Palmer a cheat claims Venturi in new book

ONE month before he competes in his 50th and final Masters Tournament, American golf's most charismatic and enduring champion, Arnold Palmer, has been accused of cheating.

Reaching back almost half a century, Ken Venturi claims that in 1958 Palmer knowingly broke the rules en route to the first of his four Masters wins.

In a soon-to-be released autobiography, Getting up & down: My 60 years in golf, the 1964 US Open champion and former CBS golf analyst relives what turned out to be a free drop Palmer took behind Augusta National's par-3 12th green in the final round.