The dream struck Arnold Palmer (Stats | Bio) at an early age, when he was just a boy learning to play golf in Latrobe, Pa.

Go to Augusta and play in the Masters Tournament.

It consumed him as he became a successful amateur, making a name for himself on the East Coast and playing collegiately at Wake Forest.

Compete against the legends of the game at Augusta National Golf Club.

The dream came to fruition in 1954, when Palmer won the U.S. Amateur.

Drive down Magnolia Lane and meet Bobby Jones, your boyhood idol.

When Arnold Daniel Palmer struck his first Masters shot April 7, 1955, he could not have imagined the journey he was about to embark on.

He could only dream about it.

"From the first day I walked on Augusta, it was something special to me," Palmer said. "It was something I'd looked forward to for 25 years. To get there was a great thrill."

Four green jackets and one premature farewell later, the journey is coming to a close. This week, Palmer will hitch up his pants and play in his final Masters, a record 50th in a row, and dismiss Arnie's Army one last time.

Instead of pulling a trailer into Augusta, Palmer will fly his private jet from Orlando, Fla. His longtime assistant, Doc Giffin, probably will accompany him from the airport to Augusta National.

"Invariably, when he pulls in, he comes through that front gate and stops and chats with the guards," Giffin said. "He always enjoys it and chats with them before he goes on."

Then Palmer will make that trip down Magnolia Lane - the one he dreamed of taking so long ago - one last time as a competitor.

"When we got to the club, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. It was perfect."
- Arnold Palmer (Stats | Bio) , on his first visit to Augusta National

A modest debut

Nothing about Palmer's opening round in his first Masters suggested anything special on the horizon.

The young professional struggled to 76, then followed it up with another 76 that left him 15 shots behind eventual winner Cary Middlecoff.

Fortunately for Palmer, the Masters did not institute a 36-hole cut until 1957. He was able to play on the weekend, and he made the most of his opportunity.

An even-par 72 on Saturday moved him up the leaderboard, then he shot 69 to finish in a tie for 10th. He received a crystal vase for Sunday's low round and, more importantly, earned $696.

For a first-year pro on probation and following the tour with his wife, Winnie, in a mobile trailer, the cash was important.

"I was very, very excited about it," Palmer said of his initial appearance. "It's difficult to describe something that you look forward to from your youth. To be there was the fulfillment of something that I thought was the beginning."

Arnold Palmer (Stats | Bio) waves to the crowd after finishing at No. 18 in the second round of the 2002 Masters. At the time, Plamer said that tournament would be his last appearance as a competitor at Augusta National, but he lobbied for the return of the lifetime exemption for winners and came back in 2003. (Michael Holahan/Augusta Chronicle)

It didn't take Palmer long to live up to his reputation as a promising player. He won the 1955 Canadian Open, beginning a streak in which he won a PGA Tour event for 17 straight years. In 1956-57, he won eight more times.

Success at Augusta National was limited. He wound up 21st in 1956, soaring to 79 in a final round played in brutally tough conditions. A year later, he trailed 54-hole leader Sam Snead by just one stroke. But a final-round 76 dropped him into a tie for seventh.

"Today, Cliff (Roberts) and I were watching Palmer at 13, and the same exhilaration came over me as did when I watched (Gene) Sarazen from that mound in 1935. I said to Cliff, 'He really hit that one.' It stopped 18 feet from the cup, and he holed it, and that was the deciding factor of the tournament."

- Bobby Jones, on Palmer's play in 1958

A legend is born

By 1958, when Palmer arrived in Augusta for his fourth Masters, he was one of the game's emerging stars. Now he needed a win in a major championship to elevate his status.

Ken Venturi, who had suffered a final-round collapse two years before as an amateur, was the pacesetter. He held the lead after 18 and 36 holes, but Palmer wasn't far behind after opening with rounds of 70 and 73.

Palmer shot 68 in the third round to forge a tie with Sam Snead. Venturi slipped to 74 and was three back, and he was paired with Palmer for the final round.

Ron Green Sr., a longtime Charlotte Observer columnist, recalled bumping into Palmer and Winnie that Saturday night. They had a drink at the old Richmond Hotel together.

