America At Large:  Every man who has ever played the Masters tournament recalls his first trip down Magnolia Lane, but for Arnold Palmer it was particularly memorable.Palmer won $695 for finishing 10th in that 1955 Masters, but it was the first cheque he was ever allowed to cash.

After opting to join the professional ranks in the fall of 1954, Palmer had played what was then known as the "Winter Tour", but PGA regulations of that era mandated a six-month probationary status in which an apprentice pro could compete in tour events but was not allowed to keep his winnings.

"It was a relief to get here," said Palmer as he reflected on his first visit to Augusta, "because I knew that if I won any money, I'd get it, and that was important."

The weekend before the Masters four years later, Palmer had tied for the lead after 72 holes of the Azalea Open, a now-defunct event which was played in Wilmington, North Carolina. Most tournaments weren't televised back then, so there was no need for "sudden death" play-offs, and in this instance the issue would be resolved by a 36-hole play-off.

That Monday, under brutal conditions, Palmer shot 75, 78 to defeat Howie Johnson, and then raced across two states to Augusta, where he registered for the Masters that night.

The next morning The Man Who Would Be King was paired with Dow Finsterwald against Ben Hogan and Jack Burke in a not-so-friendly practice-round Nassau (a game involving a bet for the front nine, a bet for the back nine and a bet for the full 18) at Augusta National.

A fatigued Palmer struggled so badly that at one point he overheard Hogan sneer in a stage-whisper to Burke, "How the hell did Palmer get an invitation to this tournament, anyway?" Stung by the criticism, Palmer used it for motivation as he went on to win the tournament. His score of 284 left him a stroke ahead of Doug Ford and Fred Hawkins.

At 28, he was the youngest Masters winner since 25-year-old Byron Nelson had taken the green jacket in 1937.

"Things back then were so different it's hard to explain," Palmer recalled on the eve of his 50th and final Masters. "In '58, the total money on the Tour, counting the Masters and everything, was less than $1 million. First place here that year was $14,000, and I'd never seen $14,000 in my life. That's a fact."

After being fitted for his green jacket, Palmer slipped his cheque book to his late wife, Winnie, with instructions to pay his caddie, Nathaniel "Ironman" Avery.

"I said, 'Here, write Ironman a cheque and give him 10 per cent'," remembered Palmer.

So Winnie made out a cheque for 14 thousand and presented it to the caddie.

"It's funny now, but it wasn't funny at the time," said Arnie after the laughter had subsided yesterday. "By the time we realised what she'd done, old Ironman was headed out the gate because he knew no one would cash it for him here. The good news was we caught up with him and gave him a cheque for $1,400."

Good news for Palmer, anyway. Ironman's reaction remains unrecorded.

On the Tuesday night before the Masters a year later Palmer found himself hosting his first Champion's Dinner.

"Maybe I was just sort of a green kid and didn't know a hell of a lot about it, but I had great respect for the guys that played golf, like Hogan and Nelson and Snead and Sarazen and that gang that were in there," he recalled.

"To be in that room with them and Bobby Jones and Cliff Roberts, the whole scene was one that you could never duplicate. You couldn't put a room of characters together like we had when I first won the Masters."

Arnold would become the Tiger Woods of his own special era. He was the King before Elvis, and no one ever questioned whether Arnold Palmer belonged after that 1958 win. As either the champion or defending champion, he was a participant in every green jacket ceremony for the next eight years, winning in 1958, 1960, 1962, and 1964.

"How many could I have won? A lot more than four," said Palmer.

"There were a couple of obvious ones, and there were others that weren't so obvious. In '57 I had a shot with nine holes to go and didn't perform very well, but from '58, oh, God, almost up till 1970, with a few exceptions I would have had a shot every year."

In those early years Augusta National used to provide free passes to the soldiers from nearby Camp Gordon, and the GIs in their fatigues became the earliest recruits in what would grow into a worldwide movement known as Arnie's Army.

Arnie's Army will stage its final march this weekend. The 74-year-old Palmer reiterated on Tuesday what the golfing world had known for months when he said: "This will be my last Masters."

Today's playing partners will include Bob Estes and Nathan Smith, the US Mid-Amateur Champion with whom he played a Tuesday practice round.

Asked what advice he might impart to the 25-year-old Smith, Palmer replied: "I've seen a lot of them, from Tiger back to Nicklaus and others, and if I can teach them to leave the game better when they leave than when they found it, then I've been successful."

Arnie hasn't made the cut at the Masters since 1983, but when he was asked how he'd like his final walk up the 18th fairway to unfold tomorrow he had a defiantly predictable answer.

"I know exactly how I want Friday to unfold," replied Palmer. "At the end of the day I want to be asking, 'What's my starting time on Saturday?'"