tiM rosaforte
sam saunders earns his spot
Sam Saunders may be a
relative youngster, but he
is old enough to remember
his grandfather’s final U.S.
open. he was in latrobe, Pa.,
watching on television, seeing the tears arnold Palmer
wiped from his face with a
towel from the press tent at
oakmont cc. Palmer was
64, playing the 1994 open
on an exemption. Sam was 6,
but he understood what was
going on.
somebody [that emotional]
for the first time, it’s hard for
you not to cry.”
only reason I’m in is because
I played my way in and no-
body can say otherwise.”
“I vaguely remember all the
events of that day in sports,”
Saunders said Sunday at
the bay hill club & lodge in
orlando. “the o.J. Simpson
car chase, the big houston
rockets-new york knicks
nba finals and, of course,
I remember watching my
granddad. I remember
watching his press confer-
ence. everyone in my fam-
ily is very emotional. we
get that from him, and I
get it from mom [arnold’s
daughter, amy]. I remem-
ber having a hard time not
getting upset. when you see
almost 17 years later, Saun-
ders was sitting at Palmer’s
breakfast table, getting ready
for a day of practice and
packing before heading to
bethesda, md., for the 111th
U.S. open at congressional
cc. Saunders choked back
tears when he pulled off
a Palmer-like charge and
advanced through sectional
qualifying in vero beach, fla.
driving back to orlando, he
listened to a voice mail, and a
familiar voice saying, “I guess
you’re not going to tell me
how you did.”
Saunders has played in 15
PGa tour events, and he
understands why he got
those exemptions, even
though he has never had any
tour status, not even on the
nationwide tour. there have
been weeks when Saunders
played like he deserved his
spot, like the t- 15 in this
year’s at&t Pebble beach
national Pro-am. there have
been strong rounds, like an
opening 66 in last year’s
waste management Phoenix
open and a second-round 67
in last week’s fedex St. Jude
classic—just not enough
of them back-to-back. he
missed the cut both weeks.
hard to get to where I am.”
his goal is to become known
as Sam Saunders, not arnold
Palmer’s grandson. they
butted heads when Sam
was a teenager, when he
left clemson early to turn
pro. arnold was old school,
applying tough love when
needed. “It’s not like that
anymore,” Sam said. “he
respects me, and I respect
him. It’s not your standard
grandfather-grandson relationship. he’s different than
most 81-year-old men. he’s
seen a lot of stuff.”
this week, Palmer will see
his grandson play in the U.S.
open—on his own merit.
Saunders, 23, called back to
tell his grandfather he had
advanced in a playoff, that
he shot 32 on his last nine
holes—and he was in his first
U.S. open.
“to me, this is the best feel-
ing I’ve had since I turned
pro,” Saunders said. “It’s the
U.S. open, and knowing the
“I try not to listen to what
other people say, but some-
times its tough,” Saunders
said. “It gets old hearing
certain people say nepotism.
‘he’s never had to work for
anything, he grew up with a
silver spoon.’ I know I worked
