It could not have been easy to be a professional golfer and Arnold Palmer’s grandson. Sam Saunders faced the reality for years and always seemed to handle it with great aplomb.

“I have my own identity with my wife and children and friends,” Saunders told reporters in October 2016, in the same week he’d contributed a poignant and funny eulogy at his grandfather’s memorial service.

“I’m proud to be his grandson and it’s not something I’m never going to shy away from. As a younger man I felt the need to be relevant and have a name of my own, but I have great pride in carrying on his legacy.”

Saunders, who played in college at Clemson before leaving early to turn pro, toiled for 15 years in that lengthy shadow, and now he’s decided to move on with his life. The 37-year-old announced on social media that he played his last round on Friday in the Korn Ferry Tour’s Magnit Championship in New Jersey, where Saunders missed his 15th cut in 19 starts this season.

In a career that spanned 320 starts on PGA Tour-sanctioned circuits, with earnings of more than $4.3 million, Saunders notched one runner-up finish on the PGA Tour, losing a five-man playoff in the 2015 Puerto Rico Open. On the Korn Ferry Tour, he recorded three runners-up, including another playoff loss in the 2023 Panama Championship.

In his retirement post, Saunders wrote, “It was never easy for me, and I never reached my playing goals, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I have made so many friends, and created relationships that will last forever.”