Legend’s Advice-Fairways of Life w Matt Adams-Wed March 6

Matt Adams is joined by PGA Tour Legend and 2x Major Champ Dave Stockton as they discuss the Ryder Cup, Putting and his thoughts on LIV Golf. Plus we hear from The King himself, Arnold Palmer as we play a portion of his final long form interview from 2016 before his passing.

Welcome to the most listened to golf in the world the fairways of Life show on air on online and around the world with the most candid interviews Unforgettable stories taking you beyond the ropes here’s your host New York Times bestselling author Matt abam absolute Delight to have your company folks hope

You guys are doing well we are joined again today with an absolute legend in the game of golf a multiple time major Champion a person that very much has defined the game of golf as we know it today what’s interesting when I state it that way is the different ways that this

Individual has impacted the game of golf I’ll go through some of the CV for you to decide for yourself a 10 time winner on the PGA tour as I mentioned a two-time major Champion uh twice representing the United States and Ryder Cup team this person this is when I give

It away you know who it is right was the 1991 captain of the United States figh Cup team yes I am talking about Dave Stockton to just tell you a little bit more about his resume he was a winner 25 times amongst the professional ranks 10

Of those as I mentioned on the PGA tour the 1970 PGA Championship was his so too was the 1976 PGA Championship he was a runnerup at the Masters in 1974 he was a runner-up at the US Open in 1978 he had eight major championship top 10 to his

Credit those Ridder Cup teams 1971 and 1977 14 PGA Tour Champions wins he’s a three-time senior major Champion 599 PGA Tour starts to his credit 436 PGA Tour Champion starts to his credit for 1,35 career starts and he had 128 top five combined finishes within that think about that as a percentage

Already that is pretty darn good and it’s always great to have the company of Dave Stockton hello Mr Stockton how you feeling my friends good to see you I’m doing good Matt great to be with you been a while let let me if you would start first of all with the putting and

You and I have spoken about this in public forums we’ve spoken about this in private forums a million times over the years and to the point that that you usually get a little bit exasperated with me because I’m trying to find the secret to putting where you

Usually tell me the secret to putting is to not try are you still going to tell me the same thing yes uh absolutely I mean if you try you’re going to take more time you see it every week I mean I mean I see it

In guys that I used to work with and the way we’ve always taught and you well know it is I want to teach you so you can teach yourself I I don’t want you to have to take lessons all the time I want you to go out and enjoy the game and for

Some reason or other people tend to if it’s an important putt or something’s really important to them they’re going to take more time and they think trying hard hard is going to unlock it and trying harder just locks you up and that’s why the boys and I have called

Our our method the you know the the signature approach to putting and we have you sign your signature takes about three or 4 seconds then we ask you to see the signature you just signed your own signature and take 15 to 20 seconds and make it exactly the same well they

Can’t even do the first letter because as soon as you try you stiffen up and I I you know I always relate it to other sports you know somebody the shooting pool isn’t going to step up beside the Q ball and practice stroke for five or six

Times you get the feeli and step in behind it but a golfer does takes these stroke practice strokes he thinks is really important gets the putter behind the ball and now that thing dies for most people there are a few people that putt fast like I do just let it go it’s

Either going to go in or it’s not going to go in and if you try it isn’t going to work is that the reason why you’ve been promoting for years don’t take a practice swing Step Up trust your instinct and go I did just see a recent

Report an expert came out and said well if you take a practice swing you’re 95% less likely to make the putt from there but you’ve been saying this simple message forever yeah oh yeah no I mean some people there’s fast players uh I’m fast Lanny Watkins was fast there’s slower

Players like Jack that you know get set tiger in the middle somewhere um but I always felt that if you had an opportunity you would try to go a little bit quicker and Let It Go not a fast stroke or anything but just your process if if you’re throwing a

Dart at a at a at a board you’re looking at the bullseye the bullseye for a putter is the the P the hole in the green the where the holes cut I mean you look at it how many things it’s not it’s not calculus it’s it’s not it’s not that

Serious it’s not cancer nothing like that pick your line and let it go and if you expect to make it if you stand behind the ball as you walk into it and you can see where it’s going to fall in the hole whether it’s coming in at 4:00

Or 7 o’clock if it’s breaking right whatever if you see that you got a good chance of making it but most people don’t even see it they try to get it over with because they they don’t feel comfortable putting and a lot of times it’s their routine or a lot of times

