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Byline: Steve Elling
ORLANDO, Fla. _ Let the arm-twisting commence.
Almost as much of a spring ritual as his popular PGA Tour event itself, Arnold Palmer indicated Monday that he doesn't plan to play in the Bay Hill Invitational from March 17-20, an event he hasn't missed since it first was staged in 1979.
Then again, he has said the same thing in each of the past two years, only to change his mind after his golf pals at the Bay Hill Club & Lodge convinced him to play. Palmer, 75, has played in a PGA Tour event every year since 1953, though he hasn't made a cut since 1993. He played in his 50th and final Masters last April.
"I'll miss playing; there's no doubt in my mind about that," he said through his management firm, IMG. "But we all move on. I'm moving into another phase with Bay Hill. I'll fulfill my duties as host of the tournament, whatever is needed, and enjoy watching the golf.
"That will be different, yes, but it's fine. I'm looking forward to the tournament just the same as any other year."
Palmer has a lifetime exemption. Should he elect to play, the invitational field would ...