Arnold David Palmer, at age 72, played his final competitive round in the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club on Saturday, April 13. It was a record 48th consecutive tournament appearance for the "King", who has won this major championship four times. It seemed fitting somehow that rain would interrupt Friday's second round and force Palmer to play his remaining six holes one day later, bringing him back to the battlefield one last time so members of the world's largest "non-military army" could bid him an emotional farewell during his final stroll onto the 18th green.

Among Arnold Palmer's has made 48 appearances and winning four times; 1958, 1960, 1962, 1964. Arnold made the cut 25 times with top 25 finishes 19 times. Total earnings exceeding $190k.

His lowest total score - 276 a 12-under par in 1964

Lowest score of 66 - 2nd round, 1966  |  Highest score of 89 - 1st round, 2002

Palmer's first Masters appearance was in 1955 at age 25 when he tied for 10th--one shot behind Canada's Stan Leonard--and won $695.

Palmer was awarded $11,250 for winning his first Masters title in 1958. His biggest payday was $20,000 for winning in 1962 & 1964. 2002 Masters winner received $1,080,000.

Between 1957 and 1967, Palmer finished no worse than tied for ninth.

Palmer's last triumph at Augusta National came in 1967 when he won the renowned 9-hole Par Three contest in a playoff.

Palmer has not made the cut at the Masters since 1983.

After shooting 17-over par in the first round of this year's Masters Palmer announced:
" . . . I think enough of this golf tournament and the people that are playing it and the people that run this golf tournament to say, hey, I don't need to be here. I'll support this tournament until the day I die and I'd like to think that I'll come here and be a part of it, but as far as the playing is concerned, it's over. It's done. I'm certainly unhappy about it, but I'm not sad. I'm not sad to the point that it's going to bother me that much. I've enjoyed Augusta and I've enjoyed what it has meant to me over the years, and the good thing is, I will come back and play a little golf and enjoy it some more. I think that's the bottom line on it."

Palmer's first of 61 regular PGA TOUR victories and 92 world wide was the 1955 Canadian Open, played at Weston G&CC on the outskirts of Toronto. Seven of those victories are Majors.

Palmer's last International victory (for other than Senior tournaments) was recorded in 1980 at Edmonton's Mayfair G&CC when he won the Canadian PGA Championship. That same year Palmer won a playoff victory over Paul Harney at the PGA Seniors' Championship, the first official SENIOR TOUR event he entered.

In addition to designing the outstanding Northview Golf &Country Club in Surrey, BC, home to the PGA TOUR's Air Canada Championship, Palmer's other Canuck connection is winning the two-man Canada Cup Team championship in 1960 & 1962 with Sam Snead and 1963, 1964, 1966 with Jack Nicklaus and again with Nicklaus in 1967 when the Canada cup was renamed The World Cup.

--Upon finishing up his second round Saturday morning (because of Friday's rain delay) Arnold again met with the media and was asked:

Q. It's no doubt that you're leaving the game of golf, at least at this point, in a much better place than you found it some 40-plus years ago. Do you feel comfortable with where the game is going now and leaving it in the hands of the players that are out there?

ARNOLD PALMER: "Hell of a question. I think the game of golf is in pretty good hands, yes, but I certainly am not without my about the game and how it's treated and what reaction we get from all of the things that are happening in the game, from manufacturing, to players, to rules, to you name it. I would like to think that that is a vigil that we have to stay on to keep the game on the proper course. Right now, if you look at statistics, you'll find that the game for the general public is a little flat. It's not making a lot of progress right now. But I don't think it's going backwards, either, don't misunderstand me. But I think we need to be aware of that and I think we need to do all we can to have people come out and enjoy the game. I've never been one to keep it to a certain few. I've always felt like everyone should be able to enjoy the game, and I would like to think that that will continue to happen."

Q. What will you miss the most here, the fans, competing?

ARNOLD PALMER: "Well, the Masters galleries, they are unbelievable, as you saw today. I marvelled at the last few holes. I just said to Roy, my son-in-law, I said, "I've never seen anything quite like this." I've seen big crowds and I've seen people, but this was unbelievable."

Arnold Palmer is Chairman of the Board of television's The Golf Channel.

Mike Weir, Canada's lone hope at this year's Masters, recorded his best finish in his third consecutive start, tying for 24th with rounds of 72-71-71-76 - 290, 16 shots behind the Tiger Woods. Weir also had the distinction of being closest-to-the pin at the 8th hole during Wednesday's traditional Par Three contest---101 inches from the target. A record five players recorded hole-in-ones at the Par Three this year, including Toshi Izawa who went back-to-back on #5 & #6. In 33 years of this pre-Masters 9-hole event 50 aces have been scored.

The only record held by a Canadian at the Masters was established in the first tournament in 1934 when amateur Ross Somerville (six time Canadian Amateur medallist) used a mashie niblick from 145 yards at #16 to score the tournament's first ever hole-in-one.

Tiger Trivia : Only two players have won more Masters titles than the Tiger --- a King and a Bear. Arnold 'The King' Palmer, has four and Jack 'The Golden Bear' Nicklaus has six - - - - This was Wood's 8th appearance at the Masters - - - - At age 26 Tiger has now moved into a tie with Harry Varden, Bobby Jones, Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead and Palmer as winners of seven Major golf championships. The five players ahead of Tiger are Tom Watson - 8; Ben Hogan and Gary Player - 9; Walter Hagen - 11 and Nicklaus - 18. Nicklaus won his 18th at the age of 46. (This list does not included the record-setting three consecutive US Amateur titles Tiger won 1994-95-96) - - - - Tiger now has won 31 PGA TOUR sanctioned tournaments, which includes the 2000 AT&T Bell Canadian Open, captured the same year he won the British Open and the US Open and became only the second player in history to win golf's Triple Crown.