Then, the next morning, Green and a friend saw the Palmers and joined them for breakfast.

"That afternoon he won his first Masters," Green said. "We did it the next year, and it didn't work. That's a fond memory for me."

Another writer, Herbert Warren Wind, first used the phrase "Amen Corner" to describe the action at the 11th, 12th and 13th holes that year. Wind took the expression from the jazz recording Shouting at Amen Corner, and, from Palmer's standpoint, it was appropriate.

Because of heavy rains the night before, a local rule offering relief from plugged lies was put into place.

Palmer was 1-over par for the day when he reached Amen Corner. He managed to make par at the 11th, but his tee shot on the par-3 12th flew long and plugged into a bank behind the green.

Confusion ensued because Palmer and the rules official were uncertain whether he was entitled to relief. Palmer played the muddy ball and carded a double-bogey five.

Then he played a second ball. After taking a drop, he pitched his ball close to the pin and made par.

The Masters rules committee, including Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts, conferred on the matter. No immediate ruling was given, so Palmer had to continue playing.

On the next hole, the par-5 13th, Palmer played aggressively and reached the green in two. He made the 18-foot putt for eagle.

Two holes later, Palmer was told he had been entitled to a free drop on the 12th and his par with the second ball would stand.

Palmer, who would become famous in later years for his final-round charges, limped home with bogeys on two of his final three holes. But he still had the lead and could only watch as Doug Ford and Fred Hawkins came to the 18th hole with chances to tie him. Both missed birdie putts, and Palmer won his first Masters and the green coat that came with it.

"There was no doubt in my heart that it was a three," Palmer told reporters after the round about his free drop. "It was just a matter of the officials having to make a decision, and I thought I had a three. I wanted to protect myself, though, and that's the reason I played both balls, so there could be no question one way or the other."

Venturi, who never won the Masters and became a television analyst for CBS, isn't so sure that Palmer followed the rules correctly in 1958.

Venturi alleges in a new book, Getting Up and Down: My 60 Years in Golf, that Palmer did not declare he was going to play a second ball until after making a double bogey with the first one in 1958.

"Nobody, not even Palmer, is bigger than the game," Venturi said in the book. "I firmly believe that he did wrong and that he knows that I know he did wrong."

The two discussed the incident in the scorer's tent after the round, Venturi wrote. But Palmer remained adamant that the correct decision had been made.

"There was never any doubt that I was right. I had that confidence," Palmer told The Augusta Chronicle in February. "(The official) came out and announced that I was right, and I was very elated about that and pleased. It only confirmed what I felt about the club and the tournament and everything else."

The win also gave Palmer an additional boost.

"It put me in a position to feel a little more confidence in my game. To then go on and win it three more times was sort of icing on the cake," he said. "That was my first major objective - to win the Masters."

"Palmer was a handsome, clean-cut, rugged, All-American type that people could easily identify with."

- Herbert Warren Wind in Following Through

TV idol

The Masters was shown on television for the first time in 1956, and viewers were able to tune in and see coverage from Augusta National's final four holes.

Those early black-and-white broadcasts were crude by today's standards, but that would soon change thanks to two men.

Up-and-coming CBS producer Frank Chirkinian would supply the innovations that would make the telecasts more enjoyable, and Arnold Palmer (Stats | Bio) would supply the electricity that made a live sporting event must-see TV.

Chirkinian, who worked on Masters telecasts for nearly 40 years, introduced relation-to-par scoring, multiple cameras, microphones on tees and aerial blimps during his award-winning career. He can still recall the first time he saw Palmer on television at the Masters. It was in 1959.

"Here comes Arnold, at the brow of the hill on 15, and this is my first experience with Arnold," Chirkinian said. "And you know, the camera either loves you or hates you. The camera fell in love with him, standing there next to his caddie, hitching his trousers, wrinkling his nose, flipping a cigarette to the ground. He hitched his trousers again and grabbed a club from his caddie. And he hits it on the green.

"I thought, 'Holy mackerel, who is this guy?' He absolutely fired up the screen. It was quite obvious this was the star. We followed him all the way."

