Golf star and sports-marketing pioneer Arnold Palmer died Sunday at age 87 in his native Pennsylvania, but his ties to North Carolina and Charlotte ran deep. Palmer played pivotal roles in bringing the PGA Tour here with the Kemper Open during the 1970s and later made regular appearances in senior PGA Tour events during the 1980s and 1990s. Palmer attended Wake Forest University and he counted Charlotte real estate executive Johnny Harris as a lifelong friend. In July, when I interviewed Harris…