Ed. note: Relax, it’s Bamberger Briefly, FedEx-style, with more FedEx playoffs fun. Previously: a new playoff system; Jim Herman; the Champion Golfer of the Year; Tiger and Charlie; Lt. Col. Dan Rooney I; Lt. Col. Dan Rooney II.
On Friday, this space was devoted to Lt. Col. Dan Rooney’s insights into two of the most extraordinary golfers in the history of the U.S. Open, Phil Mickelson (with six second-place finishes) and Tiger Woods (with three wins). As it happens, both have been winners at East Lake, where the fellas are gathered this weekend.
Rooney, an Air Force fighter pilot and former college golfer, follows the PGA Tour closely, but this weekend he is otherwise occupied, as Labor Day weekend overlaps with Patriot Golf Day, a charity Rooney supports, a series of golf outings that raise money for scholarships for military personnel and their families.
Today, Rooney, who played college golf at Kansas before beginning his Air Force career, discusses the two players who influenced his life more than any others. The first is Arnold Palmer. Rooney took up golf because his father was a golfer. His father became a golfer because of Arnold Palmer. Arnold won one U.S. Open, in 1960, at Cherry Hills. In Arnold’s case, one was enough. His U.S. Open win helped define the rest of his life.
The other is Jack Nicklaus, the only living four-time U.S. Open winner.
Here’s Rooney, who flew F-16s in combat as an Air Force pilot, on Palmer, his comments edited for clarity:
“Arnold was a great pilot. He loved that last plane he had, a Citation X, the fastest business jet in the world. He had flown F-16s, knew all about them. Flying was his thing. Flying, and talking about flying.
“I once said to him, ‘Mr. Palmer, I like to ask successful people for advice. What advice would you offer?’
“He said, ‘Major Dan’ — I was a major then and that’s what he called me — ‘my major advice to you would be to slow down.’ He was getting older then. And it was such an insight. Because I never slowed down enough to enjoy the individual moments of life. The tempo of life is so fast. It goes too fast.
“Arnold on the course was a maverick. A character in the game and a maverick of the game. Arnold was a fighter pilot on the course. He could be reckless. He was always aggressive. He was amazing. His golf perfectly matched his personality. His golf was a perfect mirror of who he was. And I think that’s why he won. There was no conflict within him, no fear of failure. In the Air Force we say, ‘If you’re gonna bend some metal, you’re gonna screw up sometimes.’ That’s OK. That’s how Arnold played.”
