How Arnold Palmer's British Open wins changed all of golf

Arnold Palmer turns 80 tomorrow, and we're celebrating with this look back at how his journey across the pond changed the face of golf forever. In 1960, Arnold Palmer was just entering the prime of his popularity. Arnie's Army was in full swing, and Palmer had won both the Masters and the U.S. Open. He decided to journey to Scotland to try to emulate Ben Hogan's 1953 season, in which Hogan won all three majors. Palmer failed, losing to Kel Nagle by one shot. But just by appearing in the British Open, he shined a spotlight on the tournament that hadn't been there before.And then came 1961 and 1962, where Palmer won the Open Championship twice in a row, and suddenly golf entered a new dimension of popularity in both Europe and America. (Interestingly, Palmer had to qualify each year even after winning the tournament twice. He then said he wouldn't continue to play in the tournament if he had to qualify, and the R&A quietly relaxed its qualifying rules.)The Open...