-round 70 at the Novell Utah Showdown, the first time he had shot his age since posting a final-round 66 at the 1995 GTE Northwest Classic. Also matched his age with a 71 at the Vantage Championship. Joined Jack Nicklaus and Byron Nelson as the first recipients of the Payne Stewart Award presented at the The TOUR Championship. 1997: Underwent surgery for prostate cancer in mid-January and made his first start after the surgery at the PGA TOUR's Bay Hill Invitational in late March. 1996: Captained the United States team to victory in the Presidents Cup near Washington. 1995: Shot his age for the first time in the final round of the GTE Northwest Classic in Seattle, carding a 66 on his birthday...Made triumphant return to St. Andrews for his final British Open appearance on the 35th anniversary of his first Open Championship in 1960. 1994: Played in his last U.S. Open at Oakmont CC near Pittsburgh, 40 years after competing in his first one. 1993: Pocketed $190,000 at the Senior Skins Game and was the event's leading money-winner for a second straight year...Was the designated honoree at The Memorial at Muirfield Village. 1992: Racked up $205,000 in winning the Senior Skins Game at Mauna Lani...Carded the 16th hole-in-one of his career, and last in competition, in the opening round of the GTE Northwest Classic. 1988: Had his finest earnings year as a Champions Tour player, placing 17th on the final money list with $185,373...Recorded his last official win near Richmond, claiming the Crestar Classic title in wire-to-wire fashion by four strokes over Lee Elder, Larry Mowry and Jim Ferree. 1986: Made holes-in-one on consecutive days at the par-3 third hole at the TPC at Avenel during the Chrysler Cup pro-am competition, a first for a professional player. 1985: Ran away from the field with an 11-shot win at the Senior Tournament Players Championship at Canterbury GC near Cleveland, and established an all-time record for largest margin of victory, not broken until Hale Irwin's 12-shot win at the 1997 PGA Seniors' Championship. 1984: His three victories during the campaign were the most in any single season of his Champions Tour career and marked the first time since 1971 that he claimed a trio of titles in a year...Won a pair of Champions Tour major championships: the PGA Seniors' Championship by two strokes over Don January, and the Senior Tournament Players Championship where he bested Peter Thomson by three shots...Also edged Orville Moody and Lee Elder by one at the Quadel Seniors Classic near the end of the campaign. 1983: Ended a 15-month victory drought by capturing the season-ending Boca Grove Senior Classic. 1982: Collected a pair of titles, the first coming at the Marlboro Classic by four strokes over Billy Casper and Bob Rosburg...Added the Denver Post Champions of Golf title when he held off Bob Goalby by a stroke. 1981: Became the first player to claim both a U.S. Open and U.S. Senior Open title with his playoff victory over Bob Stone and Billy Casper at Oakland Hills CC near Detroit. 1980: Playoff victory over Paul Harney at the PGA Seniors' Championship made him the first of only 10 men to claim the first official Champions Tour event he entered...Debuted on the circuit at the unofficial World Seniors Invitational, finishing as runner-up to Gene Littler in Charlotte.
Personal
Maintains an active business schedule with golf course design, construction and development...A pilot of considerable renown, he once held one world aviation record and was the first person to receive a Citation X aircraft off the production line. Got a newer version of the Citation X just prior to this year's Verizon Classic in February...Chairman of the Board of The Golf Channel...Collaborated with Jack Nicklaus on The King and Bear Course at the World Golf Village that opened in November 2000.
PGA TOUR Playoff Record
14-10
Champions Tour Playoff Record
2-1 Golf Web
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Medal History
