Arnold Palmer was born on the 10th of September, 1929 and died on the 25th of September, 2016. He was a professional golfer from the United States and was considered by fans and non-fans to be one of the best of all-time in the game of golf. Palmer was nicknamed “The King” and although not the first superstar in the game of golf is the biggest for those that live in the television age.

Palmer was born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania to Milfed Jerome “Deacon” Palmer and Doris Palmer. His many great achievements in golf can be traced to the fact that he began playing the game of golf from a very young age. He learned to play from his father and had access to a golf course very early in life. Palmer’s access to a golf course early in life occurred because his father worked as a greenskeeper in Latrobe Country Club. So, as he accompanied his father on his job, Palmer learned to play golf simultaneously.

Palmer’s life was so intertwined with golf at an early age. He got a golf scholarship which allowed him to attend Wake Forest College. After attending Wake Forest College, he joined the U.S Coast Guard. He was here for a period of three years. While working at the U.S Coast Guard, Arnold Palmer did not abandon his passion for golf. He continued playing golf and got very good at the game. After his term at the U.S Coast Guard came to an end, Arnold Palmer went back to college and continued as a competitive golfer.

Palmer’s Professional Career

After playing as an amateur golfer for a long time, Arnold Palmer decided to become a professional in November 1954. This took place after he became champion of the 1954 U.S Amateur which was hosted in Detroit. Although he had always nursed the idea of becoming a professional golfer, his victory at the 1954 U.S Amateur in Detroit was a propelling force for him to finally become a professional golfer. According to him, he needed an extra level of confidence to become a professional golfer and becoming an Amateur champion was what gave him the confidence he needed.

Becoming a professional golfer meant Arnold Palmer could no longer continue with a day job. Due to this, he had to quit his job as a paint seller. This was followed by participation at the Waite Memorial tournament which took place in Shawnee-on-Delaware, Pennsylvania. While at this tournament, Arnold Palmer met Winifred Walzer who he was married to for 45 years before she passed on.

Arnold Palmer’s Career as a Professional Golfer

One year after becoming a professional golfer, Arnold Palmer had his first tour win. This took place in the 1955 rookie season. His first tour win as a professional golfer came in the Canadian Open and he got $2,400 for this. Although golf in Arnold Palmer’s days was not as popular as it is at the moment, Palmer played the game with a lot of charisma. This charisma attracted a lot of attention from the media, hence, making a place for the game of golf on television. So, if you think golf is one of the popular games on the face of the earth, you should thank Arnold Palmer for this.

Although Palmer had his first victory in a championship in 1955, he had to wait for three years before winning a major championship. The Masters Tournament which took place in 1958 was Palmer’s first major championship. For his victory at this championship, Arnold Palmer earned $11,250. This win secured his place as one of the biggest golf players of his days and of all time. Also, as a result of his victory, he was signed by Mark McCormack, a pioneering sports agent at the time.

Palmer’s Participation in Golf Business

Although Palmer made a big name for himself as a golf player, he did not stop at that. He went on to take part in golf as a business venture. After becoming really successful as a golfer, Palmer became a businessman. As a businessman, Arnold Palmer was the owner of the Bay Hill Club and Lodge which was located in Orlando, Florida. This building serves as the meeting point for the PGA Tour’s Arnold Palmer Invitational which used to be known as the Bay Hill Invitational until its name was changed in 2007. He also played a major role in the establishment of The Golf Channel. That’s not all. As a golf businessman, Palmer played a major role in the development of the first golf course that was built in China. Due to his role in the negotiation of the deal which birthed the first golf course in China, Palmer Course Design was born in 1972. In 2006, after this company relocated to Orlando, Florida, its name was changed from Palmer Course Design to Arnold Palmer Design Company. As the owner of a firm that was into designs, Palmer was partnered by Ed Seay.

While it is general knowledge in the golf world and the entire sports world that Arnold Palmer was one of the biggest names to grace the game of golf, Palmer achieved a lot more as a businessman. As the owner of a design company, Palmer was able to design golf courses in every continent on the world apart from Antarctica and Africa. His firm designed over 300 golf courses. These many golf courses were located in 37 states, 25 countries, and 5 continents. Business in the golf world did not stop at designing golf courses for Palmer. He bought Latrobe Country Club where he learned to play golf as a boy. The purchase of this property took place in 1971. He owned this property until he died in 2016.

Palmer’s Involvement in the Automobile Sector

Arnold Palmer took a major step out of the game of golf both as a player and a businessman in 1974 when he became involved in the automobile sector in 1974. As a businessman in this sector, Palmer was partnered by Don Massey and Mark McCormack.