Palmer finished third that year as Art Wall Jr. birdied five of the final six holes to win. But in Chirkinian's mind, a star was born.

"It was electrifying. He was just magic," he said. "It's been a long love affair."

"I couldn't look. I didn't see it, but I heard it. It sounded like the best putt of the tournament."

- Winnie Palmer, after Arnold's birdie on the 17th hole in the final round in 1960

Visions of a slam

Bobby Jones set the standard for golf's greatest year with his Grand Slam season of 1930.

Ben Hogan won all three of the majors he entered in 1953, and Tiger Woods (Stats | Bio) won all four majors in a row over a two-year span.

In 1960, Palmer enjoyed his finest year as a professional and in the process rekindled talk of golf's Grand Slam.

The year started with a bang for Palmer. He won the Bob Hope Desert Classic, the Texas Open, the Baton Rouge Open and the Pensacola Open before coming to Augusta.

After he opened with 67, most experts felt a Palmer win was a formality.

That was hardly the case.

After 54 holes, Palmer held a one-stroke lead over Venturi, his friend and challenger from 1958.

Palmer was paired with Billy Casper (Stats | Bio) for the final round, and they went out after Venturi. In typical Masters fashion, the battle for the lead was nip-and-tuck.

Venturi's 33 on the first nine put him two ahead of Palmer, who had played his first nine in even-par 36. Venturi struggled a bit down the stretch, but his final-round 70 gave him the clubhouse lead.

"I haven't won it yet," Venturi cautioned reporters who were eager to interview the winner.

Palmer played even-par golf on the back nine but did not birdie the par-5 holes. When he reached the 17th hole, he trailed Venturi by one and needed a birdie to force a playoff.

Palmer drove safely but hit an indifferent approach to the 17th green. Facing a putt of nearly 30 feet, Palmer's ball crept toward the hole, teetered on the edge and fell in for a birdie.

On the 18th, Palmer lashed a big drive around the corner that left him just a 6-iron away. He played a crisp shot that landed near the hole and stopped six feet left of the pin. With a national television audience watching, Palmer calmly rolled in the birdie putt to become the 1960 Masters champion.

"It wasn't just to beat Ken Venturi, it was to win the Masters," Palmer said. "It isn't something I would have planned that way. Nevertheless, it was something that I enjoyed. The fact that I birdied the last two holes to do it made it even nicer."

The victory was just the beginning for Palmer.

Two months later, he traveled to Denver to play in the U.S. Open at Cherry Hills.

Palmer played indifferently for 54 holes, and his 215 total left him seven shots behind Mike Souchak.

Grabbing a quick lunch after his morning round, Palmer encountered his old friend, Bob Drum, the golf writer for the Pittsburgh Press.

As Dan Jenkins tells it in his book Fairways and Greens, Drum's words inspired Palmer to go out and win the Open that afternoon:

"If I drive the green and get a birdie or an eagle, I might shoot 65," Palmer said. "What'll that do?"

"Nothing," Drum replied. "You're too far back."

Palmer did drive the green at the first hole, and he birdied six of the first seven holes. He would go on to win by two shots over a young amateur from Columbus, Ohio, named Jack Nicklaus (Stats | Bio) .

With victories in the first two majors, Palmer drew the attention of the sports world. The British Open, the game's oldest major championship, had been spurned by most American pros for years. But with a possible Grand Slam in sight, Palmer made the trip to St. Andrews.

He made a game effort of it, but fell short by one stroke to Kel Nagle. The next two years, Palmer would win the British Open and receive credit for rekindling American interest in the event.

"This is the most singularly exciting tournament for me ever. For once in my life, I planned to do something and did what I wanted."

- Arnold Palmer (Stats | Bio) , after winning the 1964 Masters

King of the world

Palmer can be credited with taking golf to the masses in the 1960s. He won six of his seven major championships from 1960 to 1964, and he was becoming a spokesman for a variety of products.

Thanks to his alliance with Mark McCormack and International Management Group, Palmer created a business empire that made him the undisputed king of golf, if not the entire sporting world.

Chirkinian, the television producer, recognized Palmer's appeal almost instantly.