It’s a putter that doesn’t fit them I mean there’s all various things and and Matt the one thing that you get to in the end is the fact that our job my job and the boys job as instructors is to look at you and figure out how to make

You comfortable speed you up slow you down more practice strokes less practice strokes maybe anuka is a great example anuka had to have a practice stroke and finally I got her where she’d take the practice strokes behind the ball looking down the line at the hole as she took

How many of her practice strokes she wanted but when she walked into it it was a flowing motion she let the putter go and she well the two years prior to us working she’d won twice in the 18 months after we worked she’ won 10 uh

What’ she win she won like 18 times I mean she was unbelievable uh all because of a little setup change so you never know I mean you go into all sorts of people Weiss scoff when he came out and played the Legends tournament with me and Johnny

Miller up in Minnesota and he first time he played and he was all excited and everything and he asked me what did I tell people when I explained putting and tried to teach I said well it’s all different Tom because we we tell every we don’t have a set method and and I

Said by the way are you talking about other people are you talking about yourself and it was comical look at me and he goes me and I said okay I’ve wanted to tell you this for 40 years when you put you put your second finger of your left hand down covering all your

Right hand because you want the left hand to go in reality that creates tension and you can’t there’s no way you’re going to go through you’re just going to stop your left hand finger down or not and so I just told him I just overlap the one finger so I get feel

There’s no tension and I had him putt first because I didn’t want him to watch Johnny’s pract you know Johnny putts and his his stroke is not the world’s greatest one of the ball best ball strer I ever played with but not necessarily putting and white Scott putted first he made 11

Birdies and finished the round he said he said why didn’t you tell me this 40 years ago and I said well why in the heck didn’t you help me with my golf swing for years and we and we had a good laugh together because you know if somebody

Asked me something I was going I want them to play the best they could play I didn’t care who they were but I you know and many times during around when I shouldn’t have I should have been penalized I’d say when we get through I want to help you with something well

Within a hole they’re going to say well now what are you going to tell me after the round and so here I am in the middle of competition telling somebody something that’s going to help him or hurt him but at least for the holes I

Watched him I’ll know by the end of the round whether it did help and so will he so uh it’s it’s been a neat journey I mean I’ve I’ve enjoyed the competition immensely I’m very competitive person obviously but uh The Knack and the way my dad taught me uh and I didn’t know

That Alex Morrison was the one that taught him in the 30s until know 27 years after dad died and Matt Rudy and I wrote The Putting book together in 2010 and when I read this book that was written in 1940 it was still viable in

2010 the long game portion of it the 12 120 of 140 Pages wasn’t but the putting was still 95% because nobody’s figured it out yet they figured out the long game as you watch the guys play now but still you see the difficulty on the putting greens and it is

A lot of what you said it’s all this taking and taking time and trying it it’s absolutely fascinating because when when you think about what Dave Stockton is telling us here folks and think about the greatest ball Strikers in the world today and think about how many of those

Great ball Strikers struggle when it comes to putting he said they still haven’t figured it out he has we’re going to continue with Dave Stockton right after this the fairways of Life show is presented in part by the PGA TOUR Superstore the number one golf retailer in the land because of their

Big beautiful stores yes where if you need it you can find it within but I think it’s their people that make the true difference they are professionals you can shop with the pros at your happy place relax easy now find your happy place it’s all in the

Hips just tap it in yes find the latest clubs in apparel at golf’s happy place the PGA TOUR Superstore in Ireland golf is more than just a game come and experience our world famous Lynx courses and our world famous Parkland courses all set alongside world famous scenery and visit

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We’ve ever made they go higher and farther than any iron that I have hit to date and they’re so easy to hit super excited for the consumer to try these they’re going to love them pxg nobody makes golf clubs the way we do period baseball nah football done it I think

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The game’s Masters including Robert Trent Jones Senor Arthur Hills and Donald Ross from the all-inclusive vacation package is Elite instruction with the boing Golf Academy tournaments and so much more boing golf truly offers an unrivaled Michigan golf vacation experience just log on to boing Golf.com welcome back to the fairways of Life show pleasure have your company this week of the Palmer Invitational Our Guest today is Dave Stockton Legend I mentioned to you that Dave Stockton was second at the 1974 Masters he ended up finishing it was a tie for second but

He ended up finishing Two Strokes behind Gary Player he won the 1970 PGA Championship at Southern Hills in Tulsa and that was by a two-stroke victory over Bob Murphy and Arnold Palmer he won the 1976 PGH championship at Congressional that was by one stroke and that was over Don January and Raymond

