ARNOLD PALMER was not just the incredible golfer with the movie-star looks and heart-warming wink.
He was an astute businessman with a £500million empire, a pilot licence and even his own drink.
Here are eight things you didn’t know about the late superstar.
The £500million businessman
Palmer stopped playing for good ten years ago but by then already had an enormous business portfolio.
The son of a greenkeeper – praised by President Barack Obama – was worth an astonishing £500m when he passed away from heart complications yesterday aged 87.
He owned a golf course design firm and a golf resort in Orlando and was considered one of the pioneers of sports marketing.
Even by the late 1990s he was raking in more than £15.5m a year and helped pave the way for the stars of today such as Rory McIlroy to win huge amounts.
His Bay Hill umbrella logo is synonymous with golf clubs and clothes around the world and he even helped flog watches as well as...
The Arnold Palmer drink
Golfers and non-golfers alike are said to have guzzled down the mixture of iced tea and lemonade that Arnie lent his name to.
The concoction was a favourite of Palmer's as far back as the 1960s.
And the story goes that a woman happened to overhear Palmer asking for a waitress to mix him one during an encounter in California.
She requested the same, referring to it as “that Palmer drink”, and history was made.
The record-setting pilot
Palmer was obsessed with flying and frequently flew himself in his own private jet.
But not many people know that he was also a record-setting aviator.
In 1976 he took 57 hours, 25 minutes and 42 seconds to complete a round-the-world flight, setting a new speed record.
Palmer had 13 streets named after him
The American was the King of the fairways and Arnie's Army crowded the course just to catch a glimpse of their hero.
He was so loved that they even named streets after him.
Thirteen in America, to be exact.
He was a wise-cracking joker
A fierce competitor, a true champion, a man of the people... Palmer also had a wicked sense of humour and was renowned for his quotes.
He once said: "I have a tip that can take five strokes off anyone's game. It's called an eraser."
Considering he was one of the greatest golfers of them all, Palmer could also be pretty self-deprecating.
He once mused: ""One thing I've learned over time is, if you hit a golf ball into water, it won't float."
Palmer was a coast guard for three years and then a paint salesman
Arnie joined Wake Forest University to play golf but quit after the 1950 death of close friend and team-mate Bud Worsham in a car crash.
That led to the future seven-time Major champ quitting the game and joining the US Coast Guard during a three-year break from the sport.
He was discharged and then fell into a job as a paint salesman before taking up golf again.
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He paid for his own hospital
Palmer simply loved people and enjoyed giving back to those less fortunate than him.
One of his many kind gestures was to raise funds for the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando.
And more than 125,000 babies have been born at the nearby Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies - named after Palmer's first wife.
Palmer's first father-in-law boycotted his wedding because he never thought he'd be successful
Palmer met Winnifred Walzer at a tournament and asked her to marry him just four days later.
She said yes but her dad didn't think Palmer would make enough money to support a family and did not go to their wedding.
Things were tough - the pair camped in a field behind a shed because they couldn't afford anywhere nicer for a the 1955 Canadian Open.
But that week changed everything.
Palmer won his first event, pocketed just over a couple grand and began his journey to golfing legend.
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