Day in the Life of The King: Arnold Palmer opens up

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Arnold Palmer reviews drawings at his design company offices at Bay Hill.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Hang around the Bay Hill Club and Lodge long enough and you'll see Arnold Palmer. Ask him for an autograph and he'll sign, or for a picture and he'll pose. He won't say no -- ever.

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This happens any number of times a day, five days a week, at the house The King built, where Palmer shows up to work every morning, his trusty golden lab by his side. Dogs aren't allowed at Bay Hill, but Mulligan is tight with the owner.

There are very few living legends so intimately and comfortably connected to the public as Palmer is. It's why he has such an enduring legacy that has transcended golf for more than a half century. Even if you're not old enough to remember that whirling dervish swing and those 83 career victories around the world, chances are you've heard of an Arnold Palmer -- a half iced tea, half lemonade beverage.

Palmer is as much one of the greatest golfers in the history of the game as he is an icon. On the golf course, he made just over $3.6 million in official earnings in his career. Off it, he earned $36 million in 2010 alone, according to Golf Digest.

Still, for a guy who could call a palace home Palmer has modest digs -- a condo on the Bay Hill property he shares with his second wife -- and he starts his day a lot like you.

"Well, I get up," Palmer quips when asked what a typical morning entails.

It's that regular-guy approach that is the central theme behind Palmer's massive appeal. During his playing days, it was also his hard-charging style, good looks and charisma. That's what wooed television audiences to golf in the 1950s and '60s and set the stage for everyone who followed.

Palmer won his first of seven career major championships at the 1958 Masters and two years later became the first client of the late Mark McCormack, who went on to form International Management Group, now known simply as IMG, which would become the largest sports and talent representation agency in the world.

Now Palmer spends the majority of his days making ceremonial appearances, overseeing the business of Bay Hill and his club in his native Latrobe, Pa., his golf course design company of the same name and a number of other ventures. At 81 years old, he's as spry as ever.

"This morning we've had numerous people in to say hello and get some autographs. And then I just work," Palmer says from behind his desk overlooking his kingdom. "I sign a lot of stuff here, I do contracts, review business deals, talk about future outings, and I review the business of the club here and in Latrobe. I review almost everything."

He also signs everything -- and anything. Once at an autograph signing in Arizona, a man sat down, took off his prosthetic leg and passed it forward. Palmer signed it with that unmistakable and incredibly recognizable signature (a lost art these days). When a member of his staff suggested he'd probably never signed one of those, Palmer said, "Oh yes I have."

As he's oft to do, Palmer drops by his design company on this particular day, just down the steps and across the parking lot from his office. It's not long before he is at a drawing table, asking one of the architects what they've got going on with a particular rendition.

"Mr. Palmer is very hands on," a member of his team says. "And I think he likes to get out of the office upstairs."

Golf course design is one of the many areas in which Palmer has become a brand name. Though the business has been hit particularly hard in recent years due to the economy, the APDC has projects and courses in 27 countries and 37 states in the U.S. Palmer got his start in the design business during a three-year stint in the Coast Guard.

"While I was in training, the commander of the base knew that I was a golfer and he suggested I try to make a little nine-hole course on the base so the guys during their spare time would have an opportunity to play golf," Palmer says. "It was pretty rough but for some of the guys it gave them an opportunity to go out and hit golf balls and create games to occupy their spare time. It was never really finished because I was transferred, but they still played it and had fun on it for a few years after."

Palmer gets a twinkle in his eye when he talks about his Coast Guard experience, much the same way he does when discussing flying, another passion of his. On one of the tables in the design company office is a model of the Citation X he piloted up until earlier this year, when he took his final flight after logging more than 50 years and 20,000 hours of time in the cockpit.

"That [final flight] was a bittersweet situation," Palmer said. "I enjoy flying and I still enjoy it. I think I'll still keep some hand in it but the business end of it and everything else has convinced me I should slow down and enjoy the back of the airplane. That's going to be very difficult for me. I hope I can be comfortable sitting in the back but I'm not sure that I will be."

Palmer has more pressing issues, though. "I've got some work to do this afternoon," he says before disappearing back to his office for a couple of hours.

But it's not long before Palmer is stopped outside the lodge. After all, someone wants to get his autograph and take a picture.