Play the national anthem for Arnold Palmer this week at the Ryder Cup. Play it a lot.

It’s what he wanted.

“We don’t play ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ enough during the matches, and that is one of the things I think we need to do,” Palmer told the Pioneer Press last month when he visited the Twin Cities.

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The two-time Ryder Cup captain always listed his victories representing America as among his proudest achievements.

The U.S.-vs-Europe biennial event is being held this week at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska. Players will begin arriving Monday, and Palmer’s death — and the legacy of his unparalleled golf career — is sure to be a presence.

Last month, while discussing the event and the then-upcoming return of golf to the Olympics, Palmer spoke of what he described as unique patriotism of the Ryder Cup, which he described as “a good, clean competition.”

The remarks came on Aug. 4, when Palmer visited Lake Elmo to give an on-site thumbs-up to Royal Golf Club, the resurrection of golf on the former site of 3M-owned Tartan Park under a design by the firms of Palmer and golf great Annika Sorenstam.

Palmer, accompanied by his personal nurse, appeared frail and gaunt, remaining seated for most of the several-hour event, which included a tour of the course.

His mind, however, appeared sharp. He quizzed his associates on the course’s layout and spoke on point during a four-minute interview he granted this Pioneer Press reporter. The interview came only after Palmer obliged a roomful of local officials who wanted to be photographed with the legend.

Arnie sat there like Santa, as city planners and state lawmakers waited in line for a chance to sit next to him, confess their golf wishes and leave with a keepsake jpeg to be shared instantly.

When we spoke, Palmer chose his words carefully, not worrying, it seemed, with the extraneous ones. Especially when it came to the Ryder Cup, for which, it seemed, he had one point to make.

“It’s a patriotic situation, and it belongs to both sides: America, and …” He didn’t finish the sentence. Europe, of course, but that’s obvious. He saved his breath for what he really wanted to say.

“We don’t play ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ enough during the matches, and that is one of the things I think we need to do.”

I waited for him to continue, but he said no more on it.

He didn’t have to.