AUGUSTA, Ga. - By the 11th hole, Arnold Palmer's score was no longer being posted. His final day at the Masters would be measured by memories instead.
Naturally, he ran up the score. For in any real contest of nostalgia, there is but one course and one player of true significance.
Augusta National is the setting and Palmer, it seems, is a permanent part of its scenery. It is as if they have been together forever and, in our memories, perhaps they will be.
So, on Friday, he waved. He winked. He chatted with fans in the gallery and kissed the odd friend along the way. And when he reached No.18, where thousands stood for a minute-long ovation, he wiped tears from his face.
"I can never tell you," Palmer said later, "how important the fans have been to me."
These were the last steps in golf's longest parade. The final time, after 50 consecutive years, Palmer would play a competitive round in the Masters.
On the 18,265th day, he decided to rest.
"It's done," Palmer said. "I won't say I'm happy it's done. But it's time for it to be done, for me."
The time is right. For the Masters and Palmer. It has been 40 years since he last won here and more than 20 since he made the cut.
This is not like 2002 when Palmer felt pressured to leave. This was his choice. His farewell. It was important to him to reach 50 tournaments and just as important to walk away under his own terms.
He is 74 and finding it harder to believe in dreams. To believe that today is the day he might coax a final, magical round from his bag.
For quite some time, all he's had left is his name and reputation. And it's carried him like no golfer before.
When he came out of the clubhouse Friday afternoon, the gallery around the first tee already was stretched out of proportion. He hit a tee shot and, as he began to walk the fairway, fans cheered and called his name.
It was a routine that grew in size as the day went on. They rarely applauded his shots but, at every hole, they honored his name.
"This is my 49th year following him, and I can say you'll never find another professional athlete like him," Col. Joe Curtis of Macon, Ga., said.
"He'll see someone in the gallery he hasn't seen in two or three years and he'll walk over just to say hello. He has a way of making every lady think he is winking at her and every man think he is giving a thumbs-up to him. He has a charisma and a personality that you can't help but love."
It was here that Arnie's Army was born. A fan club that, 40 years later, is still the most famous in golf. Their devotion to Palmer was rooted in his success, but it outgrew that necessity long ago.
Not that Palmer didn't have his big moments along the way. The favorable ruling he got in 1958 to win his first Masters. The final two birdies to win again in '60. Even the collapse on the final hole the following year.
But those were just details. The story was in the appeal.
Palmer was the blue collar kid with an everyman's allure. He had a swing that was flawed and a manner that was inviting. Television cameras loved him and America became infatuated with him.
"There has not been any other player who has played at a high level like Arnold, or any champion who's been as comfortable in his skin as Arnold has," Tiger Woods said. "Whether that's winning a major, waving to people, saying hello and making them feel welcome, that they are a part of his little world.
"That's been his gift to the game of golf."
On Friday, Palmer shared his gift for a final time. Although it pains him to finish near the bottom of the leaderboard - after two rounds he was 92nd among 93 golfers - he never has lost his sense of charm on the course.
As he approached the green at No.10, he surveyed the enormous crowd waiting on him and chuckled with an official nearby.
"What've they got going on, a convention?" Palmer said.
"A little construction. They're fixing the hole for you."
"Yeah?" Palmer said, "tell them I need the hole to be bigger."
A short time later, a fan told Palmer he would give him $100 if he could chip in a shot from off the green.
"I'll give you the $100 if you do it for me," Palmer said.
Palmer missed most of his putts and came up short on many of his drives. His best shot of the day was a tee shot on the par-3 No.12. After driving within 15 feet of the hole, he began to walk briskly up the fairway.
It was Palmer's final trip through Amen Corner, and the occasion was not forgotten. Playing partners Nathan Smith and Bob Estes stopped short of the Ben Hogan Bridge and allowed Palmer to walk across by himself.
"It was unbelievable all day," Smith said. "I was trying to stay back and let him enjoy. He's the king. He's the greatest."
In the days before the tournament, Palmer was asked often to share his favorite memories of the Masters, and he would unfailingly oblige.
It was only when asked to name the single greatest day he ever spent at Augusta National that Palmer paused.
Then, with a smile spreading, he leaned forward and answered.
