When Arnold Palmer travelled to play in The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in 1961, it’s fair to say the American public was not overly excited. Despite the fact Arnie had finished second the previous year at St Andrews and was on a scintillating run of form, having won five times on the PGA Tour so far in the season, sports fans didn’t much care what their hero got up to on the other side of the pond.
Writing under the headline, “Junior Tournaments Head Area’s Golf Card” in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, from Arnie’s home state of Pennsylvania, on the Sunday before play commenced at Birkdale, Phil Gundelfinger included a tertiary subheading stating, “Arnold Palmer Plays Tomorrow in British Open.”
