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EspañolORLANDO, Fla. — Rickie Fowler always did his best to honor and impress the late Arnold Palmer.
A decade after the legendary golfer’s passing, Fowler received praise that would have made The King proud during the week of his annual PGA Tour stop.
On Tuesday at Orlando’s Bay Hill Club and Lodge, Golf Digest presented Fowler the Arnie Award for his foundation’s efforts with youth-oriented charitable causes and the 37-year-old’s generosity on multiple fronts — including signing autographs until the his pen runs dry, just as Palmer did during his playing days.
“To have him as someone that I was able to look up to, to learn from to try and be as much like him as possible — he obviously helped pave the way and set a great example for the rest of us in the game,” Fowler said, with Palmer’s daughter Amy Saunders and her son Sam Saunders on hand. “It’s hard to describe what this award fully encompasses, but I definitely appreciate it. We definitely miss him.”
The honor represents a full-circle moment for Fowler, who will tee it up Thursday at the 48th annual Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Fowler and Palmer’s relationship began 20 years ago at Bay Hill.
The flashy 17-year-old from Southern California won an AJGA event at Bay Hill in 2006, prompting the ever-approachable Palmer to drive up in his golf cart to introduce himself. The 76-year-old left golfers in awe, but his warmth was immediate and handshake unforgettable.
The two golfers, generations apart, quickly became friends.
Fowler was a fledgling PGA Tour pro when he carded at 63 at the annual Seminole Pro-Member in 2011, drawing praise from Palmer a few days later at Bay Hill.
“That’s one of the best days of my life,” Fowler said Tuesday at Bay Hill.
In 2017, Fowler recalled the suppleness of Palmer’s strong hands around Seminole’s tricky greens.
“I think it was on 11, he hit about a 50-yard bunker shot up the hill. No big deal,” Fowler said. “That’s one of the hardest shots in golf.”
Fowler shared the memory a year after Palmer’s passing the previous September. That week at Bay Hill, he donned special-edition Puma hi-top shoes during the Pro-Am to pay homage to Palmer and his charity.
A collage of Palmer appeared on each side of the shoes; Palmer’s signature was laser-engraved on the Velcro straps; and his multi-colored umbrella logo sat behind the tongue of the left shoe, while on the right were words from Fowler on Palmer’s influence.
Fowler’s flash and attacking game earned him six PGA Tour wins, lucrative endorsement deals and massive galleries that cheered him on even through tough time on the course.
The success also provided Fowler opportunities to give back to his fans and to the youth back near his childhood home in Murrieta, Calif.
In 2023, he purchased the 15-acre Murrieta Valley Golf Range, where his grandfather Yutaka Tanaka brought as a 3-year-old and Fowler’s late coach Barry McDonnell began instructing him at 7.
Fowler, who is married with two children, has enjoyed a recent resurgence in his game, including three top-25s in four starts in 2026. But he’s just getting start off the golf course — where Palmer excelled until the end.
“You did things a little differently. You did things like my grandfather did,” Sam Saunders said. “There’s so many great players in the world, but it takes a really special individual to be able to look outside themselves sometimes and put their own needs as a player on the back burner and put the good of the game in front.
“I know my granddad would be so proud to have you associated with this award, because you truly do embody the spirit of Arnold Palmer, and the game of golf is better because you played it.”