Greg Norman believes it is impossible for anyone to ever wield influence on golf the same way the late Arnold Palmer did.
Palmer, who won seven major championships and popularized the game in the 1960s, died on Sunday, aged 87, while awaiting heart surgery at a Pittsburgh hospital.
Norman and Palmer's 35-year friendship began when the Australian moved to America in 1981 and Palmer invited the young, talented golfer to his course in Bay Hill, Orlando.
"He reached out to me because I was looking for a place to go and practise, and he said to come take a look," Norman told Newsweek. "I bought a house in Orlando, actually on the 12th floor of Bay Hill on his golf course, and I stayed there for a few years before I moved out. I spent a lot of time with Arnold learning more about life and about golf.
"He was a special person at the right time. There wasn't television in the game of golf then, he brought that to the game. Social media is totally different to what he did with television; what he did will never be emulated."
Palmer attracted mass interest and coverage to golf as he dominated the sport alongside fellow American Jack Nicklaus and South Africa's Gary Player. He became the first golfer to earn $1 million.
"Legacies are really hard to define, but Arnold definitely had a legacy about him for what he has given the game of golf and to life and people," Norman said. "His following and influence was huge, from politicians to CEOs, to guys who had man crushes on him and women who just loved being around him. He had a sexy voice, he had an attitude about him that everybody gravitated to. He was a magnet."
News broke of the 62-time PGA Tour winner's death late in the evening on Sunday. Norman had seen Palmer six months earlier and, despite his age and ill-health, his passing came as a shock to his long-time friend.
"It was one of those situations where you knew time wasn't on his side," Norman explains. "Every year that passed by, eventually something was going to happen, but when it does you are shocked and surprised by it.
"He was the kind of guy you could sit down with and have a beer or vodka with. He would bring you into his life, into his being, and he was one of those guys that if you were in his inner circle, you were there for a long, long time.
"The sport has lost a wonderful man and life has lost a beautiful person."
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