It’s Ryder Cup Week in Minnesota!

The 41st edition of the Ryder Cup takes place at Hazeltine National Golf Club, in Chaska, Minnesota, this week, with opening ceremonies kicking things off on Thursday, and the matches beginning on Friday morning.

As the best golfers in the world gather in Minnesota for the biannual event, one name will be on everyone’s mind throughout the week: Arnold Palmer.

The death of the iconic, legendary figure on Sunday evening at the age of 87 is a blow to the game of golf world-wide, as one would be hard pressed to come up with any person, much less any athlete, who embodied class, character and charisma quite like Arnold Palmer.

There have been better golfers than Palmer to be sure, but there will never be a more important one. Palmer brought golf to the masses at a time when sports on television was picking up steam, and in Palmer, golf had the perfect player at the perfect time. Palmer was a striking figure, with Hollywood looks, a blue-collar background and a swashbuckling style that was impossible not to fall in love with.

It was Palmer’s insistence that the British Open was a “must go to” event for American golfers that put it on par with golf’s other majors. That insistence endeared Palmer to European golf and made him a revered figure on both sides of the ocean. Palmer’s Ryder Cup record of 22-8-2 is the best in U.S. history and his team won every Ryder Cup he ever played in.

Palmer’s passing will be felt everywhere at Hazeltine this week, as the golf world will honor his memory and the matches will be infused with the indomitable spirit and sense of sportsmanship that perhaps no athlete has ever embodied quite like Palmer.

The players on both teams will try to beat each other’s brains out during the morning matches on Friday, but at the end of each match, they’ll doff their caps, smile and shake one another’s hand before heading out in the afternoon to do it all over again.

As golf’s greatest ambassador ever, Palmer loved the Ryder Cup “because it simply wasn’t about playing for money. It was about playing for something far grander and more personal.” Palmer often said that his most indelible memory from his first Ryder Cup was hearing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the opening ceremonies, that it put a lump in his throat and tears in his eyes.

It’s always tough to lose icons, especially one as beloved as Palmer, but his memory will certainly live on, especially in events like the Ryder Cup. Come Sunday evening, either team USA or team Europe will be hoisting the Ryder Cup in celebration, but in the end it is the spirit of competition, the state of Minnesota and anyone who loves the game of golf who will be the winner.

EMC is very proud to be on hand at Hazeltine all week long and we’ll be rooting for the home team to take home the trophy. We are also humbled, honored, and thankful to be able to pay our respects to the great Arnold Palmer. May he rest in peace while his spirit lives on in golfers everywhere.