On This Day

Palmer wins '60 Bob Hope

Sun, 07 Feb 1960, 0:00:00 -0500

1960 -- Palmer shoots a final round 66 to win the 1960 Bob Hope Desert Golf Classic in Palm Springs, California, and $12,000. It is the first of five times he’ll win the popular tournament, the scene of his greatest tournament dominance. It also kicks off what will be his best year on Tour, winning eight titles and two majors in his 31st year.

Palmer 2nd at '65 Bob Hope

Sun, 07 Feb 1965, 0:00:00 -0500

1965 -- Palmer earns $6,600 for finishing second at the Bob Hope Desert Classic.

Writer says Palmer overexposed

Mon, 07 Feb 1966, 0:00:00 -0500

1966 -- Furman Bisher, sports editor of the Atlanta Journal, knocks out a long anti-Palmer rant about television’s infatuation with the golfer: “Sometimes I wonder if there’s any other golfer other than Arnold Palmer. If he’s 20 strokes back, he’ll still make the wire service story. The TV camera crews will pick him out in a crowd. There was one sure way you could tell it was spring in Palm Springs without the commentator’s help. The first time Palmer appeared on camera, he was wearing a yummy blue sweater. He kept it on for two exposures. The next time you saw him, the sweater was gone. You had to bet he’d promised someone at Arnold Palmer Co. he’d wear the blooming thing long enough to catch the TV crowd, but he wasn’t going to smother to push the sale of true-blue sweaters.