Farewell to Arnie

Arnold Palmer is getting good at saying goodbye, perhaps because he’s doing it so often.

There was the heartfelt going-away party at the 1994 U.S. Open, when the adoring crowd’s continuous roar echoed through a river valley in his native western Pennsylvania.

Then came last year’s teary-eyed goodbye during his 50th and last Masters – the tournament that made him the King and, in turn, he personally raised in stature and prestige.

But Friday’s farewell in the Senior PGA Championship at Ligonier, Pa., was as tough as any, because this time the faces in the crowd were friends, family and neighbors, business associates and buddies, people he’s known all of his 75 years.

This was different. This was home. This was tough. This was the last time he would play before the most intimate members of Arnie’s Army in tournament play, with the strokes being counted and the scores being posted and the results known to all.

“I’ve lived here all my life,” he said. “And if you don’t know how long that is, I’m not going to tell you.”

His game barely reminiscent of that which made him a seven-time winner of majors between 1958-64 and one of the world’s most recognizable figures, Palmer really didn’t want to play this week.

But he knew skipping it, on the Laurel Valley Golf Club course where the PGA Championship and Ryder Cup were played largely because of his influence, would disappoint so many.

His 14-over-par 86 was memorable only for a long birdie putt he dropped on No. 17, and an even longer one he just missed on No. 18. He managed just two pars on a back nine that included a triple-bogey 8 on the monstrous, 605-yard No. 11.

Sure, he spends considerable time each year in Florida, close to his own Bay Hill Invitational, but he’ll tell you the Pittsburgh area is home.

And that birdie, one of only two in his two rounds? It gave him another reason to play again in another tournament, on another day, even if it’s not where the home folks can show up to watch.

“That gives me a license to play another round some time,” he said.

Obviously, that one final, conclusive goodbye – his retirement – is still yet to come somewhere down the road.

“The leader at the Senior PGA Championship is Jerry Pate, who shot a 4-under 68 that gave him a two-day total of 6-under 138. He leads by one stroke.

“It’s been 20 years,” the 51-year-old Pate said, referring to the last time he was in contention in a PGA tournament. “That’s a long time.”

Pate followed up Thursday’s 2-under 70 to lead R.W. Eaks (70) by one shot and Mark McNulty (66) and Mike Reid (70) by two shots.

PGA Tour

Fredrik Jacobson has been telling himself to quit worrying about his mistakes, and the optimistic approach helped him shoot a 6-under 64 that gave him a share of a two-stroke lead midway through the second round of the St. Jude Classic in Memphis, Tenn.

Jacobson had a six-birdie, no-bogey round for a 54-hole total of 8-under 132 that tied him with first-round leader Justin Leonard, who teed off in the afternoon.

Leonard birdied his second hole to go to 9 under but gave the stroke back with a bogey on his third. He parred the next three holes to remain at 8 under with Jacobson.

Matt Gogel (68), Heath Slocum (66), Tom Pernice (68) and Roland Thatcher (67) were tied at 6 under.

Kirk Triplett started the day two strokes behind Leonard, but bogeyed Nos. 7-9. He got two of those strokes back with birdies on Nos. 11 and 12 before finishing with a 71 and tying Davis Love III (70) for seventh at 5-under 135.

LPGA Tour

Annika Sorenstam shot a 4-under 68 to tie Sherri Turner for the second-round lead at the LPGA Corning (N.Y.) Classic.

Sorenstam, seeking her fifth win in six starts this year, jumped to the top of the leaderboard after a four-hour delay caused by lightning and rain.

Play was stopped because of darkness after Sorenstam’s threesome finished, meaning that most of the afternoon starters will have to complete their rounds this morning.

Turner, who finished before the rain delay, shot a 1-under 71 for a two-round total of 7-under 137.

Among those who didn’t complete the second round is Tracy Hanson of Rathdrum, Idaho, who left the course at even par.