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From Gary Mihoces, USA TODAY

The pantheon of quarterbacks from the Pittsburgh area includes Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath, Joe Montana, Dan Marino, Jim Kelly, George Blanda and more. The region''s list of golf luminaries can''t match that, but two names alone make it illustrious: Arnie and Oakmont.

Oakmont Country Club hosts the U.S. Open this week for a record eighth time. Arnold Palmer is the honorary chairman.

"I played baseball, football, all the things that the guys in this area do," Palmer says of his youth in Latrobe, Pa. "But I went out for football, and I was too small. So they told me to come back next year, and I think that did it."

Golf became his only game. He went on to win seven major titles and inspire "Arnie''s Army," Arnold Palmer sweaters and Pittsburgh parents naming their sons.

"There are so many guys that play golf now in their late 30s, early 40s with the first name of Arnold," says Jeffrey Rivard, executive director of the Western Pennsylvania Golf Association.

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