By DOUG FERGUSON | Associated Press
Fuzzy Zoeller, a two-time major champion and one of golf’s most gregarious characters, has died, according to a longtime colleague. He was 74.
A cause of death was not immediately available. Brian Naugle, the tournament director of the Insperity Invitational in Houston, said Zoeller’s daughter called him Thursday with the news.
Zoeller was the last player to win the Masters on his first attempt, a three-man playoff in 1979. He famously waved a white towel at Winged Foot in 1984 when he thought Greg Norman had beat him, only to defeat Norman in an 18-hole playoff the next day.
The last decade of his career was tainted by a comment he made publicly at the 1997 Masters.
Woods was on his way to a watershed moment in golf with the most dominant victory in Augusta National history — and as the defending champ would get to choose the menu for the Champions Dinner. Zoeller praised the performance in a CNN interview and ended it by saying: “So, you know what you guys do when he gets in here? You pat him on the back and say congratulations and enjoy it and tell him not serve fried chicken next year. Got it?”
He smiled and snapped his fingers, and as he was walking away he turned and said, “Or collard greens or whatever the hell they serve.”
That moment haunted him the rest of his career. Zoeller wrote for Golf Digest in 2008: “I’ve cried many times. I’ve apologized countless times for words said in jest that just aren’t a reflection of who I am. I have hundreds of friends, including people of color, who will attest to that. Still, I’ve come to terms with the fact that this incident will never, ever go away.”
___
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Related Posts:
- Golfer Fuzzy Zoeller dies; two-time major champion haunted by Tiger Woods joke News By DOUG FERGUSON | Associated Press Fuzzy Zoeller, a two-time major champion and one of golf’s most gregarious characters, has died, according to a longtime colleague. He was 74. Related Articles Toy inventor Burt Meyer, who dreamed up Lite-Brite and Rock ’Em Sock ’Em Robots, dies age 99 H. Rap…
- UFC Champion Islam Makhachev Drops Major Hint About His Next Fight Sports UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev recently shared an update on his next fight. He acknowledged the options that are available to him and provided a timeline for when it could be official. Makhachev won the welterweight championship at UFC 322 after a dominant win over Jack Della Maddalena. After the…
- Macaulay Culkin Legally Changed His Name for a Joke — Find Out What It Is & Might Have Been! Entertainment If you think Macaulay Culkin is a wonderfully unique name, wait until you find out the star’s full moniker. Indeed, while he was given the name Macaulay Carson Culkin when he was born, he ended up changing his name in 2019 because of a joke. While appearing at A Nostalgic…
- Leon Brown Calls Kody a ‘Joke of a Father’ & Debunks Reconciliation Claims Entertainment Reading Time: 3 minutes Leon Brown is calling out their father. See, Kody has been speaking a lot about his family in recent interviews. At the same time as he blamed reality TV for his divorces, the Sister Wives villain claimed that he’s (finally) trying to be a good dad.…
- Defending champion Eagles have been too good for too long to be underestimated by Bears News The sky is falling in Philadelphia. Eagles star wide receiver A.J. Brown, who’s on pace for the worst season of his career, made an offhand comment two weeks ago, calling his situation, and presumably the offense at large, a “s--- show.” Frustration with quarterback Jalen Hurts leaked from the locker…
(Visited 1 times, 1 visits today)