Legendary Golfer Arnold Palmer Dies at 87

Golfing great Arnold Palmer passed away on Sunday at age 87.

Palmer, nicknamed "The King," ruled the PGA in the early 1960s. Between 1960 and 1963, he won 29 tournaments and five of his seven major championships.

He is best remembered for making golf popular for ordinary people. A resident of Lotrobe, Pennsylvania, Palmer was beloved not just for his skill but for his aggressive style of play on the course and his charm off the course.

His biographer, James Dodson, said he "represented everything that is great about golf," Golfweek reported.

"We loved him with a mythic American joy," Dodson said. "The friendship, the fellowship, the laughter, the impossibility of golf, the sudden rapture moment that brings you back, a moment that you never forget, that's Arnold Palmer in spades. He's the defining figure in golf."

His fans, known as "Arnie's Army," started as a small group of soldiers from Fort Gordon and became a global legion.

Palmer died of complications from heart disease at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center where he had been scheduled for surgery on Monday.