Floyd if you’re noticing a trend here it’s Legends wo through he was uh tied for second at the 1978 US Open 2 at Cherry Hills Country Club a classic and legendary venue that was by one stroke over Andy North when you were captain of the 1991 United States Ridder Cup team

And your famous victory at Kia Island do you think that that Ridder cup changed the course of every Ridder cup that has followed was that the beginning of something new uh maybe it’s the first time it played out because we we hadn’t had the cup back in six years and four years

Prior to that when Nicholas got beat on his own golf course in mirfield due to his own fault I mean he was the one that pursued this thing of okay we Great Britain and Ireland were kind of getting them every time and when I played in 71 and 77 it was basically a

Foregone conclusion uh under J Bar and and St Louis and then with under D feral and live them in St an’s in 77 uh and all of a sudden Jack has this vision and Jacqueline played a part in it I’m sure uh we’ll play Europe we’ll play you know Great Britain and Ireland

And Europe put them all together and all of a sudden it was it was an even Steven and it should have been if we play here we should be favored and if you play over there and you’ve seen it in the last two you saw us win at Whistling Straits under Steve Stricker’s

Leadership and then we go over there and play in in Rome uh phenomenal venue great job but it was almost no matter what Zack Johnson did the Europeans were destined to win and I would not be betting on the Europeans to succeed at at uh when we come back to Best Page

Black here in two years so it it’s it’s been a yes yes Kia was important because uh Jack loses and then Raymond ties did had a hell of a job but L tied two years prior to we had seen the cup in six years and now we got it back and it was

Very close obviously it would not have been close if we hadn’t had the limo wreck and I would have been able to play Steve Pate the whole time but you never know I mean it’s amazing how tight these things are and uh I think it changed it

I I think one of the ones that really affected it and you know I been a part of four Ridder cups two I played one that I captain the other that asinger honored Me by picking me as an assistant captain at Val Halland 2008 which I still think is probably the best

Captaining job that I have ever seen because he he changed the number of people that you could pick to be on your team the number of uh help you could get on the course he had have three help and he had this pod system of separating him

Into three or fourman pods and it totally exposed falo at that time in 2008 so it’s progressed uh I’m very I was very proud to well when I you know when I first got the captaincy I thought I was going to be doing a PGA West in

California only to find out because of financial reasons and they were going to televis it’s going to be the first wall to–all television of of a Ryder Cup in the America and uh they had to have it on the East Coast you’d have the time

Zone in Europe be able to be you know watching this uh unfold so we go to a course that nobody has seen and uh it was an unbelievable venue and uh Kathy and I were just honored to be picked picked to do it uh it’s it’s the highlight of my career I

Mean they raised the flag and you play for it and I’m very proud of the fact that I’ve participated in four Ridder cups and I’ve never been on a losing team unfortunately there are not many Americans that could say that now when when Lanny was on with us recently he

Alluded to a mentality a kind of good old boys network where a players wanted to be with their friends in the locker room instead of perhaps maybe getting picking having a mechanism where the best players hottest players at the moment are playing on the team regardless of whether you go out to

Dinner with them or not do you think that that might be an accurate depiction of making an a United States team regardless of which side of the pond they’re playing on stronger I I would hope so there was a there was a quartet of guys myself included that every time we

Saw each other we talked about the Ryder Cup and what we would do if and when we were captain and that happened to be Payne Stewart Lanny Watkins myself and Paul ainger and a lot of great things came out of the discussions we had and I

Profiled my team I can’t speak for the other players I I I know Cory paven who followed me uh basically came up and uh you know coming up when he was accepted to be the writer Cup captain later on in the 2000s he he said to me well I’m just going to

Make a few changes I said oh I know what it was it was right after raising her because I said Corey don’t do anything to you talk to Paul because Paul got this completely correct and Paul did his to Ron Brun uh I used Deborah Graham but

I profiled every player so I knew and as Paul said to me he said I can’t talk to Phil Mickelson the way I talked to Anthony Kim uh I mean you you’ve got to you got to make your message fit the person and that’s what in personalities

Guys want to play with their friends but that’s not necessarily the best way because it it you lead we’ve we’ve seen some where you put two superstars together and they just don’t mesh and it’s just it’s a it’s a funny way to do it but I I spent a year and a half

Profiling by players and having a good feel and grasp with who is going to play the best and some of them didn’t expect to play where I put them but every one of them performed really well Dave 86 men have two or more major championships only