"Up until then, golf was considered quite the elitist game," he said. "Then we have this blue-collar guy who doesn't have the prettiest swing. What you saw was what you got. He had this identification with nonprivate club members who are out hacking it around on public courses. They considered him one of them."

After losing the 1961 Masters with a collapse on the final hole, Palmer shrugged off that disappointment the next spring.

He fired three straight subpar rounds to start the 1962 Masters, but he had to rely on some late-round magic (birdies at Nos. 16 and 17) to force the tournament's first three-man playoff.

In the Monday playoff, Palmer made five birdies on the back nine to win easily.

"Maybe it helped me that everybody kept asking me how I made six at the last hole last year,'' Palmer told reporters.

Before 1964, Palmer had won the Masters in just about every way imaginable. In 1958, he endured the controversial ruling at the 12th; in 1960, he birdied the final two holes to win; and in 1962, he survived a three-man playoff.

He was due for a breather, and he got it in 1964. His six-shot margin of victory was the second best in tournament history, as was his 276 total.

Palmer remembers that tournament for a different reason. He was trying to quit smoking, something he gave up for good later on.

"That was the year there was a lot of question about my game," Palmer said. "The press was on me a little bit about quitting smoking. They thought it was (detrimental). I probably played the best Masters I ever played."

With his six-stroke victory, Palmer became the first four-time Masters winner.

Playing with his good friend Dave Marr, who would wind up tied for second with Jack Nicklaus (Stats | Bio) , Palmer tried to ease the tension as they prepared to tee off on the 18th that Sunday.

"We're bantering a little bit, and I said to David, 'Is there anything I can do to help you?,'" Palmer said. "We were very close (friends), and he said, 'Yeah, you can make 10.' That was kind of funny."

The good times in Augusta, though, were close to being over.

Palmer tied for second in 1965 when Nicklaus ran away from the field, and he would finish in the top four the next two years. Surprisingly, the 1967 Masters would be the last time Palmer would seriously contend at Augusta National.

"I always like to think there's always a couple more good rounds in my body, and maybe there are."

- Arnold Palmer (Stats | Bio) , at the 2002 Masters

Golf junkie

Make no mistake about Arnold Palmer (Stats | Bio) : He's a certified golf junkie.

The man has thousands of clubs, tees it up every chance he gets and loves the "needling" and badgering that are a part of the daily games at Bay Hill Club and Lodge.

Not even surgery for prostate cancer in 1997 could keep Palmer away from Augusta.

His obsession also explains his decisions to continue playing PGA Tour events and at the Masters well beyond his prime playing years.

"I'm feeling great; my golf game is getting a little better," Palmer said in late February. "It's a little better than it's been."

Palmer shot 88-79 at his Bay Hill Invitational last month and missed the cut.

These days, Palmer takes pride in small victories. The look on his face at Bay Hill after he hit two solid shots to reach the 18th green, and break 80 that day, summed up Palmer's love for the game.

The ovations on every hole didn't hurt him, either.

"The people and those things are the reason I played as long as I have," Palmer said at Bay Hill. "Without the thoughts that they give me and to continue to tell me that they want me to play, I wouldn't be here now. It's nice, and it's been nice through the years."

Palmer, who has not made a cut at the Masters since 1983, still has a positive outlook about his final appearance.

"I'm looking forward to it. I'm trying to make the cut," he said. "It would be a thrill for me. It would be a nice way to end it all."

"He has said this will be his last year for the past few years now. When you have experienced the thrills of Augusta like we have, this is easy to understand."

- Gary Player (Stats | Bio)

Taking a mulligan

Two years ago, Palmer announced his intention to end his streak of playing at the Masters. He claimed that he didn't want to get a letter from Hootie Johnson, the Augusta National and Masters chairman.

Although the comment drew a chuckle, it was not far from the truth. Before the 2002 Masters, Johnson had sent letters to past Masters winners Doug Ford, Billy Casper (Stats | Bio) and Gay Brewer (Stats | Bio) that basically ended their lifetime invitation to the tournament.

By frequently playing a few holes and withdrawing, the three men had not maintained their obligation to the spirit of the lifetime exemption. Johnson and the club also outlined a policy that would end a former champions' playing days at age 65.

