Arnold Palmer was the Tiger Woods of his day, and was known for his bold and skillful mastery of the game and for his unshakeable charisma. Palmer, as we have seen, represented Rolex’s first foray into golf and he was joined by his two biggest rivals, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, as the brand’s Testimonees.
Collectively known as the ‘Big Three’, this exceptionally gifted triumvirate did more to help broaden golf’s appeal and raising its profile worldwide as one of the great precision sports. Incidentally, Nicklaus holds the record for the number of major titles - 18 - which stands to this day.
"What comes to mind with Arnold and Jack is that we wanted to win so badly,” says Player, who hails from South Africa. “We had this wonderful rivalry and competition amongst the three of us. But at the same time, when one of us won, the other two would put their hand out and say: ‘Well done, you beat me today, but I’ll get you tomorrow.’ It was a very healthy rivalry, and it was a rivalry of gentlemanly conduct.”
Pages
Click here to see the published article.