86 every opportunity that I have when I talk about the World Golf Hall of Fame my message is always the same put in Dave Stockton a multiple time major Champion a rider successful Rider Cup captain what you have given back to the game on the putting inside alone is

Immeasurable how does it impact you when you think about your career and your life and the fact that you’re not in the Golf Hall and I’m bringing it up because you brought it up earlier in this show are there any thoughts uh relative to that now well there there’s hurt involved uh

Because I I think I have accomplished enough just barely you know right on the screen there you list 10 PGA wins I actually had 11 at least for 15 years after the second term I ever won the same year in ‘ 67 as Colonial I won with Lori Hammer my good friend from

University of Florida and we won at lacasta Travino was in the field it was an alternate shot event and for 15 years the tour counted it and then all of a sudden they don’t count it but now they play an alternate shot event in New Orleans and they’re counting it as

Official again so I’m I’m confused by that but I’m on the minimum when you only have that many wins uh the majors yes I have enough major wins and stuff and I’ve done other things and I I but I I would have been much safer if I had

Have won 18 or 20 but then I would have given up a lot of the corporate outing and the intermixing with people that I knew I was growing the game by doing uh I mean I still played a full schedule gez the first year on this Champions Tour I played I think

30 I don’t know exactly but I’m going to say it was between 32 and 35 events and you alluded to the fact most of those were top five because it’s a smaller field and I got the field back my game back uh but I don’t know it it’s it’s to

Me it’s like I never could figure out why Lanny uh why Larry Nelson was not a Ridder Cup captain I mean under no circumstances somebody blackballed him and I I feel really bad because he and Gail deserve to have the advantage to lead the American team to Victory I he’s

The most successful Ridder cup player I’ve ever seen three Majors to credit to the PGA and the PGA is the one that picked in that time who the captains were so yeah there there’s some regrets I mean I think the other people my my family and stuff it means more to them

It’s not going to mean as much when I’m gone and if I’m not in but uh there’s nothing you can do about it I mean I’m I’m happy with what I’ve done and uh I’m glad that I can still at 82 be active because I feel like I’m active I don’t

Feel 82 and we just keep going on yeah it’s incredible that the amount of of energy that you have uh being that this is the week of the Arnold Palmer Invitational to wrap up here today I wonder if because you played against him throughout the heart and your Prime of

Your of your prowess why is Arnold Palmer so important to the game of golf because he endorsed the people he embraced the people uh uh it goes through all of our lines minds of the one major okay I’m going to be the next Arnold Palmer or I’ll be the

Next Jack NE or something well in Arnold’s case Arnold’s the one you wanted to be and then all of a sudden you’d watch him and how he interacted with the fans and he can give all this time and I see a lot of that in the younger guys some of the younger guys

Get it for sure but there’s so many they’re very stoic and they don’t it’s like it’s an office to them and it is our office I mean that’s where we do our work but you got you got to enjoy it as you go and there’s nothing Arnold didn’t

Enjoy some of the greatest pictures in fact the outing that we just just completed in Indian Wells we went to the Arnold Palmer Restaurant in linaa and we sat in the Palmer room all his memorabilia I I had I had to smile inwardly because he has four four trophies along the back

Wall of this he’s got the British Open he’s got the US Open he’s got the Masters and he’s got the United States amateur what he’s missing is what I have two of and that was the PGA trophy especially the one that I when I beat him the first time at Southern Hills in

Tulsa in 70 and Kathy’s eight months pregnant with Ronnie and uh she never left the clubhouse and I’m out there trying to compete against him with not one person in that Gallery rooting for me I don’t think because if Arnold wins he wins the Grand Slam and it’s a little

Bit like Rory coming into Augusta needing the Grand Slam he’s got to win The Masters Arnold needed to win the PGA and he came close in 68 when Boris beat him and then I was lucky enough to stay ahead of him at his Southern Hills but

The feeling you get from him he was so kind to everybody he wasn’t when you played with him he was tough I tell you one thing Matt when you played with him you sure as hell didn’t mark your golf ball because Arnold if he put it out those

People were gone and and you got all this confusion trying to make your two or three footer or four-f footer whatever you had left I always put it out you know it was it it was just that what you learn when you play with some

Of these guys you got to learn what they do so you can handle the pressure that surrounds them amazing if you could go back in time with everything that’s going on in the game right now if you could go back in time would you want to be playing golf right now Dave Stockton

Or would you trade it or would you keep the time period in which you competed oh my God no I would I would I would not change anything and even some of the guys that preceded us they didn’t play for any money I mean I’m watching now if

