Rickie Fowler honors Arnold Palmer with commemorative shoes (pics)
It is with heavy hearts the PGA community descends upon Bay Hill to play this week in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, with the longtime and iconic host of the tournament passing away in September. The tributes to the late Palmer will be all around the course, in the stands, on players’ bags and in once case, on their feet.
Rickie Fowler revealed earlier this week via social media that he would wear golf shoes in honor of Palmer and pay tribute to the icon’s unparalleled legacy.
Legends never die!! Honored to be here this week at the @apinv to celebrate a life well played!! To The King pic.twitter.com/nzxZ5hrfPm
— Rickie Fowler (@RickieFowler) March 14, 2017
Other images of the remarkable shoes, which feature a wraparound photo collage as well as Palmer’s legendary signature and umbrella logo, were also posted to Twitter.
A closer look at the shoes @RickieFowler will be wearing this week to commemorate #TheKing#APInv pic.twitter.com/Tm5tX8rtQ4
— PUMA GOLF (@PUMAGolf) March 15, 2017
.@RickieFowler @arnoldpalmer tribute kicks. #APinv #LifeWellPlayed pic.twitter.com/oz3ifCj8On
— Arnold Palmer Inv. (@APinv) March 15, 2017
The shoes also feature a quote on the inside of the right shoe’s tongue from Fowler that celebrates Palmer’s legacy (via Alex_Sax):
Fowler will wear the tribute shoes during Wednesday’s practice round. Another pair will be auctioned off to benefit Arnie’s Army Charitable Foundation.
Rickie Fowler will honor the King by wearing these cleats, which will be auctioned off to benefit Arnold Palmer’s charity. (via @PUMAGolf) pic.twitter.com/gTzPsEUF2N
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 15, 2017
The auction on eBay runs through Sunday, but given that the bids already are skyrocketing — as of Wednesday morning, the top bid is a whopping $7,100 — it will require a large sum of money to acquire the very special pair of shoes.
