For three decades, the Bay Hill Club and Lodge has played host to what is now known as the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard. Some of the world’s greatest golfers have passed through the gates of Bay Hill over the years in homage to the host, Arnold Palmer. But for all the glitz and glamour you see surrounding the PGA Tour during tournament week, you must realize the beginnings were very humble until Palmer took over.
Little more than 650 acres of wasteland that couldn’t be cultivated into orange groves by Dr. Phillip Phillips, owner of the largest producer of citrus groves in the world, would eventually evolve into a magnificent stretch of golf holes known today as one of the finest facilities in all of golf. Phillips was quoted as saying, “The fallow land between the citrus groves is worthless; it has no value except to keep the earth together.”
There are several today who would vehemently disagree.

It all started with an observation

During his years at Wake Forest, Palmer first visited central Florida to compete in matches against Rollins College in Orlando. At the time, the simple beauty of the area caught his eye. The area had yet to be overcome by Walt Disney World and the current other steadfast attractions. It was a small town by small town standards, and a quiet little place where you could find solace, especially about 10 miles south and west of downtown Orlando. About the only things making noise around there were oranges and grapefruit falling off the tree and thudding to the ground because they had yet to be harvested.
Not long after graduation in 1955, Palmer joined the professional ranks and while driving through the area with his wife, Winnie, beside him on their way to a tournament in Georgia, he turned to her and said, “If I ever move or build a second home, it will be right here.”
The statement may have been a wistful idea at the time, but nonetheless a peek into the future of Bay Hill.
In February 1965, Palmer returned to central Florida and played in an exhibition at a very young Bay Hill Club. It was the first time he saw the course. The three-year-old track yielded to Palmer and his aggressive style of play. He won easily. Garnering such success so quickly at the site made him think the course would be the perfect spot for a winter home. And why not? There was the beautiful Florida weather, an excellent golf course for him on which to practice and the perfect refuge to escape from the burdens of being an extremely popular touring pro. He called home to Latrobe, Pennsylvania following the exhibition and told his wife that he had just played the best golf course in Florida and he wanted to own it someday.
His interest was genuine enough that he returned 10 months later to relax before the tour season began in January, 1966. A winner of 45 tour titles by then, the siren song of Bay Hill was very compelling. For the inaugural Florida Citrus Open Invitational that year, Palmer rented a cottage at Bay Hill during tournament week and shared it with fellow pro and good friend Dow Finsterwald. Several times after, he would return to the solitude to practice and relax at the then-remote site. Palmer used the course several times as the perfect warm-up for the Masters in the spring, an event he won four times.
After the second lodge building was completed, Palmer brought Winnie and his parents to this unique property that had become so fond to him. With its remoteness at the time and extraordinary layout designed by Dick Wilson, Palmer considered the place nothing short of paradise.