If on some of these elevated events the guy that finishes third is going to make more money because I made a million s and in 27 years of playing on tour including 74 when I won three times uh La Quad Cities and the Sammy Davis Hartford and finished six on the money

List and I had $160,000 so when you’re looking down the rankings and who you think was good and who you think was bad I look at a couple of different things that that is important to me is the fact that I got to play at a great time I won some

Courses the list alone to me is so impressive to have won at Riviera and Colonial and Firestone and Congressional uh canterberry Cherry Hills I mean I’ve played well at a lot of these great great golf courses short long and then in between so yeah I I I

Have no regrets on that and I know I played in the right time this live is from a monkey wrench in into this whole thing and and now we discover who’s going to play for money why are they playing I mean I don’t know how you need that much money

But I would rather hold a PGA Trophy and a master’s trophy or a colon trophy from Colonial than play a three-day proam and think I want to get world ranking points playing against the select field and so I’m sitting here watching the tour now and I watch I I’m hoping he’s a relative

This Jake nap because my middle my mother’s made name was nap and that’s my middle name and I have no idea if I’m related to this guy but he’s got a first now and a a great finish there at Bay Hill this last week or not Bay Hill at

West Palm and I I’m excited as heck the amateur the one out here at Palm Springs in the American Express uh it’s I think it’s in a it’s I think the golf is in a great spot with the exception of Greg Norman having this desire for a world

Tour based on how much money we pay you and not where the titles are I mean I don’t I don’t get it but and if it’s hurt go there’s no question about it and the sad part about it it has really hurt the the the function of the JC

Tournaments let’s say like Greensboro or Hartford or the John Deere all of them are important but they’re they’re get like getting priced out of the market because it cost a fortune to to become a sponsor of these of these events and I just don’t like it I mean I really don’t

Like it because I I I I that’s why I admire Palmer and Nicholas so much because they stood up when I was a rabbit in the 608 and N there when we’re going away from the PGA of America and starting the PGA Tour they could have

Gone they had the big three you add Gary Player and it should have been the big four adding Billy Casper they could have gone on their own and the tour could have ended and until Palmer passed there’s no way Norman had footprint to get this

Live started but now we have a bunch of guys that are working for Saudi Arabia and I don’t get it I think our charities in America are worth a whole lot more than selling out the way some of these guys have done I don’t blame them they

Made a ton of money but you’re not playing for history now Dave Stockton always absolutely full of probing insights and experiences through a absolutely remarkable career my friend it’s great to catch up with you I’m glad that you are well and the family is well and that you’re full of energy doesn’t

Surprise me in that latter point but thank you nonetheless for all of the time that you’ve given us today it’s always pleasure it’s great man I I don’t want to leave without mentioning one thing I think you know I’ve had a lot of highlights in my life but one of the

Best ones ever was spending the time in the tower with you at Congressional uh when I’d just been only working with Rory five months and he blown the Masters came into Congressional and uh had the putting figured out and I’m sitting in that Tower with you watching these you know

The we’re watching the 10th green and we were watching 18 and talking about various things and watching Rory only win by eight and enjoying your Insight which is I I love working with a guy like you or Dave Mar III I mean because the answers you have you you got to

Historical knowledge of our game and I know where you come from and uh I do I treasure our time you can call me anytime you have questions and I I appreciate taking the time to talk to me this morning H it was an honor thank you

Very much Dave that that week I remember very very distinctly we were we worked together a lot but that particular week to be at Congressional where this man won a major championship and to be looking down on young Rory mroy uh one of his star pupils and to have Dave we

Were we were broadcasting the coverage uh on ESPN at that point and to have him explain to me what Rory is doing and watch how it manifests in the way that he was moving it was it was stunning it is stunning U and and such an honor to

Always catch up with Mr Stockton thank you very much uh for everything Dave you have done when we come back folks we’re going to go down this road of another Legend in Arnold Palmer and we’re going to feature an interview that we did with Mr Palmer that while we didn’t know it

At the time in retrospect it was done not long before he passed and we think it was the last long form interview that he ever conducted and the insights that he provides during this time I like to say when Giants roam a golden age of the game is absolutely stunning too more of

The fairways of Life show coming up relax easy now find your happy place it’s all in the hips just tap it in yes find the latest clubs in apparel at golf’s happy place the PGA TOUR Superstore in Ireland golf is more than just a game come and experience our

