Arnold Palmer - Paul Harris Fellow

The energy in any golf clubhouse, public or private, on the late afternoon of a Major is always electric.  Over cold beers and iced tea, golfers talk about the shots that will keep them coming back, while watching television with increasing attention.  Who is going to break out for the first time and win their first Major?  Who is going to melt under the pressure?  Is the course set up fairly, or is it overly penal? Which television commentator is going be first to say something really repetitive or annoying? Aside from the competition itself, few aspects of the Majors create more arguments than what is said by the announcers. 

Case in point, while I believe Jimmy Roberts' segments on NBC golf coverage get a bit sappy at times, I enjoyed his story about Arnold Palmer's history at Oakmont.  The story began with a picture of a steel-sided, red barn in Pennsylvania, which turns out to be Arnie's career museum.  Roberts describes Palmer's long history at, and his love for, Oakmont, while showing memorabilia from Palmer's life and career.

In the segment, Palmer acknowledges that losing to Jack Nicklaus in the 1962 US Open was one of his biggest career disappointments.

If you watched the segment, a Rotary connection jumped out at you about half-way through.   In one scene, camera panning right, you see a Paul Harris Fellow certificate bearing Arnold Palmer's name.

How terrific is it, that of all the fond memories and treasures in that barn, the memories of triumph and disappointment, that Arnold Palmer's Paul Harris Fellow certificate stands prominently in view!

In the end, it is not what people say about you that distinguishes you, it is what you yourself hold dear that matters.

Do you have more to share about Arnold Palmer's connection to Rotary and his Paul Harris Fellow recognition?  Who are some other famous Paul Harris Fellows?  Please share.