Palmer's decision to call it quits was front-page news. He proudly led his fans around a beefed-up Augusta National layout, shooting 89 in the first round. On the second day, Mother Nature intervened and cut off his round with just a few holes to play.

Palmer returned that Saturday morning to finish his round of 85. Several Masters participants lined up outside the scorer's tent to personally bid Palmer farewell.

But Palmer, the golf junkie and leader of Arnie's Army, could not go out like that. In 2003, barely a month before the Masters, Palmer and Nicklaus sent letters of their own to Johnson. They urged him to restore the lifetime exemption. The sweetener on the deal was that Palmer would return to play two more years in order to achieve the magic number of 50 consecutive starts.

"That's something that happened, and I think Hootie has done a great job with the club," Palmer said.

"I'm very happy. I think there is something to be said about competitiveness: When you stop playing competitive golf, you should not play Augusta. Now, I saw the opportunity to play for 50 years, and that was unusual."

Both Nicklaus and Player know how much Palmer and the Masters have been intertwined.

"What Augusta has meant to both our lives, the importance of it to us, is something we've always shared," Nicklaus said. "When we met with Hootie Johnson last year and had the (age limit) rule changed, we were of one mind on how we felt and, obviously, made a pretty good argument. That's been our history together."

Player, who was vocal last year about the age limitation for past champions until the club rescinded it, knows Palmer will have a difficult time letting go.

"It is hard to give it up here," Player said. "Whether this year is it or not, Arnold Palmer (Stats | Bio) has had an incredible impact on the history of this tournament, and we can all thank him for the legacy he leaves and for his part in securing its continued rich traditions for the future."

Palmer is a bit more emphatic about this being his last hurrah. There are no ifs, ands or buts this time around.

"This is definitely it," Palmer said.

"When I walked on that hallowed ground, if you want to call it that, it was pretty special. It was a privilege. And, of course, I think there is something to be said for the fact that America gives you a chance to earn those privileges."

- Arnold Palmer (Stats | Bio) , on playing in the Masters, during a Golf Channel interview

A man in full

Although Palmer experienced more success at Augusta National than anyone except Nicklaus, he also experienced his share of disappointments in the Masters and other major events.

Palmer's frailties were never more exposed at the Masters than in 1961.

"It was certainly a disappointment. I made a very bad mistake in the process of playing the 18th hole," Palmer said. "It was something I was taught not to do. I knew better, but my mind was kind of reeling, and I made a mistake."

Palmer let his guard down. Standing in the middle of the 18th fairway that Sunday, he needed only par to win. Instead, he blocked his approach into the bunker at the right of the green. Then he played a loose bunker shot that rolled over the green.

Now he had to get up and down to save bogey and force a playoff with Player. He chipped long and missed the putt to lose by a stroke, one of the most bitter losses of his career.

Palmer would recover to win two more Masters, but his inability to post victories in the other major championships would nag him. Although he won seven professional majors, he is also well known for never having won the PGA Championship to complete the career Grand Slam.

He also lost three U.S. Opens in playoffs.

"Certainly I didn't think (1960) would be the last Open I would ever win," he said. "I had the good fortune to win the Open. There isn't a hell of a lot more I can say about that."

Palmer was 34 when he won the Masters in 1964. He was at the pinnacle of the game. Although Snead and Hogan were past their prime, Player was a worthy opponent and Nicklaus was a rising star.

But no one could have predicted that it would be his final victory in a major.

"I don't really know why it was the last. I hope it wasn't the satisfaction of winning the Masters," Palmer said. "Maybe I lost some of the desire or the courage that I had earlier on. I don't know. I'll accept it."

Bobby Jones once said that if all his life experiences were taken away except for those at St. Andrews, he would have lived a rich and full life. Palmer can say the same about the Masters and Augusta National.

"Everything that has happened and continued to happen has been great memories for me," he said. "The importance has not dwindled at all.

"That's part of what makes it all so great for me. It's been a great trip for me."

Reach John Boyette at (706) 823-3337 or john.boyette@augustachronicle.com.