World famous Lynx courses and our world famous Parkland courses all set alongside world famous scenery and visit our world famous historic sit and while you’re here enjoy our world famous Hospitality fill your heart with Ireland at ireland.com golf it screams it tracks it’s soft it reacts it is the Bridgestone tour be

With a gamechanging reactive cover design to Spring faster off your driver and stick longer to your wedges try bridgeston tour bees the tour Bowl reinvented the Gen 6 iron is a culmination of everything that we have learned as a team the absolute best golf club I’ve ever hit it’s something

Special say hello to the new pxg gen6 Iron the longest most accurate irons we’ve ever made they go higher and farther than any iron that I have hit to date and they’re so easy to hit super excited for the consumer to try these they’re going to love them pxg nobody

Makes golf clubs the way we do period baseball nah football done it I think I’m going to go after the PGA Tour Bo you’re going to need the right equipment company I think I got that you know tour backs all their clubs with a lifetime warranty I know they ship all their

Premium custom clubs in 48 hours I know all their premium clubs are hand bailed in the USA I know you know Tour Edge has won 35 times out here guys I know pound-for-pound nothing comes close Bo golf provides the Ultimate worldclass Golf destination with 10 Championship caliber courses spanning three Resorts

Centered in Michigan’s Northern lower Peninsula the courses are the products of some of the games Masters including Robert Trent Jones senior Arthur Hills and Donald Ross from the all-inclusive vacation packages Elite instruction with the bo Golf Academy tournaments and so much more Bo golf truly offers an unrivaled Michigan golf vacation

Experience just log on to Bo golf.com zero friction introduces the wheelpro push cart golf bag with its revolutionary 3 in-one design supportive legs that spring into action a comfort grip handle with three locking positions accessories for the modern golfer enhanced by seven pockets for more storage and removable allterrain Wheels

Which slide right into place the new zero friction wheelpro golf bag checks every box for every golfer push carryer cart the decision is yours thanks to zerof friction head to zerof fr.com Today welcome back to the fairways of Life show great catching up with Dave Stockton you know was like yesterday having Bernard Langer on it’s I’m not so much interested in whether you do or do not agree with their opinions we just want their opinions this is important it’s

Important to hear from people you know I we’re not living in a golf world right now where everybody is going to agree but we can live in a golf world where it’s okay for people to express their opinion and we don’t jump all over them that’s their opinion it can begin and

End right there uh it just it was great to hear his insight and historical perspective nobody has a better historical perspective than Arnold Palmer did during his remarkable life so as you heard me mention just before we went to that break we had this chance to

Sit down with Mr Palmer now this is only half the interview that you’re going to be seeing and hearing this morning if you go to the fairways of Life YouTube channel you can see it in its entirety because this one is a time capsule of a very very remarkable man when you have

Quiet times to reflect to sit in front of a fireplace perhaps and just relax where does your mind go what are the what are the times that you look back on and reflect well of course I I usually remember the good times we had uh the

Golfing days the the things that I did with my father and mother uh and they are all things that are very pleasant things that I love uh whether whether skiing down the hill or ice skating or playing golf they were they were all things that were very pleasant and today

I enjoy remembering them when you go back to Augusta National one of the things I wanted I’ve been dying to ask you about is the Champions dinner can you remember your first Champions dinner oh yes uh and of course I remember most of the people that were there and uh uh

There was no large crowd that was very limited and it was wonderful uh saren was there for sure and Bob Jones uh was one of my favorites and he was there and uh and it was nice to talk to him to talk to these people

Uh because it was my first dinner and to hear them and listen to them uh tell stories about how some of the other golfers played and guys like Claude Haron and uh guys that were really known for what they did and how they played was was fun was there anyone over those

Years and since was there anyone that you in particular wanted to sit next to at this Champions dinner because you knew it would be entertaining well no but I enjoyed Carrie middleof and Byron Nelson was one of my very fa favorites of all time I think that he might have been the best

That I ever had the opportunity to know and to talk to and and and he talked to me about things that he has done and he did and those are things that I’ll never forget that is impressive what was Bob Jones like to be around uh Bob Jones was a great guy he

Was one that talked to and didn’t mind talking I remember uh he watched me make a putt on one of the holes during a match and it was about a eight-footer and and when I finished he he came over to me and he said AR he says let me tell

You something he says if I ever have a putt for my life I’m going to come and get you to putt it for me that just sent a chill through me isn’t it fun yeah it’s fun I I want to if if I I want to ask you about some historic figures in

