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Arnold Palmer yesterday blasted
the US Senior Tour for refusing to consider the Senior British
Open as a Major Championship.
The King bowed out of the championship
Royal County Down after a second round 75 that included a miraculous
par five at the 18th. But like former champions Bob Charles and
Gary Player, Palmer feels the Senior British Open should be recognised
as a Senior Major.
He said: "I'd like to
see very championship to gain more of a prestigious stature than
it has received. I think it deserves it. I think in the protocol
of senior golf they have taken this tournament off the list of
Majors and I don't think that's right at all. I think the tournament
deserves it but the operation of the tournament and the procedures
they follow are part of the reason for that."
The powerful US Seniors Tour
refuses to co-sanction the British Senior Open or count prize-money
earned at Royal County Down in the official US Senior Tour money
list. Instead, the Americans only officially recognise the US
Senior Open, the PGA Seniors, the Tradition and the Ford Senior
Players championships as Senior Majors.
But the 71-year-old King of
golf feels that the British Senior event is getting a raw deal
from his compatriots. "Part of the reason why I came over
is to help give the championship its major status and there is
no doubt in my mind that it should be listed as a Major.
"If the event counted
for the money list in the US then I'm sure more guys would come
over just as Jack (Nicklaus) and I have come," he added.
"I sure as hell would have something to say if I won it
I'd sure be claiming it as a Senior Major and if Jack wins you
can be real sure they'll definitely consider it a Major then,"
he said.
Arnie's Army was out in force
again yesterday and they got a thrill as the great man scorched
over the perilous back nine in 34, two under par.
And he couldn't resist a grandstand
finish at the par five 18th to keep a bogey off his card on the
back nine. Bunkered in two down the right, Palmer threw caution
to the wind and fired his 165-yard bunker shot as far as the
apron, pitched to six feet and holed for a popular par which
drew the biggest roar of the day.
But although the great man
announced that he is phasing himself out of the game due to pressure
of business and intends to eventually play only the US Masters
and "lots of social golf", he may yet return to Royal
County Down next year.
Said Palmer: "There's
a possibility I'll come back next year. The hospitality has been
so nice and the venue here is outstanding. I will certainly give
it serious consideration.
"I will be 72 years old
shortly. I said when I was 65 that I would start curtailing my
play and I have been doing that and will continue to do that.
Maybe have a little more fun with my golf, which I enjoy so much."
Palmer said that it is thanks
mainly to his great army of supporters that he has gone on for
so long.
"Over the past 15 years
if it hadn't been for the fact that the public have been so supportive
I would probably have cut back sooner. As I said to someone yesterday,
with all the adulation there has to be some humiliation and I
had to suffer some of that yesterday."
Three years ago he underwent
an operation for prostate cancer, which kept him off the fairways
for nearly three months. And he admitted yesterday that his lack
of preparation for Royal County Down had cost him that disasterous
opening 84 and his chance of making the cut.
Said the seven time Major champion:
"I really just didn't calculate the situation correctly.
I should have been here no later than Tuesday morning, or probably
Monday to get to know the golf course properly.
"I hate shooting a score
like that. It's what's going to make me give it up. I'm getting
close but I need to play more competitive golf if I am to play
the kind of golf I expect to play."
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©
Brian Keogh 2001
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