Arnold Palmer, who died yesterday aged 87, was a kind of father figure of golf for the generation that grew up with television. Golf had big names before him but he, perhaps more than any of them, thanks to television, gave golf its character in the public eye. Those early programmes involving Palmer, Nicklaus, Player and others, established the professionalism of golf's leading exponents as public figures. The boom that golf enjoyed worldwide in the era that began with Palmer, Nicklaus and their ilk appears to be fading. But with legends like Arnold Palmer, golf will always attract good people.

Source: New Zealand Herald September 26, 2016 15:56 UTC