The game and your recollection and reaction to them Walter Hagen waler Hagen was also a very close friend and I corresponded with him he was the first man that I talked to after I uh won the open uh and and uh he called me on the phone and congratulated me and what a

Thrill that was and then I got to know him I met with him and number of times and he said now Arnie a couple things he said that were very pointed he said when I die he says I want you to remember that I asked you

To be my be a PA bear for me and you know things like that that were uh and he was sick at the time and uh of course he thrilled me to death with his the things that he told me and uh and as a

Matter of fact I was was a Paul Bear in the Walder Hagen funeral wow Dow finsterwald one of my best friends ever uh D and I have been close since uh we played uh well amateur golf and then professional golf and we traveled together all over the world and uh he

Was he he a very close personal friend that that I’m very proud to to say we’ve been friends all our lives Sam sne Sam sne is a guy that you never get real close to Sam but he and I were buddies because we played on a lot of teams

Together and and he was a guy that uh he never forgot anything and and of course I remember that and uh he was uh he was a good guy he was a good guy he he didn’t waste words too much he said what he had on his mind and got on with it

I’ve I’ve talked to you in the past about your relationship with Ben Hogan and in my reflection on it I would describe it as complicated is that fair well I suppose that’s fair uh Hogan and I I wouldn’t ever call the relationship really close although we were partners

And we talked a lot uh but we were never real close buddies MH uh Hogan uh never called me by my name he it was always hey you or uh fella or something like that which I objected to a little bit how about Gary Player Gary and I are

Very close we were close all our lives we played Big Three Golf and uh we did a lot of things together a lot of show a lot of uh golf and something that uh I think that will last forever of course I have to ask you about Jack deckas Well

Jack is a good friend he’s a he is a personal friend and he’s a guy that uh I can appreciate and understand very well and enjoy being with there were a couple players that golf lost in recent months that I want to ask you about one that you’re directly both that you’re

Directly Tethered to the first Kell Nagel who passed away of course the which takes us back to 1960 Open championship and I wonder if you could speak to that man for a second well Cal was the guy that kept me from winning the open at St Andrews and

He played very well and and I knew him pretty well and he was a really nice man he’s one of the nicest men uh that I have had an association with in the game of golf and uh I I enjoyed our relationship the fact that we spent time

Together and uh competed against each other uh many many times and uh he was a guy that I will always remember Mr Billy Casper of course passed away recently well Bill Casper was a good friend also even though we didn’t spend a lot of time together we played

Competitively all of our active life and Bill was a much better player than anybody gave him credit for being uh he played the game very well and and was a good guy he was he he was a good guy and a good friend to me when you look at the

Game today and you’ve described it to me in the past players there are very physical to was the word that you use with me if you could through through some stroke of magic if you could have lived and competed in a different time than that which you did would you take that option

Would you be competing at a different time would I like to be competing at a different time I’m not sure I think I had the opportunity to play in the best time of my life uh the golfers were good uh the Hogan the sneeds the Sens the uh

Nelson uh middleof they were great players and it was a thrill for me to have played against all of them what is the next mountain to climb for Arnold Palmer well I’d like to see golf continue on the road that it’s it’s it’s on I hear people people say golf is

Falling I don’t think it is I think it’s just pausing right now for a little get back to it again and I think that we will see uh these young people that are coming along will make a great difference in the game of golf in the

Years to come are you impressed with the young players today I am very impressed by some of them yes they’re very good if there was one thing in today’s game in the golf game today you could change what would that one thing be I suppose

That I’d leave the game alone i’ play I try to speed it up a little bit I think that would be uh uh something that we could use very much in in the game now to get these young people to play a little quicker uh and for the rest of it

I think it’s very good years and years from now Mr Palmer what do you want the legacy of Arnold Palmer to be well uh I suppose that Justus that I have made a contribution to the game to help make it a little better you have that sir thank you for your time today

Thank you truly truly incredible stuff uh from that interview with Mr Palmer as I mentioned that is only half of the interview you can find the full interview on The Fairways of Life YouTube channel when you’re on there please subscribe so you’re a part of all

Of the content content that we post on there and you know when it comes out as giveaways and trips and all that goes along with it the fairways of Life show is presented in part by the PGA TOUR Superstore the number one golf retailer from Coast to Coast with their big

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Yours today stride your personal Cy welcome back to the fairways of Life show coverage of the Arnold Palmer Invitational starts tomorrow at 2 pm all these times are Eastern 2 p p.m. eastern Time same time on Friday Saturday and Sunday you can see the times accordingly starting at 12:30 on the NBC Sports family so a news

