Arnold Palmer Says Neatness Counts When Signing Autographs

Palmer Feels Pros Should Work On Penmanship

Arnold Palmer believes that PGA Tour players "should sign autographs, and neatness should count," according to Garry Smits of the FLORIDA TIMES-UNION. Palmer yesterday  at Bay Hill Club prior to this weekend's Arnold Palmer Invitational said:  "I don't know where a player comes off ... being asked to give an autograph, and he scribbles something down there that you can't read. Well, who in the hell knows what it is? Why take the time to do it? Why not make it legible?" Smits notes there "never has been a case of a fan not being able to read" Palmer's "large, loopy signature,'' and Palmer also noted that fellow HOFers Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player have "very legible signatures." PGA Tour players playing at this weekend's tournament "chuckled at Palmer's peeve about penmanship and said it was symbolic of his relationship with fans." Golfer Joe Ogilvie: "Peter Jacobsen got on me about my signature when I first got up here, and I know he did because Arnold got on him once. That's typical Arnold: Not only will he give thousands of autographs, but he wants each one of them to be readable. He cares that much about the fans" (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 3/13).