---

This army marches
on memories

HE'S golfing on his honeymoon, playing for money on a course he drew up. All the goodwill in the world is with him, all the stars are aligned. This is the day. The Army is out, full force.

All of them pleading, please Lord, please, this is the day. Please, just once, one more time, today. Just for today.

Just one more day, just one last time, just one last shot, make it still good to be the King.

"Where did he sign that for you?"

"On the first tee."

"Did you give him a pen?"

"No, he has one."

WE DON'T HANDLE it well when our athletes age. Mays stumbling in the outfield was crushing. Namath with the Rams was depressing. Jordan getting dissed by his own teammates was just plain wrong.

Yesterday, at the Turtle Bay Championship, Arnold Palmer shot a 10-over 82.

We handle it better with golf, of course. If we didn't there would be no Senior (now Champions) Tour. And we love the Champions Tour, the chance to see our heroes again. The Champions Tour, somehow, is huge.

It works. It's different. What we want from Palmer is the twinkle and the smile. Just one more moment. Just one more glimpse. Just one more great shot.

We just want him to be Arnie again.

And he delivers. He delivers every time.

Yesterday, it was on No. 13. He was in the bunker, on the beach. "Oooohh!" he said, letting out a long moan as he addressed the impossible shot.

And then he swung.

"Sweet out, Arnie!" a man said, the excitement rising with his voice.

"Go! Go! Go!" a lady said.

"Whoaaaaaah!" the crowd said.

It stopped rolling a foot from the cup, and the gallery went nuts.

"Even a blind squirrel ..." Arnie said.

"That was great, Arnie!" Lee Trevino said.

Then he tapped it in: "Oh! I made one!" He beamed.

"That was worth watching, wasn't it?" Trevino said.

It was unbelievable. It always is.

---

ASSOCIATED PRESS Arnold Palmer struggled to a 10-over 82 yesterday. "I haven't given up yet," he said. "But I'm close, really close."

---

"Come on, Arnie, just one time today! This is your hole, this is your signature hole, get it in the hole!"

YESTERDAY, HE HAD eight bogeys and a double bogey.

"I enjoy the golf," he would say. He loves the crowd, loves being here at the tournament, eats it up. That part. "I play so poorly," he would say. "That isn't any fun."

He's a proud man, one of the greats. He's a champion. He's a competitor still. They pain him, these scores. It hurts.

His Army felt every emotion with him, yesterday. That conflict of euphoria and heartache that has been a round of Arnold Palmer golf these past few years.

His words said it, but his expression said it better, out on the links. In 2005, golf for Arnold Palmer is a Billy Joel lyric: It's sad and it's sweet/and I knew it complete/when I wore a younger man's clothes.

It's tough, but it's wonderful. It's hard to watch, but it's worth it, every time. It's sad, yes, but sweetness is still leading, if by a nose.

Nothing in the world like watching Arnold Palmer play golf.

A fan stood to take his picture, aimed her camera right at him. Cameras are banned at pro golf events. That and cell phones, it says so everywhere. This is pretty much the worst thing you can do. Tiger Woods has been known to go "Godfather" on fans who dare snap a keepsake.

Here is what Arnold Palmer did: He lifted his head and looked right into the lens. He wanted to make sure she got a good shot.

He brightened his expression.

He made our day.

"As long as Arnie keeps playing (in the tournament), I'm going to watch him."

THE CONSPIRACY THEORY is Larry Stubblefield and Dick McLean shot 80 on purpose in order to play with Arnold Palmer.

"He plays forever," Trevino would tell the Golf Channel after the round. "Hopefully."

"I haven't given up yet," Palmer would say. "But I'm close, really close."

He just got married again, here, the other night. He'd lost Winnie in 1999, he found Kit Gawthrop late in life. He lights up when congratulated about the marriage. He walks with her between holes. He calls her "love."

From now on, couples who follow Arnold Palmer will be holding hands, guaranteed.

He'd bogeyed again, and his expression sang Billy Joel. The crowd cringed with him. He saw his bride at the ropes.

"If I don't start putting better you can get a divorce," he called to her.

Instead of dialing a lawyer, she embraced him, and whispered a pep talk in his ear.

"Awwww," a lady said.

The King was 6 over. He and his love walked to the next tee, arm in arm.