The wheels began to turn

It wasn’t long before he seriously considered buying the facility in order to preserve the quiet atmosphere of the club and expand the excellence of the course itself.
Palmer’s first step was to engage Mark McCormack, the president of International Management Group, who not only managed his business affairs, but also was often times a partner in his business ventures.
McCormack contacted the Nashville Group, the original developers who purchased the property from the Dr. Phillips Foundation in 1959. At first, the group was reluctant to sell but, with persuasion, by the end of 1969 both parties had agreed to terms. Palmer and his newly-formed investment group took control of Bay Hill with a five-year option on the property on January 1, 1970.
After some legal jostling among the principal ownership Palmer and his investment group, they exercised the option and took over control of the Bay Hill Club and Lodge officially on January 1, 1976.
With the Palmer group in control of the property and assured of their rights, they moved forward to improve the facility for the members and their guests.
One of Palmer’s highest priorities after he took control was to host a professional golf tournament, preferably a major championship such as the U.S. Open or PGA Championship. But the most obvious choice was the Florida Citrus Open, held at Rio Pinar Country Club across town.
After the 1977 event, Palmer and McCormack approached the leadership at Rio Pinar about moving the tournament to Bay Hill. The event organizers declined initially, but the inquiry certainly did cause them to start thinking seriously about it.
The Florida Citrus Open has lost some of its luster over the years. After running the tournament for so long, the leadership began to become weary. Although the lease fees paid by the tournament were an important revenue source, the members were getting tired of giving up their course in the middle of the peak-playing season. More importantly, Frank Hubbard, a local businessman and one of the five original founders of the tournament, and his organizing committee realized with the growing popularity of golf in general, including increasing demands for bigger prize money, the central Florida event could use the higher profile that would come with Palmer’s involvement. After all, it was his popularity that was causing the uproar in the first place. Not only would Palmer’s participation provide a new venue and his marquee name, but it would also create opportunities to grow and enhance the tournament because of his relationship with IMG. They believed these benefits would help preserve the event for the Orlando area.
Following the 1978 Florida Citrus Open, the PGA Tour, then only three years old, approved moving the event to Bay Hill.
McCormack contacted Jim Bell, whom McCormack was introduced to while his son competed in a junior tournament run by Bell, and asked him to move to Orlando from Buffalo, New York to be the tournament director. Bell immediately met with the volunteer groups that filled so many tournament needs and found the response to be exceptional. The Rio Pinar volunteers pledged their continued support for the tournament at its new site. Bell got started in earnest in July 1978 as he began to plan the 1979 event.
Right away the purse was increased from $150,000 to $200,000 with the winner’s share increasing from $40,000 to $45,000. In comparison, Tiger Woods’ share of the $5.8 million purse was $1,044,000. A tie for 31st would garner $51,620 last year. My, how times have changed.
In the spring of 1979, with the Citrus Commission continuing its sponsorship, the Bay Hill Citrus Classic was hosted by the club, and one of the most popular stops on Tour was created.
The tournament would utilize the Challenger and Champion nines as the championship course. In preparation for the 1979 event, Palmer and his course design partner Ed Seay converted the fairly easy par-5 18th finishing hole to a very dangerous par 4, forcing a carry over water to reach the very difficult green. This change made the course a par 71 that played to 7,103 yards for the inaugural event.  The tournament yardage remained the same until modifications were made before the 1990 event when it was returned to a par 72. That’s how it played until 2007 when Palmer dropped the par to 70, making the par-5 sixth and 16th holes into long par 4s.

A legacy was created

Right out of the gates, Palmer’s tournament started what would become its early legacy. In 1979, 6-under-par was the number. Bob Byman and John Schroeder were tied at the end of the 72-hole regulation, forcing the first playoff in Bay Hill history.
Ironically, Byman was a first-year pro who gained entry into the field by Monday qualifying and attended Wake Forest on an Arnold Palmer scholarship. He won the inaugural Bay Hill tournament in sudden death by carding a par 4 on the 16th hole.
It was the first of six overtimes in the history of Bay Hill over the past 29 years.
Tom Kite won twice there, both times in playoffs. In 1982, after struggling with difficult weather all week, the final round playoff had to be delayed until Monday after Kite tied with Jack Nicklaus, who never won the event, and Denis Watson. After waiting the extra day, Kite chipped in for birdie on the first playoff hole to ice the championship. The 1982 playoff was the first of three in a row as Mike Nicolette made Bay Hill member Greg Norman a bridesmaid for the first time at Bay Hill. It was Nicolette’s first and only Tour title.  Then, Gary Koch defeated George Burns in 1984.
Perhaps no one other than Tiger Woods, who has won there six times - four Invitationals in a row beginning in 2000 and a Junior Amateur title there in 1991- has had as much success at Bay Hill as Tampa native Koch. He won the Florida Citrus Open at Rio Pinar in 1977 and the Bay Hill Classic in 1984. Koch also won a junior event at Rio Pinar and the 1972 Florida State Amateur at Bay Hill. He is the only player to have won titles at both courses.
In 1989, Kite won his second Bay Hill title by defeating Davis Love III in a playoff that featured one of the most bizarre finishes in its history. As Kite and Love stood on the 18th tee, they were tied with only the final hole to play. After good drives, Kite hit his approach into the water, opening the door for Love to win his second title as a pro. A young and inexperienced Love hit his approach over the green, leaving a very difficult up and down to save par. Kite made six, as Love took four strokes to hole out. The two headed for the playoff, both parring the 16th. Kite prevailed with a par as Love bogeyed the par-3 17th hole.
Immediately following the 1989 event, Palmer closed the course to rebuild all 18 greens and make other significant changes to the course. Most noteworthy was converting the first hole to a par 4 and making the fourth and 16th holes into par 5s, which made the course play to a par 72.
After four playoffs in the first six events and five of the first 11, the tournament went almost a decade without one until Tim Herron defeated Tom Lehman in 1999.

