Money for the Meek

"I guess you all know the fellow on my right," said the TV announcer, and --sure enough--the man with the California tan and the strychnic smile was Arnold Palmer, 34, the No. 1 money-winner in golf. In nine seasons on the pro tour, Palmer had pocketed $473,008. But there it was, the final round of the Palm Springs Golf Classic, with $50,000 up for grabs, and Arnie had finished early, shooting three over par with the rest of the also-rans. Now he was lounging around the 18th green with a microphone in his hand, looking for people to interview. Explained Palmer: "I've been having a little bit of trouble."

Withdrawal Pangs. No golfer can win all the time. But so far this year, Slugger Arnie is batting .000. At the Bing Crosby National, Palmer failed even to survive the cut; last week at Palm Springs, he wound up out of the money for the second time in five tournaments. His burly buddy Jack Nicklaus, who won $100,040 last year, had only $1,900 to show for three weeks of work. Both of them had excuses of a sort: Nicklaus was still out of practice from a seven-week fishing vacation in Florida, and Palmer was suffering withdrawal pangs from giving up smoking.

It hardly figures to last. Come fall, golf's fearsome twosome will undoubtedly have fat bankrolls again. But for the moment at least, the meek were inheriting the earth. Paul Harney, 34, who quit the pro tour last year because "my nerves can't take it any more," returned from retirement just long enough to win $7,500 in the Los Angeles Open. Art Wall, who had not won a tournament since 1960, collected the $4,000 big money at San Diego. "Champagne Tony" Lema, 29, who hardly qualifies as a hardship case ($67,112 last year), won the $5,800 Crosby first prize. But then there was Juan ("Chi Chi") Rodriguez, 28, 120 Ibs. of sugar cane from Puerto Rico, who used to play with ladies' clubs. All he did was whomp everybody for $7,500 in San Francisco's Lucky International. Along the way, Rodriguez belted one drive 290 yds. and announced: "I was playing for position, not for distance."

Unavoidably Detained. Whimsical was the word for Palm Springs. Palmer got the TV job as a substitute for Jimmy Demaret, a 53-year-old grandfather who was unavoidably detained: at that moment, he was out on the golf course, seven under par. Demaret had not won a tournament in seven years; the closest he had come was second in the 1961 P.G.A. Seniors. Jimmy did not win at Palm Springs either--but he stubbornly clung to the lead until Tommy Jacobs beat him with a 9-in. putt in a sudden-death playoff. Jacobs is muscular, nervous and 28. Said Demaret: "I'm awfully glad that Tommy could win it. After all, he's almost through, and I've still got years to go."

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