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 that Arnie had finished 2nd 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”. Amid amateur news, he wrote that, “Events involving area players away from the district call for Arnold Palmer’s second try in the British Open at Birkdale, near London.” Not overly enthusiastic, and not overly near London, either.
Things were quite different in the UK. The excitement around The Open was intense among the golfing and wider sports-loving public. The presence of Palmer in the event only served to heighten the anticipation for Birkdale.
