Golf’s most distinguished relationship began on a rain-soaked driving range at Sylvania Country Club.

The first meeting between Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus came in 1954 at the Ohio Amateur. The 14-year-old Nicklaus saw a lone silhouette on the range hitting golf balls in a torrential downpour.

It was Palmer, who would become Nicklaus’ enduring rival and life-long friend.

“I stopped and watched this fellow hitting balls. I said, ‘Boy, is this guy strong,’ ” Nicklaus said at The Masters in April. “He had these Popeye forearms and he was just hitting these 9-irons about 8 feet high. I watched him for about 10 minutes and he didn’t know I was there. I walked into the pro shop and I said, ‘Who in the world is that on the driving range?’ ‘Oh, that’s our defending champion, Arnold Palmer.’ ”

Palmer won his second consecutive Ohio Amateur that week, beginning an almost half-century association with northwest Ohio. He played in five professional tournaments in Toledo — all majors and each at Inverness Club — the 1957 and 1979 U.S. Open, 1986 and 1993 PGA Championship, and the 2003 U.S. Senior Open.

Palmer died Sunday in Pittsburgh at age 87. Known as the King, Palmer brought golf to mainstream America with his everyman charisma. His boisterous galleries — “Arnie’s Army” — became an indelible mark of his popularity.

The 2003 U.S. Senior Open represented one of the final times the Big Three of Palmer, Nicklaus, and Gary Player ever appeared in the same event. Securing Palmer’s entry was a coup for tournament director Judd Silverman.

Silverman reached out to  Charlie Meacham, a business associate and former LPGA commissioner, to gauge the seven-time major champion’s interest in playing at Inverness one final time, to which Palmer wondered why anyone would want to watch a 73 year old.

“Charlie went to talk to Mr. Palmer and said, ‘Folks in Toledo would really appreciate if you played in the Senior Open,’ ” Silverman said. “Mr. Palmer said to Charlie, ‘Have they seen me play lately?’ ”

It was classic self-deprecation from an American icon who was the personification of humility.

“Sure enough,” Silverman said, “he came.”

“He was such a remarkable person,” Silverman added. “How he connected with people was an amazing thing to see. You can see it in the outpouring that’s going on (Monday), what he meant to not only golf but the country and really the world. He was an ambassador and so well respected by everyone from the common man and woman to presidents.”

Palmer missed the cut in 2003, but it didn’t dull the enthusiasm of the galleries. Thousands of people lined the fairways following Palmer’s group on a course that also included Nicklaus, Player, and Tom Watson.

“I thought the crowds were tremendous,” Palmer said. “They were huge. And that is something to be said for the area and the fans. I find the area very golf supportive. The people and this area have been wonderful to me. I have enjoyed my trips here and have had a lot of fun playing golf.”

Palmer transcended the game of golf, garnering fans across the globe. His graciousness and innate ability to be disarming around nervous fans contributed to his accumulation of millions of admirers.

“He could be with Eisenhower, Ford, or Bush one day and with you or me the next, and he’d make you and me feel like a president,” said longtime The Blade sports columnist Dave Hackenberg, a board member of the Golf Writers Association of America. “Arnold treated anyone who crossed his path like a best friend.”

Mark Tansey, founder of Toledo-based Sunrise Golf Inc., a golf management and consulting firm, fondly remembers encounters with Palmer at Palmer’s aptly-named La Quinta, Calif., restaurant, Arnold Palmer’s Restaurant.

The old-school, gentlemanly Palmer required patrons to remove their hats at the restaurant, a quirky request that Tansey appreciated. And when the King visited his kingdom, he treated his guest as royalty.

“There would be 50 or 60 people there, and sure enough, Arnie would walk in,” Tansey said. “When he walked into the restaurant, he didn’t walk into the back room and go into a private area. He shook hands and said hello to everybody. He demonstrated the behavior that I wish every athlete could emulate, and that is just knowing the importance of those who support you. Those people loved him. He literally engaged on a personal level with everyone he met.”

Former Sylvania resident Tom Cox stumbled upon Palmer’s group at the U.S. Senior Open and experienced a vintage Palmer moment that stays with people for a lifetime.

“We made eye contact and he walked up to me and put out his pen to sign something,” Cox said. “I had nothing to get autographed, so I said, ‘Mr. Palmer, I want to just shake your hand.’ He said, ‘I’m sure I can handle that.’ It was neat.”

Cox celebrated his 69th birthday Sunday.

“When I found out he died on my birthday,” Cox said, “it felt like I lost someone special.”

Contact Kyle Rowland at: krowland@theblade.com, 419-724-6282, or on Twitter @KyleRowland.

First Published September 27, 2016, 4:40 a.m.