Outstanding performances, weather or not

Besides the early stretch of excitement with the playoffs, the tournament has had its share of severe weather drama, especially in its second year there. On Saturday of the tournament in 1980, a cold front swept through the Orlando area, bringing with it cold rains and high winds and canceling play in the afternoon. When players returned to finish their rounds the next morning, temperatures had fallen into the teens with the wind chill. Dave Eichelberger, dressed in pantyhose, two pairs of pants and four sweaters, battled the conditions and won the event. Even though he had to finish his third round that frigid morning, Eichelberger maintained a three-stroke lead to start the final round. His 74 on Sunday was more than enough to shiver away with the victory as more than half the field did not break 80.
Rain plagued the Invitational in 1995, but that didn’t hinder Loren Roberts from becoming the first player to successfully defend his title in Orlando. Roberts joined the Tour in 1981 but did not post the first of his eight career wins until 1994 when he won The Nestle Invitational at Bay Hill with a closing-round 67 to defeat Fuzzy Zoeller, Vijay Singh and Nick Price by one stroke. Roberts defended his Nestle Invitational crown in 1995, becoming the first player to win the same event for his first two Tour victories since Calvin Peete won the 1979 and 1982 Greater Milwaukee Opens.
Roberts’ back-to-back effort in Orlando was overshadowed in 2003 when Tiger Woods won his fourth consecutive Bay Hill Invitational.
Woods’ 11-stroke victory in 2003 was the largest margin in the 25-year history of the tournament, breaking the previous mark set by Fred Couples in 1992 by two strokes.
A stomach virus hampered him throughout Saturday night and all during a rainy Sunday. Woods still managed to win near his home in Orlando for the fourth straight year by going the final 44 holes without a bogey.
Woods closed with a 4-under 68 to become the first player in 73 years to win the same tournament four straight times. It also was the fourth time in his career on the Tour that he won by double digits, another dominant performance despite his less than cooperative digestive system.
Woods finished at 19-under 269 and became the first player since Gene Sarazen in the 1926-30 Miami Open to win the same event four straight times. Walter Hagen, who won the PGA Championship from 1924-1927, also shares the record.
The 2003 tournament had other historic overtones. The two other greatest players in the modern era, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, long-time friends and rivals, played in the tournament, almost certainly teeing it up in the same Tour event for the last time. Nicklaus, making his first appearance in eight years, was a last-minute entry on the invitation by Palmer. It also marked the 50th anniversary of Palmer playing in at least one Tour event - an unprecedented number.
Three of Woods’ first four victories were decisive. Besides the runaway in 2003, Woods won in 2000 and 2002 by four strokes. The 2001 victory was similar to last year’s win in that Woods made a long birdie putt after a nice recovery shot to the 18th green to avoid a playoff and secure the title.
Couples decimated the field in 1992, winning by nine strokes over Gene Sauers. Couples’ 19-under effort was only a part of his success that year when he won three tournaments, including the Masters, and earned more than $1.3 million to finish No. 1 on the money list for the only time in his career. Couples earned his second consecutive Player of the Year Award as voted by the players and his consecutive Vardon Trophy. He also won the Arnold Palmer Award and the PGA of America Player of the Year.
Couples missed the tournament record 20-under-par set by Payne Stewart in 1987. Stewart’s 264 (the course was playing to par 71 at the time) bettered the record posted by Andy Bean in 1981 by two strokes. Stewart defeated David Frost by three shots. Frost’s 267 would have been enough to win any other title at Bay Hill except 1980. Stewart still holds the scoring record in relation to par at Bay Hill.
In response to his record-setting performance, he donated the entire $108,000 paycheck to charity.
Robert Gamez still holds the show-stopper shot in the history of the tournament. Two months after winning his first official event on Tour at the 1990 Northern Telecom Tucson Open by four strokes over Mark Calcavecchia, Gamez fired a 7-iron from 176 yards on the final hole of the Nestle Invitational into the jar for a one-stroke victory over Greg Norman. His two wins in his first campaign on Tour earned him $461,407 and led to Rookie of the Year honors.
It was the second time Norman finished as runner-up at Bay Hill. He never won the title.
Phil Mickelson won in a self-described “Palmer-like” charge in 1997. Spurred on by an eagle at the par-5 12th hole, he galloped away from Stuart Appleby and the rest of the field by firing a 6-under 30 on the back nine on Sunday, finishing with a 16-under 272, three shots ahead of the Australian Appleby.  

