“There’s no other dinner in golf like it.”
So said three-time Masters champion Sir Nick Faldo on Tuesday morning as he looked forward to the great Masters tradition of the Champions Dinner.
Danny Willett will provide the menu for the long-standing Tuesday evening gathering. It was no surprise that Willett chose a traditional English fare of a “Sunday Roast” that included: Prime rib, roasted potatoes, vegetables, Yorkshire pudding and gravy followed by apple crumble with Vanilla custard.
But this dinner will be all about a great four-time champion who is missing for the first time.
This one will be about remembering Arnold Palmer, Masters champion in 1958, 1960, 1962 and 1964. Leave it to Arnie to win in the even years.
It was Palmer and his popularity that made the Masters what it is today. He put it on the map, put it on everyone’s radar. Everyone wanted Arnie to win. To this day, those who have been Masters patrons since the Palmer days, will refer to one of those ear-shattering roars from the back nine as a “Palmer Roar.”
“I spoke to Ben Crenshaw and we will be sharing stories of Arnold,” Faldo said.
Some have more stories than others but there’s probably not a champion there tonight who doesn’t have an Arnold Palmer story.
Hopefully, they will leave an empty chair where Palmer would sit.