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Phillip Alfred Mickelson, popularly known as Phil Mickelson, is a professional golfer from the United States. He was born on the 16th of June, 1970 in San Diego, California to Phillip Mickelson and Mary Mickelson. He is a left-hander and this earned him the nickname “Lefty”. Mickelson is not just a professional golf player, he is on the list of the 12 professional golf players that have won three majors out of the available 12. Apart from the U.S open where he has come second six times already, Mickelson has won the other available majors.

As one of the most successful professional golf players of all time, Mickelson has remained on the list of the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking for 25 years at a stretch. Furthermore, as one of the top ten professional golfers of his generation, Mickelson has maintained a spot on the list of top ten golfers for 700 weeks. These records are an attestation of his level of consistency. In addition to his numerous trophies, Phil Mickelson made it to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011.

Contrary to what a lot of people think, Phil Mickelson is not left-handed. He, however, plays golf with his left hand. He became a left-handed golfer in an attempt to mirror his right-handed father play golf.

Mickelson is popular for having an aggressive style of play. He has a reputation for taking very risky moves when faced with shots that are generally considered to be difficult. In addition to having a style of play that is very aggressive, Phil Mickelson is also reputed for his powerful driver which is not always as accurate as it should be but can give him the advantage when power is needed.

Time in College

As a youth with a background in golf, Mickelson was a student at Arizona State University in Tempe. While still a student, he became one of the most successful and famous amateur golfers of his time. As an amateur, Mickelson won three Haskins Awards, as well as three NCAA individual championships. Winning three individual NCAA championships created a record which he shares with Ben Crenshaw.

In addition to having a record for having the highest number of individual NCAA championships, Phil Mickelson became the first left-handed golfer to get the U.S Amateur title. To get this position, he had to defeat Manny Zerman, his teammate in high school. While Mickelson is considered by lots of people to be one of the greatest players in the game of golf on a professional level, he did not become exceptional just as a professional. While an amateur golfer, Mickelson was already very exceptional and became a champion in a PGA tour. This tour was the Northern Telecom Open which took place in Tucson.

Life as a Professional Golfer

Immediately after graduating from Arizona State University in 1992, Mickelson became a professional golfer. While there was a qualifying process every amateur golfer needed to go through before becoming a professional, Mickelson did not need to go through this process as he already emerged champion at the Northern Telcom Open which took place in Tucson. After employing Jim “Bones” Mackay to play the role of his caddy, Phil Mickelson went on to win several PGA tournaments. Some of these many tournaments include the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, the Bruno Nelson Golf Classic, the World Series of Golf, the Greater Hartford Open in 2001, and the Colonial National Invitation.

Although the name “Mickelson” brings the game of golf to the minds of a lot of people, Phil Mickelson has taken part in other activities apart from spending time as a professional golfer. In 1996, Mickelson made an appearance in a movie titled” Tin Cup”. This movie starred Kevin Costner and gave Phil Mickelson the freedom of appearing as himself.

Back to the game of golf, Mickelson brought The Winning streak of world-famous Tiger Woods to an end in the Buck Invitational which took place in 2000. After this win, it did not really appear that Mickelson as excited as he made it known that his intention was to emerge winner and not to end Woods’ streak.

While Mickelson became a winner of three out of the four majors that he participated in, it took him a while before he became a winner. Due to this, he was tagged as the “best player never to win a major”.

After playing the game of golf professionally for over a decade, Mickelson clinched his first major championship. This win occurred in 2004 when he became victorious in the Masters.

Shortly after exiting Butch Harmon, Mickelson employed Andrew Getson as his new swing coach. After having a temporary setback in his game, Mickelson, alongside his new swing coach spent a lot of time together training to improve on his swing.

While working with Getson, Mickelson took part in the CareerBuilder Challenge for the first time. While at this tournament, he came third alongside another participant of the tournament.

Mickelson’s Surgeries

In 2016, Mickelson underwent two surgeries for sports hernia. After undergoing these surgeries, he was expected to spend a lot of time away from the game of golf before making a return to competitive games. Contrary to the expectations of a lot of people, Mickelson made an appearance at the CareerBuilder Challenge. A week after this tournament ended, he took part in the Farmers Insurance Open that was held in San Diego. He did not end at this, he went on to take part in the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

How he fared in 2018

After going through a winless streak that began in 2018, Phil Mickelson finally emerged champion at a tournament. This win came at the WGC-Mexico Championship. He was also a part of the 2018 Ryder Cup which was staged in Paris. In this tournament, he was the captain of Team USA and played alongside Brunson DeChambeau.

Towards the end of 2018, Mickelson emerged victorious at the pay-per-view event. In this tournament, he emerged victorious to the detriment of Tiger Woods.