Came out in the overnight hours that Liv golf has withdrawn the request for world ranking points Rex hogard had the story on nbcsports.com and there are various quotes in there the first one from and apparently Greg Norman had sent a letter out to to uh the golfers that live and informed them

Of the withdrawing of the application Rex writes the league requested accreditation with the official world golf rankings in July 2022 but last October ranking officials denied that request because quote they’re just not playing in a format where they can be ranked equitably with the other 20 for tours in thousands of

Players trying to compete on them close quote Peter Dawson chairman of the ranking board told the Associated Press at that time uh Norman wrote in his letter and I’m quoting this is not a decision that we made lightly uh after spending the last 18 months in almost constant dialogue with various members

Of the owgr technical committee and board it is now clear that the best way forward for Liv as a league and you as live golfers is not through the current ranking system a resolution which protects the accuracy credibility and integrity of the official world golf rankings no longer exists close quote

From Greg Norman he carried on by saying we have made enormous efforts to fight for you and to ensure your accomplishments are recognized within the existing ranking system unfortunately the owgr has shown little willingness to productively work with us this is all from Rex hoggard’s article that you can find at NBC

Sports.com uh Norman also called for an independent ranking that recognizes how the game is quote expanding and modernizing close quote and said he plans to quote seek meaningful communication and relationship with each of the majors to ensure that Liv golfers are fairly represented close quote there are just four players from Liv golf

Ranked inside the top 50 in the world number three John ROM number 17 Terell Hatton number 30 Brooks Kea number 50 cam Smith and Norman conceded that even if his League were granted ranking points quote the system is designed such that it would be functionally impossible

For you to regain positions close to the summit of the ranking where so many of you belong close quote so that art this the article continues but you can find it from reher at nbcsports.com uh Xander Schley and Patrick hlay both spoke before the Arnold Palmer Invitational and talked

About where the game is at right now in the uncertainty I mean I think it’s great that I I definitely saw that walk and got an exemption in the Masters I think that’s you know very well deserved um supposed to be sort of worldwide is known to be a worldwide event and uh

Global global deal uh of a major and all of them are to be honest so it’s good to see the top chalain out there um to be honest I mean I I think the criteria was sort of set in front of them and they you know they did everything in their

Power to to get to get on with with owgr and it seems that they’re they haven’t met the criteria I mean I I haven’t read too much too much of it to be completely honest but it seems that they you’re not seeing sort of eye to eye on you know

Making an exception to to make live uh have world ranking points so I’m not sure as to why they pulled pulled their their application for it but it is what it is fortunately I’m on I’m I’m on the other side of the fence um I’m definitely one of the players and um

Yeah I just try to play really well and collect as many world raking points as I can so whatever whatever that may look like uh this is sort of the structure it is right now within the owgr so um it it just seemed like it was a pretty clear thing to start sort

Of how it was going to look and unfortunately they didn’t meet meet meet the criteria but the the Liv tour definitely has really good players and players that are in the top 10 or top you know 25 in the world uh and there there’s there’s many

Of them so uh they’re just sort of unranked right now but you know to me I do believe they’re they’re definitely top ranked players in the world trying to figure out how to appeal to more people and appeal to more fans is probably the biggest

Change that I would like to see I think if we can figure out a way to appeal to more people and get more people playing the game I think when people start playing the game and learn what it’s about that’s really an eye opener for

People I’ve I’ve met a n or I have a number of friends that really didn’t play golf growing up and they’ve gotten in their late 20s or early 30s and they started playing and they become addicted to the game and now they’re fans and now they love playing the playing the game

They’re not going and playing football they’re not going and playing basketball but they love going and playing golf I think in this new age where people’s attention span is less it’s rare to do something in person with your friends for four or five hours and I

Think the more that we can kind of put our phone down and go out and be outside and do something with people that we enjoy I think that would be better for everyone all right in other news International President’s Cup Captain Mike Weir has said that live players

Will not be allowed to play in the president cup he said that certainly I want the best players internationally to be playing in the President’s Cup hopefully we come to a point where they are said we it’s just unfortunate situation right now I’ve been told they are not eligible and they’re not going

To be eligible hopefully going forward maybe in Chicago 2026 they are he said I mean it’s a shame we would want the best players but I like our team anyway that’s article credited to Adam Woodward so continues to churn throughout the game of golf thank you nonetheless for your company

Folks hopefully the historic perspective provides some soless uh on this day Arnold Palmer invitation coming up tomorrow I