Off the Tee: Arnie’s Passing, Tour Championship Recap, Ryder Cup Preview

His resume on the course was one of the most storied in golf history. His roles as pitchman, golf course architect, and golf ambassador were unparalleled.

There will never be another Arnold Palmer, who died at the age of 87, Sunday, September 25.

Palmer was a 62-time winner on the PGA Tour and captured seven major championships in his career. But when you factor in his Top Ten finishes at majors, you get a full sense of just what a talent he was.

He was runner-up at the U.S. Open four times, part of 12 Top Ten finishes. There were eight Top Ten's at The Masters, including two second place finishes. Palmer had six Top Ten's at the PGA Championship (the one major title he never won) with three runner-up finishes. At the British Open, he had one second place finish to go with five Top Ten's overall.

Closer to home, his legacy lives on at Dakota Dunes Country Club, in Southeastern South Dakota, a course he designed in the early 1990's.

Palmer's passing cast a big shadow over Rory McIlroy's amazing comeback at the PGA Tour Championship, as the former number one player in the world rallied from three shots down with three holes to play, eventually winning in a playoff over Ryan Moore.

For his troubles, McIlroy cleared a cool $11.53 million, when you combine the FedEx Cup bonus ($10 million) and the Tour Championship prize money ($1.53 million).

The day was not a total bust for Moore, who parlayed his second place finish into the final Captain's pick for the U.S. Ryder Cup team.

That sets the stage for the 41st Ryder Cup, which is hosted by the U.S. this time, at Hazeltine National Golf Club, in nearby Chaska, Minnesota.

The Americans are mired in their worst slump in Ryder Cup history, three straight losses, six defeats in the last seven events, on the losing end in eight of the last ten.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are practice days, with foursome and four ball play, Friday and Saturday, and singles play, Sunday.

4 Deep Golf blog's Joel Harrington will be in the gallery all week long at Hazeltine and he gives us a preview of the action, plus some perspective on the life of Arnold Palmer in this edition of 'Off The Tee':

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