If Arnie's Army ever
gets an Air Force, it has a place to land.
Celebrating Arnold
Palmer's 70th birthday, Westmoreland County renamed its airport after Latrobe's
most famous son. The golfing great's personality and competitiveness, not
to mention the skill that helped him win seven major championships, helped
bring the sport into the television age.
Palmer, who splits
time between homes in Latrobe and Orlando, Fla., was teary-eyed as Gov.
Tom Ridge and others officially changed the name of the 945-acre Westmoreland
County Airport as three Pennsylvania Air National Guard A-10 Warthogs flew
overhead.
From now on, it's
Arnold Palmer Regional Airport.
Palmer said he first
learned to fly a plane at the airport some 45 years ago, about the same
time his victory in the U.S. Amateur Championship launched him into a professional
golf career. During today's ceremony, his own Lear Jet was parked in a
nearby hangar.
He won four Masters,
two British Opens and, in 1960, the U.S. Open when he came from seven strokes
back in the final round.
Before Tiger Woods,
Jack Nicklaus or Tom Watson, there was Palmer and his legion of fans, known
as Arnie's Army. But he has remained a lifelong resident of Latrobe, a
community of about 9,300 people located about 50 miles east of Pittsburgh.
Among the majors,
only the PGA Championship eluded him -- and he came in second in that tournament
three times. During a career that spanned more than four decades and saw
him come back from prostate cancer surgery to rejoin the Senior PGA Tour,
Palmer won 92 tournaments all told.
"Thank you for the
confidence you gave me over the years, the push when I needed it," Palmer
told the 100 or so people gathered for the event. "I'm just pleased and
very proud."
From 1960 to 1963,
Palmer won 29 tournaments. And it all began at the Latrobe Country Club
-- which Palmer has owned since 1971 -- where his father worked as a golf
pro and course superintendent. Palmer began caddying at the club when he
was 11.
"You never heard
of Latrobe until you heard of Arnold Palmer," said retired internist Dr.
John S. Parker, 71. "He lives right down the road."
