ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – People around the world, including in Northeast Florida, are honoring golf legend Arnold Palmer after he passed away Sunday in Pittsburgh at age 87.
Palmer won seven major championships, had 62 wins on the PGA Tour and 92 gold titles around the world.
He will be celebrated for his golf career, but those who knew him said they will celebrate the man he was off the course as well.
"Because of his striking good looks and his physique and his style of golf, every woman wants to be near him and every man wants to be him," said Dr. Tony Parker, a historian at the World Golf Hall of Fame at World Golf Village near St. Augustine. "He was a giver. He gives time, energy."
Parker said it was Palmer's ever-present smile and his connection to fans that made him an icon.
"He draws you in with his eyes and he looks at you and he talks to you and you feel like you're the only person in the world," Parker said. "He would spend hours with his fans after a round of golf, just signing autographs, spending time with them."
Palmer burst onto the scene as a professional golfer in 1954 and soon became one of the world's best golfers -- winning more than 150 tournaments. He earned the title of "The King."
"He had an unorthodox swing, finished at the top with a little swirl, but his massive power," Parker said.
In 1974, Palmer was one of the inaugural members inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. The museum still holds many items that he used during his career, including the ball he used to win the Open Championship in Royal Berkdale in 1961 as well as his club and glove he used in the tournament.
The World Golf Village became Palmer's second home. He and Jack Nicklaus designed the "King & Bear" course on its campus. Palmer would frequent the course and served on the World Golf Hall of Fame selection committee.
"He is a presence. There are some people that can walk into the room and nobody pays attention. Arnold Palmer can walk on the grounds and everybody knows he's here. The king has arrived," Parker said.
Palmer was also a trailblazer for televised golf and would later become a founder of the Golf Channel. On top of that, he also gave back, raising money to renovate a pediatric hospital named after him in Orlando.
"He was very humble, very appreciative," Parker said. "He was the greatest ambassador for the game of golf in the world. There'll never be another one like him."