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14th Mar 2017

PIC: Rory McIlroy shares lovely letter sent to him by Arnold Palmer after his first major win

Conor Heneghan

Rory McIlroy

McIlroy will be amongst a star-studded field playing at the Arnold Palmer Invitational this week.

It will be the first staging of the tournament since Palmer’s passing in September last year at the age of 87, with McIlroy and others hoping to fine-tune their game at Bay Hill ahead of the Masters at Augusta at the start of next month.

As well as being one of the greatest players the game has ever seen, Palmer was always regarded as a gentleman, as was evident in a lovely letter he sent to McIlroy after he won his first major, the US Open, in 2011.

While complimenting McIlroy on his performance at Congressional and how he handled himself during the tournament, Palmer also reminded him of his obligation to give something back to the game and issued an invite to his tournament ahead of the Masters in 2012.

“Just continue to be yourself. Don’t change.”

Legend.