Catching Tiger Woods: Arnold Palmer says foes better ramp it up for his return

Even the King thinks kids today need to work harder. Specifically, the PGA Tour’s other 150 or so guys most people couldn’t name without Google-ing Wikipedia. Assuming they even had a page there.

Arnold Palmer, didn’t actually call out players for being lazy in trying to at least make Tiger Woods notice them in his rear view mirror. But in a recent interview in advance of next week’s Bob Hope Classic, Palmer suggested this might be a good time to ramp up their work ethic as Woods makes his comeback after a long layoff following knee surgery. Reports are that Woods might return as early as mid-February at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship outside Tucson.

“How will it affect the other people? I don’t know,” says Palmer, who hosts the Bob Hope Classic, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary. “I know if I were there playing and competing, I would certainly put forth a greater effort to be a top player. If you’re going to be a top player, you’ve got to somewhere along the way fess up to Tiger and play him and do something about it. I think that is very important. Of course, we see a lot of these guys that are so good, I expect that some of them are going to challenge him. I think that would be good for the game.”

Speaking of Palmer, the last of his 62 PGA Tour victories came at the Bob Hope in 1973. Palmer made $87,275 that year, or about what an average player can make in one week with a top 25 finish.

Palmer earned $1.86 million in his storied career, or about what Woods makes in two non-major victories.

Like their elders, even the kids today respectfully still thank Palmer for the money they play for every week.

Speaking of Palmer’s courses, two of the four layouts used for the Bob Hope Classic are his designs … SilverRock Resort and Palmer Private at PGA West. I haven’t played those, but two of the best Palmer courses I’ve seen are the Legacy Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla., and Mid South Club in Pinehurst, N.C. I recently wrote a review on Mid South, and if anybody has a list of their favorite Palmer courses, let me know.