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Born on the 10th of February to Toni and Melvin Norman in Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia and nicknamed “The Great White Shark”, Greg Norman is a professional golfer and entrepreneur from Australia. He is one of the most successful in the game of golf and once held the position as the number one golfer according to Official World Golf Rankings in the 1980s and the 1990s. He occupied this position for a period of 331 weeks. As a professional golfer, Norman has taken part in a lot of tournaments and has emerged champion in 88 out of all these professional tournaments.

Included in these tournaments are two majors (The Open Championship in 1986 and 1993) and 20 PGA Tour tournaments. While the hallmark of Norman’s career as a professional golfer was emerging victorious in lots of tournaments that he participated in, there is more to his participation in professional tournaments. As a professional golfer, Norman was runner up 8 times and finished as top ten in 30 tournaments. Due to all his achievements as a professional golfer, he made it to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2001.

Although Norman ended up as a professional golfer, the game of golf was not the only game he participated in as a child. While still a youth, Greg Norman took part in cricket and rugby. He even nursed the idea of becoming a professional surfer. While he excelled in sporting activities generally, he started taking golfing seriously after his mother began teaching him to play the game at the age of 15. While learning to play golf from his mother, he also caddied for her while she took part in golfing activities at the Virginia Golf Club in Brisbane. Norman most likely chose golf over the other sports he had an interest in because of how well he excelled in golf. After playing golf for a period of eighteen months, Norman became a scratch handicap.

Live as a Professional Golfer

Norman began taking the game of golf seriously when he was fifteen and at 20, he had already become an assistant professional under Billy McWilliams OAM. This took place at Beverley Park Golf Club in Sydney, New South Wales. Still, at the age of 20, Greg Norman began working as a trainee under Charlie Earp in the Royal Queensland Golf Club pro shop. As a trainee, he earned A$38 on a weekly basis. One year after serving as a trainee under Charlie Earp, Norman took part in his first professional golf tournament. As a debutant, he got his first win at the West Lakes Classic which took place at the Grange Golf Club in Adelaide, South Australia. After his first win as a professional golf player, Norman went on to participate in his first European tour. His first victory in a European tournament was at the Martini International which took place at the Blairgowrie Club located in Scotland.

Greg Norman’s first major win came in the French Open. In this tournament, he emerged victorious by ten shots. This was followed by the Scandinavian Enterprise Open which was hosted in Sweden. His numerous victory did not end here. He went on to win the Suntory World Match Play Championship. Still, in 1980, he became a champion at the Australian Open for the first time.

After being a professional golfer for a fairly long time, Greg Norman took part in the 1987 Maters where he faced some challenges. He was at the verge of emerging champion of this tournament. However, his ball missed by some millimeters. That same year, however, he bounced back with a win at the Australian Masters, as well as a win in the Australian Open which took place the same year. At the Australian Open, Norman did not just emerge victorious, he broke a record and set a new one.

Business Endeavors

Greg Norman achieved a lot as a professional golfer. He, however, did not let his achievements end with the game of golf alone. While still an active golfer, Norman became a philanthropist and an entrepreneur. As an entrepreneur, Greg Norman started a firm called the Greg Norman Company. A firm which he plays the role of CEO. Greg Norman Company is a giant firm which is made up of lots of smaller firms. The firms that are a part of Greg Norman Company are in various sectors of the economy. Some of the fields they cover are golf course design, real estate, apparel interior design, etc.

As a philanthropist, Greg Norman has given to lots of charity events. In addition to giving towards charity events, Greg Norman has also set up a couple of charity events. Notable among these charity events is QBE Shootout. As a philanthropist, Norman is a Trustee of the Environmental Institute for Golf. He got into this position in 2004. Also, in 2008, he became a recipient of the Golf Writers Association of America’s Barlett Award in 2008.

Legacy and Achievements

Norman’s career as a professional golfer is not one that just successful because of the number of championships he won. It is also one that is successful because of the financial rewards that came with each win. As a notable achiever in the game of golf, Greg Norman was able to earn over $1 million on five different occasions just from the U.S PGA Tour. Still, from participating in the U.S PGA Tour, Norman earned three Arnold Palmer Awards due to the fact that he emerged the highest money winner in the tour in 1986, 1990, and 1995. That’s not all. Even more impressive is the fact that no golfer that took part in a tour was able to earn over $10 million until Greg Norman did so.

Although Norman was not excessively triumphant at the majors he took part in, he was still able to stay dominant over other golfers that played the game in his time. While he was not super-successful in majors, Norman ended the golf year as the most highly ranked golfer seven times. This occurred in 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1995, 1996, and 1997.

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