International flair

In 1984, the tournament became only one of five invitational tournaments on Tour. The elite status reduced the size of the field, but helped assure the quality by permitting more foreign players, a trend that began during that era. However, it was 14 years later when a foreign player claimed the title. Ernie Els was the first.
Els claimed his sixth career Tour victory by winning at Bay Hill in 1998. Several weather delays throughout the week forced a 36-hole finish on Sunday and a third round 65 vaulted him into a six-stroke lead. The two-time U.S. Open winner’s closing 73 was good for a four-stroke win. After a T16 at the Masters three weeks later, Els was ranked No.1 in world for a total of eight weeks in 1998.
Surprisingly, only two other foreign-born players have won at Bay Hill.
Rod Pampling became the second international champion in the 41-year history of the tournament with his one-stroke victory over Greg Owen in 2006. Pampling came into the final round with a four-stroke lead over three players, including Owen, whom he dueled down the stretch. The $990,000 check was the largest of his career.
Vijay Singh is the third foreign player to earn the title. In 2007, he earned his 31st career victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at age 44 years and 24 days. Singh posted rounds of 67-67 on the weekend to edge Rocco Mediate by two strokes. The win came in his 15th start at Bay Hill, when he made all 15 cuts and finished second three times. The win tied Singh with England's Harry Cooper for most Tour wins among international players. Singh won three more times in 2008, moving him to 34 career titles, 21 after turning 40 - the most by anyone in history.

The legacy continues in Orlando

Since 1979, the name Bay Hill has been part of the title of Palmer’s tournament except from 1989 to 1995 when it was known as the Nestle Invitational.
The tournament went under a few name tweaks over the years, but Bay Hill was always part of the marquee until the 2007 event.
PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem announced in March 2006 that the Bay Hill Invitational presented by MasterCard was changing names to honor its longtime host, Arnold Palmer.
“We have been discussing the possibility of a name change with Arnold and his family and how it would be an appropriate tribute to one of the game’s all-time great champions and ambassadors,” Finchem explained. “There was a strong sentiment to do this, and in the end we determined that it might as well occur sooner than later, particularly now that Arnold has consciously reduced his competitive playing schedule.
“Arnold has been the face of the tournament for a number of years, and it makes sense that it bears his name to honor his countless contributions to the tournament and to the PGA Tour.”
With the name change his legacy will always be part of the Orlando golf landscape, a portrait he painted with his popularity not only here, but throughout the world of golf.
“The tournament name change is certainly most appropriate for the man who has changed the face of the sport over the last 50 years and continues to impact it on a daily basis,” said Scott Wellington, who took over the tournament director duties from Bell in 2005, in a press release in March, 2006. “This will do nothing but provide even greater awareness for our event, our loyal and dedicated sponsors, Mr. Palmer’s hospital and the Orlando community as a whole. We are tremendously excited about the future of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard.”
Palmer continues to be a large part of the game he helped promote, and his heritage has been cemented in time with his tournament at Bay Hill.
May it last another 30 years, and beyond.