Sips of Maginnes: Arnie, Ernie, Davis and the Blue Devils

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Chris Condon/PGA TOUR

Arnold Palmer (right) spent a few minutes working with his grandson Sam Saunders (left) on the driving range.

The Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard starts and finishes with the tournament's namesake.

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Palmer is more than a figurehead, though. The King was the catalyst behind the revamping of Bay Hill and bringing it back to a par of 72. The players raved about the renovations and the greens, and they talked about Bay Hill being a favorite in the future. Interestingly, the two holes that were reverted back to par 5s played as the two easiest holes on the golf course for the week.

Palmer spent a few minutes on the driving range on Saturday morning with his grandson, Sam Saunders. Sam, who is a two-time club champion at Bay Hill, made the cut in a PGA TOUR event for the second time in his young career after playing all four days at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am earlier this year. Watching Arnie on the driving range with a few words of wisdom and encouragement for Sam was quite a moment, and it was shared from a distance by hundreds of fans watching the players warm up.

• One of the other players who Arnie spent time on the range with was European Ryder Cup Captain Colin Montgomerie. Although their conversation was not audible from afar clearly Monty and Arnie were talking about the golf swing. While it was a brief conversation, Monty was soaking up every word. The King's swing may have lost some of its ferocity but the years of accumulated golf knowledge are a treasure chest everyone on the range would like to open.

• One final Arnie thought. After he made his way down the driving range shaking hands with the best in the game, Arnie worked the gallery, signing autographs and posing for pictures. The number of people that he called by name was astounding. For the man who has never met a stranger it was clear that he was, as ever, surrounded by friends.

• The last two men on the putting green Saturday night not pushing mowers were Ernie Els and Ricci Roberts. Ernie had a series of tees on the green. The three tees were lined up in a row and spaced about 5 inches apart. He would place the ball next to the middle tee and make his stroke with the other two tees in mind. He didn't want his backstroke going past the back tee but he did want the putter to get to that tee. Then he wanted the forward stroke to reach the forward tee closest to the hole. From 6 feet away the balls were pouring in obediently just as they did on the golf course all week.

• Phil Mickelson says he's close to playing well. Technically speaking he has made some pretty dramatic changes with his putting stance and ball position since he started consulting with Dave Stockton. We have seen several different looks from Phil who still appears to be searching with the flatstick. He did have his "best putting round of the year," on Friday when he shot 67 with 23 putts. Unfortunately, on Saturday he shot 75 with 33 putts and Sunday he closed with a 77 where he only hit five fairways and five greens.

• On to way more important matters: Joe Ogilvie's caddy nearly lost his job this week for all the right reasons. His Baylor basketball team had the nerve to make it to the Elite Eight and face Joe's Duke Blue Devils. Fortunately for all concerned, tragedy was averted and the Devils won a close one to make it to the Final Four. On Sunday Davis Love III even donned a navy blue -- dare I say, Duke Blue -- polo shirt. Davis, who went to archrival UNC, admitted before the start of the final round that he would pull for the conference. For all the millions that Davis has given to charity over the years this could be his most magnanimous gesture.

• When play was suspended on Sunday night there were six holes still in action. Because of the split-tee start on Sunday not only was the final group on the 14th but there were three groups left to finish on the front nine. Joe Ogilvie was one of those players stranded on the ninth tee. When it was announced that play would be suspended for the day Joe made a novel suggestion to the rules officials -- how about I just take a double bogey on the last hole and be done, he joked. The ribbing went on for a few minutes and obviously Joe and the others were told to come back on Monday.

• Another Ryder Cup note: As you know both captains were in action this week. Montgomerie was playing at Bay Hill while Corey Pavin finished second on the Champions Tour. Unbeknownst to either of them the unofficial Ryder Cup was won this weekend in Orlando where a group of Brits took on a group of Americans on mornings before they came out to the course at Bay Hill. The victorious Brits celebrated their victory at the pool bar at the Wyndham where they regaled the afternoon patrons with song -- loudly.

Former PGA TOUR player John Maginnes is a columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.