Arnie Getting His Congressional Medal: "Proud of anything the House and the Senate could agree upon."

Stephen Hennessey with the details of Arnold Palmer's ceremony today on Capitol Hill to receive the Congressional Gold Medal.

John Boehner summed up The King quite nicely:

"He didn't set out to change the game. But he did. Arnold Palmer democratized golf. And made us think that we too could go out and play, and made us believe we could do anything really. All we had to do was go out and try," said Speaker of the House John Boehner, one of a number of politicians who helped honor Palmer in a cermony in the Rotunda of the Capitol building.

"You've struck our hearts and our minds, and today your government and fellow citizens are striking the Golf Medal for you."

DVR Alert: Golf Channel's "Legendary Conversations" With Jack, Arnie, Gary & Lee

From Golf Channel, Monday night at 10 ET for an hour:

Legendary Conversation: Nicklaus, Palmer, Player, Trevino (Premiere)
Airtime: Monday, 10-11 p.m.

Guests: Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Lee Trevino
Moderator: Rich Lerner

Hall-of-Famers Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Lee Trevino come together for a rare, roundtable-style interview to share stories and experiences from their legendary careers. Rich Lerner hosts.

A preview from Rich Lerner on Morning Drive:

Arnold Palmer Hospitalized Before Bay Hill Conclusion

Golf World's Dave Shedloski first Tweeted about Arnold Palmer's absence from the wild 18th hole scene following Tiger Woods's seventh victory, and a Golfweek staff report follows up with more details on Mr. Palmer's hospitalization for high blood pressure.

"I just talked to his daughter Amy (Saunders) who's with him, and I think the blood-pressure situation is starting to ameliorate and improving," Alastair Johnston, the chief operating officer of Arnold Palmer Enterprises, said in a hastily arranged news conference minutes after Tiger Woods' dramatic five-shot victory.

"Nobody is overly concerned about the prognosis, although he is going to remain in the hospital overnight for observation."

Arnie's Characterization Of Rory Snub Depends On Who You Read

Simon Evans of Reuters with the story on Arnold Palmer's disappointment at Rory McIlroy passing on the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

"I'm disappointed that they are not here, no question about it," Palmer told reporters on Wednesday.

"I'm certainly not happy that those fellas chose not to come this year. We are doing everything we can to entice them to come and play."

And there was this dry humor from The King:

Q.  Given your goals for this event, how disappointing is it not to have Rory McIlroy and Luke Donald in the field, and how hard did you try to persuade them to play?

ARNOLD PALMER:  Well, yes, I'm disappointed that they are not here, no question about it.  They are the top players on the TOUR right now in the positions that they are in, and I am disappointed.

I had a letter from Rory seeking my consultation and told me he wasn't coming.  And of course that made me feel great.  (Laughter) And if you believe that, I'll talk to you outside afterwards.

Anyway, back to the story that appeared on the Reuters website and at Sky Sports. Check out the different handling. First at Reuters.

And then Sky Sports:

Put The King Down In The Anti-Anchoring Camp

Craig Dolch with one of the highlights from Arnold Palmer's pre-Bay Hill sitdown with the scribblers:

“I’m not a fan of long putters,” Palmer said. “I suppose if I were playing, and a long putter, being totally legal, would help my game, I might use it. But I’m opposed to it, personally. I just think that there shouldn’t be a place in the game for anchoring a club against the body, which is what the long putter does.”

The Long, Ugly SilverRock Saga Continues

Larry Bohannan reports the Arnold Palmer-designed course in La Quinta has been dropped from the new Hope rotation, which only has room for three courses.

At a reported cost of at least $58 million, this one has to go down as one of the great tragedies of modern design. The city had a lovely site, an open bidding process with a wide variety of architects offering ideas for something different in desert golf, but all along the job was going to Palmer because of his name. They poured massive sums into building it, then put more money in to fix design flaws pointed out by the tour, only to get just a few Bob Hopes and little in the way of positive buzz.

"BAY HILL'S BRUTISH BUNKERS"

The SI/golf.com gang was joined by Davis Love and they talk about whether the buried lies at Bay Hill are intentional. Remember, the PGA Tour rules staff has a reduced role in how two tournaments a year are prepared: Bay Hill and the Memorial.

Herre: I was surprised to see so many balls plugging in the bunkers. I suppose that was by design. Anyone know if that was new, softer sand in the bunkers? It was an almost automatic bogey every time someone flew a ball either high or into the upslope.

Bamberger: Or the downslope! Arnold wants his course hard. He feels bunkers have been emasculated. He masculated them.

Love: Soft sand has to be a strategy there, that's the only knock on the course the last few years.

It's Up To Arnie To Restore Pebble Beach's 14th Green

Jim McCabe tells us how the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach came to be announced and slips in this about the 14th green.

Harper said they will hold tickets at 37,500, the same as 2010, but one thing that won’t be the same come 2019 is Pebble Beach’s diabolical 14th green.

“It will be rebuilt according to USGA specs,” Perocchi said, though he emphasized it’s part of Pebble’s long-range plan to convert all of its greens. The 14th as it currently sits presents an enormous challenge to players, even with wedges in their hands. There’s very little room to land approach shots to an elevated left side, and the right side is very low and hole locations are virtually non-existent.

Perocchi said Arnold Palmer – not only an icon, but part of the group that owns Pebble Beach – will oversee development of a plan for the 14th. Expect an expansion of the upper left side of the green, as well as a softening of the steep slope to the right. No decision has been made as to when the changes will be made, but Perocchi said it probably would be in the next two to four years.