ORLANDO, Fla. _ The Arnold Palmer Invitational is under way.
Players do not tee off until Thursday's opening round, but for the first time API organizers staged an opening ceremony at Bay Hill expected to become a Wednesday tradition.
The first one was a winner.
A touching video tribute to the late Palmer struck all the right chords and featured footage from a 50-year span of his Hall of Fame career. Palmer died Sept. 25.
More than 80 current players, beginning with grandson Sam Saunders, then participated in a ceremonial tee shot on the Bay Hill practice range. Following Saunders' shot on the east end of the range, PGA Tour pros hit tee shots one after the other to the west end of the range.
Two waves of players took part during a brisk, 50-degree day bathed in sunshine at Bay HIll Club and Lodge.
"This moment would mean the world to my grandfather," Saunders told the crowd on hand.
The video tribute featured appearances by many of the game's legends and friends of The King. The who's who of golf included, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Nancy Lopez, Hale Irwin and Tiger Woods.
"I worship the ground the walks on," Trevino said. "I wish he had outlived me."
President Bill Clinton, Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench and supermodel Kate Upton also appeared. Bench's son is named Justin Palmer Bench. Upton appeared in a photo shoot with Palmer in a 2013 issue of Golf Digest.
Many were asked to sum up Palmer in one word.
"Legend," Upton said.
"American icon," Ben Crenshaw said.
"Authentic," Woods said.
Nicklaus would call Palmer "the most important player" in the history of golf.
The ceremony ended with a flyover by a Coast Guard helicopter, a nod to Palmer's love of flying.
As organizers hoped, the entire ceremony was one fit for a king.
