Happiness Is Winning

Arnold Palmer made $81,000 last year just by playing golf. That didn't even begin to pay the taxes on the money he earned from his Arnold Palmer driving ranges, Arnold Palmer slacks, Arnold Palmer sweaters, Arnold Palmer shirts and Arnold Palmer laundry.

But can the son of a greenskeeper from the Pennsylvania coal country find happiness in a world of luxury and high finance? Apparently not. "First of all," said Arnie at last week's Los Angeles Open, "I'm a golf professional. And secondly, I like to win."

He did, too -- for the first time in al most a year. It was a sort of hollow victory, because neither Jack Nicklaus nor Gary Player was entered in the tournament. But it did wonders for Arnie's pride, and it was worth $11,000 --which automatically (since it was the year's first tournament) put Palmer back into his once-familiar position atop pro golfs money-winning list.

The first thing everybody noticed when Arnie arrived at Los Angeles' Rancho Municipal Golf Course was that he was back on cigarettes, after a year of trying to give them up. He was also belting his drives with fresh gusto, and he was using a new putter. On the first day, he limbered up with a so-so 72. Next day he cut his score to a five-under 66, and in the third round he was the old Arnold Palmer. His tee shots carried 310 yds. or more, and his putting was uncanny: twelve times in 18 holes he got down with one putt. Rattling off seven straight birdies--just one shy of the P.G.A. record--he shot a nine-under 62, opened up a seven-stroke gap on the field. "What's Arnie trying to do--lap the rest of us?" demanded Paul Harney, who had won the tournament the last two years in a row.

In the last round, Palmer settled for a 73 and a three-stroke victory. "I don't intend to be a lingerer," said Arnie, 36, as he flew off to film a TV show with Nicklaus and Player, "but I don't see any reason why I shouldn't be able to play competitively until I'm 40."

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