The PGA Tour tournament in Palm Springs, California, under any name, has always been an event featuring top players and historic moments.
Officials are hoping the 64th American Express tournament in La Quinta this week will somehow make its own history. But the tournament is also the anniversary of a big moment in both tournament and PGA Tour history. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Arnold Palmer’s fifth win in The American Express, and his 62th and last victory on the PGA Tour.
Palmer loved the desert, living in the area part-time for most of his professional life and winning a PGA Tour event in the area a year before what is now The American Express debuted in 1960. Of course, Palmer won the first American Express tournament in 1960 as well as winning it in 1962, 1968 and 1971. Few would have thought that the 1973 title at Bermuda Dunes Country Club would be his last, though at age 43 Palmer was clearly slowing down.
Here are seven things you should know about Palmer’s last PGA Tour win in The American Express, known then as the Bob Hope Desert Classic: