Golf legend Arnold Palmer dies at 87

Arnold Palmer, the beloved golfer who helped popularize the game, died Sunday. He was 87.

His death was confirmed by Arnold Palmer Enterprises CEO Alastair Johnson. In a career that spanned six decades, Palmer won 62 PGA tour titles and seven majors, in addition to making millions as a pitchman and golf course designer — he put his touch on more than 300 golf courses in 37 states and 25 countries, including the first modern course built in China in 1988. Palmer was born Sept. 10, 1929, in Pennsylvania, and his father, a pro and greenskeeper at a country club, first put a club in his hands at age 3. Before winning the 1954 U.S. Amateur at the Country Club of Detroit, Palmer attended Wake Forest University on a golf scholarship, spent three years in the Coast Guard, and sold paint in Cleveland. Palmer, nicknamed "The King," said his 1954 win was the "turning point in my life. It gave me confidence I could compete at the highest level of the game."

Palmer was also known to non-golfers for the famous beverage carrying his name: the Arnold Palmer, half iced tea and half lemonade. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2012, the highest honors the United States can give to a civilian. His wife of 45 years, Winifred Walzer, died in 1999. He is survived by his second wife, Kit; daughters Amy Saunders and Peggy Wears; and six grandchildren, including PGA Tour golfer Sam Saunders.

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