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Courtesy of Greg Hardwig
Naples Daily News
NAPLES - Greg Norman talked with Arnold Palmer in a Bay Hill Club locker room, and wanted to organize an event to raise money for Palmer's hospital over 20 years ago.
The result: Norman, Palmer, Raymond Floyd, and Jack Nicklaus got together at Grand Cypress Resort in Orlando in 1986. Twenty-two years later, the four were sitting together at Tiburón Golf Club talking about where Norman's event has come.
From the original foursome, to a field of 24 touring pros shown on national television. From a small event in Orlando, to the bigger one first played in California in 1989 that eventually moved to Naples in 2001.
"To pick up the phone and get in touch with them to come over here and help celebrate the 20th anniversary is truly an honor," said Norman, 53. "...They've been very much part of my success in my whole career, but they've been very much a part of the success of The Franklin Templeton Shootout to where we are today."
The four World Golf Hall of Famers -- who have a combined 30 major tournament titles -- tied in the Shootout's longevity and what its done for children's cancer research to professional golf tournaments and their affiliations with charities.
 Norman: "These three guys here are champions of the cause, and I'm happy to call them my friends." |
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"We truly love our sport with a passion, but more than that, I think we all love giving back," Norman said.
"I think the real significance is the reflection of the charities and the sport, what golf has meant to so many," said Floyd, 66.
Starting Friday, 24 tour pros, including five members and the captain from the 2008 U.S. Ryder Cup team, will play in the 20th Shootout with a $2.9 million purse at Tiburón Golf Club.
But the first version of the Shootout was played with just the one foursome -- Norman, Palmer, Nicklaus and Floyd -- as a fund-raiser for what is now the Arnold Palmer Medical Center in Orlando. The fact that, in 1986, Nicklaus won the Masters, Floyd won the U.S. Open, and Norman won the British Open, didn't hurt the interest.
Norman had the idea for the Shootout after playing in the Bay Hill Club's member-guest, which was a team event with multiple playing formats in Orlando.
"We had so much fun playing at Bay Hill and playing with the members and getting together, so I thought this would be a wonderful format for the pros," Norman said.
Nicklaus, who has won a record 18 major tournaments, admitted he didn't remember much from that first Shootout. That led to a little needling from Palmer.
"You lost," quipped Palmer, 79.
"Well, that's why I don't remember," said Nicklaus, 68, not skipping a beat. "I always remember when I win, so I obviously didn't win."
The first version of the Shootout, which lasted from 1986-90 and overlapped the first two on the West Coast, raised over $1 million for Palmer's hospital in its five years.
"He really motivated and got a lot of people excited about doing things," said Palmer, who won seven major titles. "... I couldn't thank him enough then and now for what he did to help get it off the ground, and to see what has happened."
The Palmer Medical Center now includes the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies; Winnie Palmer, Palmer's wife, died in 1999.
The Shootout in its current form has raised over $10 million for the CureSearch National Childhood Cancer Foundation.
In 1989, the bigger version of the Shootout started in Thousand Oaks, Calif., as the Ronald McDonald Children's Charities Invitational, and was renamed The Franklin Templeton Shootout in 1991. Its had a couple of changes in title sponsors over the years, with Merrill Lynch coming on board in 2007.
The two-player teams playing different formats over three days -- modified alternate shot in the first round, a best ball in the second, and a scramble in the third -- also made it a favorite of the players.
"We started seeing the popularity of what the event was really all about when I played with four guys," Norman said. "From there, it just took off. We started talking to the PGA Tour and talking to McDonald's at the time. Sherwood Country Club came on the scene. We sort of just grew into that."
"When you talk about a special season-ending event, for it to go 20 years, I think that speaks volumes, the success of the event, and the players that have played, and the charities that have benefited from it," Floyd said.
Palmer played in eight of the bigger Shootouts, and Nicklaus played in four, but the two legends never won. Floyd, who played in nine, won with Fred Couples in 1990 and Steve Elkington in 1993. Norman has played in every one, taking the title with Elkington in a playoff in 1998.
Palmer and Nicklaus -- 2000 was the final year for each -- both had a second-place finish. Palmer and Peter Jacobsen were second in 1990, and Nicklaus was second with Norman in 1991.
"We almost had it right, and then he went out and got another partner," Nicklaus joked.
While both versions of the Shootout created some memorable times on and off the golf course, Norman can look back fondly on the three who played with him back in 1986.
"These three guys here are champions of the cause, and I'm happy to call them my friends," he said.
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