Somewhere up there in That Big 19th Hole in the Sky, Arnold Palmer is probably sipping an iced tea and lemonade — spiked, of course, with a shot of Ketel One — when he notices an old friend sulking beside him.
“Why is your tournament thriving while mine is languishing?” Byron Nelson laments, taking a long pull off his beer.
Arnie chuckles, gives him a pat on the back, and says, “Byron, old buddy, it’s simple. I really left ’em no choice.”
Byron cocks an eyebrow: “What do you mean?”
The King leans in with a crooked grin and says, “I made sure every player felt like family when they came to Bay Hill. I built the place. I invested in it. I made it my home. All you really did was lend your name to your tournament.”
We bring up this make-believe (we think) conversation in the wake of yet another incredible week at Bay Hill where the sun was shining, the beer was flowing, the hospitality tents were sold out and the PGA Tour’s best golfers battled Bay Hill’s punishing rough and lightning-fast greens.
In the end, Russell Henley made an Arnie-like charge on the back 9, chipping in for an eagle on No. 16, to overtake Collin Morikawa for the victory.
“All of our goals were met,” tournament chairman Drew Donovan said on the final day of The Arnie on Sunday. “We’ve seen great, great growth this year and we will continue to expand. I think it’s a testament to Mr. Palmer’s legacy.”
It’s also a testament to the loyalty of the PGA Tour, which, quite frankly, has enhanced this tournament in the years since Arnie passed away. When Palmer died nearly a decade ago in 2016, there was a fear that his beloved tournament would struggle to maintain its stature — much like the Byron Nelson Classic has since its legendary namesake died in 2006.
But thanks to the PGA Tour’s commitment, Arnie’s tournament hasn’t just survived; it has thrived. Along with Jack Nicklaus’ legacy tournament (the Memorial) and Tiger Woods’ tournament (the Genesis), the Tour has continued to elevate the stature (and the purse) at The Arnie.
There’s simply no denying that The Arnie is more prestigious now than it was even when Arnie was with us. The event has been elevated to a limited-field “Signature Event” status, ensuring a world-class field and a massive purse. The year before Palmer died, the total purse for his tournament was $6.3 million. Today, the purse stands at a whopping eye-popping $20 million, with Henley taking home $4 million on Sunday.
“This feels surreal,” Henley said after the victory. “That’s what so cool about this game: You get to play where the legends play.”
When you combine Palmer’s iconic status with the Tour’s increased backing, the field at Bay Hill has remained one of the strongest in golf with the PGA Tour’s top players continuing to make the pilgrimage to Arnie’s place each and every year. In fact, there was a time when some of the Tour’s top players — like Jordan Spieth — didn’t particularly like the course and sometimes didn’t play here because it didn’t fit into their schedules.
But when Spieth, who struggled through much of last year with a wrist injury, failed to meet the criteria to automatically qualify for this year’s Arnie, you could tell he was frosted.
“I’m bummed not to be there [at The Arnie],” Spieth said after finishing tied for ninth at the Cognizant last week in South Florida. “I really wish I was getting that start, but I needed to play better injured golf last year, I guess.”
See what I mean?
With The Arnie’s elevated status, Spieth is now pleading to play at Bay Hill.
While other PGA Tour events have to worry about who’s not coming to play in their tournaments, The Arnie’s major concern is who is getting left out of the tournament. When you snub popular golfers such as Spieth and fan favorite Rickie Fowler, who hadn’t missed The Arnie since 2012, there’s naturally going to be some pushback especially when you give sponsor’s exemptions to lesser known players such as Rafael Campos, Mackenzie Hughes and Min Woo Lee.
The Arnie used to have a field of 120 players, which meant there were a lot more golfers playing, a lot more golf to watch and much more hustle and bustle on the course — especially during the first two days of the tournament before the field was cut. There is a feeling now among some golf purists that these new limited-field 72-player events rob The Arnie of some of its atmosphere and ambiance and short-changes the fans.
Wrote Eamon Lynch of Golfweek earlier in the tournament: “Fan engagement is an important measure, and the reality is that fans are getting less here. Less action to see at the course. Less to be shown on broadcasts. Less storylines worth covering. But the only ‘less’ that has truly mattered is this: less sharing of the prize fund by the stars.”
Lynch, of course, is referring to the massive impact LIV Golf has had on the PGA Tour. Not only has LIV pilfered some of the Tour’s biggest names, it has forced the Tour to acquiesce to its own stars by guaranteeing them more money by increasing purses and reducing fields.
If you ask me, it’s debatable whether fans are dying to see the 100th-ranked golfer on the PGA Tour, though there will certainly be discussions in the future about tweaking the size of the field. But honestly, these are minor concerns, not major ones.
If you want major concerns, let’s head back up to That Big 19th Hole in the Sky where Arnie orders himself another drink and buys Byron another beer for him to cry into.
“Why is your tournament so much better than mine?” Byron wails. “Why? … Why?”
Arnie clinks his glass against Byron’s, nods toward Bay Hill, and says, “Because, old buddy, I didn’t just host a tournament; I built a tradition.”
Long live the King.
Email me at [email protected]. Hit me up on X (formerly Twitter) @BianchiWrites and listen to my Open Mike radio show every weekday from 6 to 9:30 a.m. on FM 96.9, AM 740 and 969TheGame.com/listen
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