MR PORTER looks back at the late, great golfer’s most exemplary outfits.

The late Mr Arnold Palmer, who sadly passed away at the age of 87 on Sunday, is widely regarded as one of golf’s greatest players. But to stop there would be to do him a disservice. Though as a player he undoubtedly had phenomenal technical skills – winning more than 90 tournaments worldwide (including 62 US PGA Tour titles) in the course of his career – his lasting legacy to the sport has as much to do with his great personal charisma as his domination of courses all over the world. As the glowing tributes from the likes of Mr Jack Nicklaus and President Barack Obama piled up this weekend, many remarked upon the fact that it was Mr Palmer who, in truth, helped golf to become the game it is today via his TV appearances between 1958 and 1964.

In those years, viewers fell in love with Mr Palmer’s everyman personality and athletic playing style. Devotion to Mr Palmer became so great, in fact, that he developed his own legion of fans, christened “Arnie’s Army”, which followed him as he travelled around the world (it is generally considered that Mr Palmer’s attendance at the British Open at St Andrews in 1960 is the main factor for the competition’s modern revival). Of course, part of the reason for Mr Palmer’s mass appeal was that he always looked so good playing golf. Blessed with a hero’s build – broad shoulders, slim waist, muscular arms – he looked like a movie star, and dressed like one too. Scroll down to discover some of his finest moments in style, as chosen by the team at MR PORTER.

Exceptionally talented when it came to golf, Mr Palmer also seemed to have been born with an inbuilt appreciation for great knitwear. Throughout his career he sported a variety of intriguing knit garments, from turtleneck-and-cardigan combos (a particularly Palmer-ian look) to exceptionally fuzzy cashmere and cable-knit V-necks. We however, like the simplicity of the above outfit, from Mr Palmer’s first appearance at the British Open in 1960. There’s something impeccably clean cut about the combination of pastel yellow and grey that makes us feel exceedingly happy that such colours are set to return for the SS17 season.

Anyone wondering how to wear a polo shirt and retain a certain air of sophistication could do worse than look to the above image of Mr Palmer, captured at the World Series of Golf, 1963 at Firestone Country Club, Akron, Ohio. Opting for a striped number, tucked in to the waist of a pair of pleated trousers cinched with a neat belt, Mr Palmer looks every inch the Ivy look hero.

Here, defending his title at the Masters Tournament in 1965, Mr Palmer not only demonstrates a keen eye for throwing together neutral shades – the stone colour of his chinos looks admirably cool with the navy polo – he’s also showing off some phenomenal footwear. He can’t have known that, in the 21st century, thanks to brands such as Prada, fringed footwear is very much a viable option off the course as well as on it. But he’s nonetheless making a strong case for it in this picture.