How Arnold Palmer described his relationships with Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player nine years after he retired from golf

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Arnold Palmer was one of the greatest golfers ever and had an incredible impact on the game throughout his life.

He was one-third of ‘The Big Three’, alongside Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, who helped to drastically increase the sport’s popularity in the 1960s.

Palmer unfortunately passed away in 2016 but his legacy still lives on, not least with the PGA Tour Signature Event at Bay Hill, the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Here we look at what Palmer said about some of his contemporaries, such as Nicklaus and Palmer, nine years after he retired.

• READ MORE: The four golfers Jack Nicklaus picked when asked to select his Mount Rushmore for golf

How Arnold Palmer described his relationship with four golf legends

Jack Nicklaus

• “Jack is a good friend. He is a personal friend and a guy that I can appreciate and understand very well and enjoy being with.”

Nicklaus is Tiger Woods’ biggest rival in the greatest of all-time debate. The ‘Golden Bear’ won 73 PGA Tour events throughout his career, including a record 18 majors.

Gary Player

• “Gary and I are very close. We were close all our lives. We played big three golf and did a lot of things together. We did a lot of shows and a lot of golf. Something that I think will last forever.”

Player is one of only five men to complete the modern Career Grand Slam (winning all four Majors). He won 159 tournaments in his professional career across a number of countries.

Bobby Jones

• “Bob Jones was a great guy. He didn’t mind talking. I remember he watched me make a putt on one of the holes during a match. It was about an eight-footer. When I finished he came over to me and said, ‘Arn, let me tell you something, if I ever have a putt for my life I am going to come and get you to putt it for me.”

Bobby Jones not only won the original four majors (US Open, Open Championship, US Amateur and British Amateur) but he lifted them all in the same year (1930). He also co-founded the Masters Tournament.

Walter Hagen

• “Walter was a very close friend. I corresponded with him. He was the first man I talked to after I won the Open. He called me on the phone and congratulated me. What a thrill that was. Then I got to know him, I met with him a number of times and he said, ‘Arnie, when I die, I want you to remember that I asked you to be a pallbearer for me.’ He was sick at the time. He thrilled me to death with the things he told me and as a matter of fact, I was a pallbearer in the Walter Hagen funeral.”

Walter Hagen won 11 majors – only bettered by Nicklaus and Woods – and is often referred to as the ‘father of professional golf’. Arguably his most impressive feat was captaining six United States Ryder Cup teams.

How many majors did Arnold Palmer win?

Palmer has seven majors on his resume, though he was never able to achieve the Career Grand Slam after finishing second at the PGA Championship three times.

Still, Palmer will always be remembered as one of golf’s legends nothing epitomizes his greatness more than his 50 consecutive Masters appearances.