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Ken Venturi: Arnold Palmer
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In a book that will be released as Arnold Palmer (above) prepares for his 50th and final Masters, Ken Venturi claims Palmer broke the rules when he won the first of his four Masters titles in 1958. The allegation is a drop Palmer took behind the par-3 12th green in the final round of the '58 Masters, a ruling that has been well-documented.
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Ken Venturi apparently has a received a lot of flak for his comments in his book basically accusing Arnold Palmer of committing a rules infraction in the 1958 Masters that would have given the title to Venturi, not Palmer. Venturi's sticking by his story, but now says he never said Palmer "cheated."
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In the early 50's, Venturi had been a pupil of the great Byron Nelson and was ... influenced by playing partner Ben Hogan. With this fine tuning combined with his tremendous talent, Venturi was a regular winner during his early years on the PGA Tour after turning pro at the end of 1956. He again come close to winning the Masters in 1958 and 1960, both times being edged out by Arnold Palmer.
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Venturi, who had nearly won the Masters as an amateur in 1956, got off to a fast start with 3-under-par 33 on the front nine. Palmer, meanwhile, shot even-par on the front and was two shots behind Venturi.
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"I later heard that Ken Venturi was particularly upset, feeling like he had been cheated by my second-ball situation at the 12th," Palmer wrote. "But I felt then and I feel now that I did what any other player could and should do: I followed the rules in both letter and spirit, and, as a result, I won my first major championship."
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Venturi said that Augusta National co-founders Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts told him years later that Palmer should not have received the favorable ruling. That cannot be confirmed because both men have been dead for more than 25 years.
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