Arnold Palmer's Magical Driver off the Fairway in 2004

Post by Golf Writer Kieran Clark

This week's Arnold Palmer Invitational will be a celebration of the incredible legacy that the great man left behind following his death last year at the age of 87. Widely revered as an American icon, the seven-time major champion was the charismatic face of the game when television coverage emerged in the late 1950s, helping to bring millions into the sport and transform the PGA Tour into what it has become today. 

13 years ago, then 74, it was finally time for the legend to make a final bow on the regular circuit. His game had long been in decline, but that didn't stop the massed galleries from supporting his swashbuckling efforts at Augusta National and Bay Hill. In 2004, just weeks before his 50th and final Masters appearance, Palmer competed in his own event one last time, with teenage grandson Sam Saunders caddying, he approached the difficult 18th unable to carry the ominous water hazard.

Electing for one last moment of magic, he pulled a driver from the bag, and took on a typically aggressive shot, a trait that had defined his career and endeared the boy from a working class steel town in Pennsylvania to the world. He struck the ball with a low bulleting flight, scuttling onto the green  to within makeable distance. It was special, and Palmer certainly enjoyed one that shot in the limelight of his beloved Bay Hill.

He two-putted for par and a closing round of 79 to his regular PGA Tour career, which officially concluded a few weeks later down Magnolia Lane at the venue where he had secured the Green Jacket on four occasions. But for those of us who weren't around to enjoy his heyday, that sample in Florida was a taste of the swashbuckling genius that was Arnold Palmer.

A shot fit for a King. #ArniesArmy #LifeWellPlayed pic.twitter.com/b0v1MmlmKE

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) March 14, 2017