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Rozner: Arnold Palmer left this world a better place

He never forgot where he came from.

This is an overused - and frequently misused - cliché that rarely or accurately explains the character of an individual.

Sure, you can remember where you came from without remembering at all the people you grew up with and the struggles they endure.

In that respect, most successful people absolutely forget where they came from.

Arnold Palmer never did. He never forgot who he was. He didn't have to because he never stopped being Arnold Palmer.

"The King," as he was so affectionately known, died Sunday at the age of 87, and was still one of the most popular athletes in the world.

To the end he was the sweet, smiling, leading man who always had a firm handshake and a kind word for those he encountered.

Some lives are so grand that helpless paragraphs can't possibly do them justice, and Palmer's was quite simply one of those.

Son of a greens keeper from Pennsylvania, Palmer had the adoration of the coal miners and blue-collar fans who would show up at tournaments and scream obscenities at the country-club kids, but it was Palmer who defended a rich kid's right to look like he fell from the pages of "The Great Gatsby."

Soon enough, he had everyone on his side.

He had it all. Hollywood looks, hands the size of manholes and brute strength.

He made golf cool a half century before Tiger Woods made it wealthy.

Palmer was so popular that he personally ushered in the TV generation of golf.

The British Open is what it is today because Palmer chose to play in a tournament previously irrelevant to the American sports fan and the best American golfers.

He designed the first course in China.

He invented a drink.

He created the PGA Tour as you know it, now worth more than $2 billion.

The Champions Tour, essentially, did not exist until Palmer came aboard.

He founded a TV network.

He was among the first athletes to be coveted as a product endorser and was among the most sought after until the day he died.

Nine American presidents asked to play golf with him. The number of foreign leaders is thought to be twice that many.

He learned to fly, bought a plane and flew himself around the world, grabbing his bag and shoes from his aircraft and strutting to the first tee like John Wayne jumping off his horse and thundering into a saloon.

He built a golf empire. He built businesses. He built golf courses. He built Central Florida. He built up Latrobe. He built a pro golf tour.

He built and he built and he built.

He created companies worth billions and had a personal net worth of $675 million at his death.

And yet he was most proud of two world-class hospitals in Florida - one for children and another for women and babies - that exist almost entirely because of Arnold Palmer.

This is a man who actually saved lives, thousands of lives, children who are here today because of him, families that are whole because of him, generations that will survive because of him.

Arnie was one of those rare people who didn't care about how people would remember him. Legacy is for those with insatiable egos, for the insecure who worry what people think of them, about their place in the headlines.

Palmer understood from a young age that it's not about how many people know your name, recognize your face or care about what you think.

It's not about what you leave behind. It's about what you do while you're here and who you affect.

Arnold got it.

Some people say, "Look at me." Palmer said, "Look over there. I'll bet we could build something great."

Palmer believed that you have to try to get better every day. He encouraged others to use the day to be better at something, at anything. Better as a golfer, better as a businessman, better as person.

Just be better.

Otherwise, what's the point?

He was one of the greatest golfers of all time, certainly top five, and yet few people eulogizing him are talking now about his athletic career.

They remember the way he smiled, the way he touched people, the way he interacted with every person he met.

He looked you in the eye and wanted to know something about your life. He yearned for connection and information.

He taught young players to acknowledge fans' presence with a glance, a nod or a legible autograph.

A player once complained about signing autographs and media requests, and Palmer told him he didn't have to do it anymore.

When the happy player said he was glad to hear it, Palmer told him all he had to do was give up the money and fame and go home.

Otherwise, Palmer commanded, stay and do your flippin' job.

It wasn't what he did that made Arnold Palmer so beloved.

It was the way he made his fans feel. It was the way he made them feel on and off the course that earned such a place in their hearts.

That's not a lesson for professional athletes. It's a lesson for the human race, which feels less human with every passing day.

Arnold Palmer was as decent a person as has graced this planet, and it is not a better arrangement with him departed.

You are missed and always will be, Arnie.

Long live the King.

brozner@dailyherald.com

• Hear Barry Rozner on WSCR 670-AM and follow him @BarryRozner on Twitter.

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