Browsing: Fuzzy

The golfer Fuzzy Zoeller, who has died aged 74, won two majors – the US Masters in 1979 and the US Open in 1984, both by virtue of a playoff. His Masters success was especially notable for the fact that it was Zoeller’s debut in the competition, making him the first golfer since 1935 (and still only the third) to win on his first appearance. He won the sudden-death playoff against Tom Watson and Ed Sneed with a par and a birdie, sinking a six-foot putt on the second extra hole and hurling his putter high into the airas the ball disappeared into the cup.

Zoeller’s US Open victory at Winged Foot five years later was remembered for his light-hearted interaction with his play-off rival, Greg Norman. When Norman holed a lengthy putt on the last of the 72 holes, Zoeller, who was behind him on the fairway, mistakenly thought the Australian had gone into the lead, and waved a white towel in mock surrender. But Norman’s putt had only drawn him level, and Zoeller was able to secure a par on the last to maintain parity. During the subsequent 18-hole playoff, which Zoeller won by eight strokes, Norman returned the gesture by flapping his own white towel at the 18th.

As well as those two big wins, Zoeller picked up eight other PGA tour victories in the US. He was also runner-up at the 1981 USPGA tournament in Duluth, Georgia, third in the 1994 Open championship at Turnberry, and played in three Ryder Cups, in 1979, 1983 and 1985, although he had a terrible record in that competition, losing eight of his 10 matches, with just one win and one draw.

Born Frank Urban Zoeller in New Albany, Indiana, to Frank Sr, an executive at a wood veneer business, and his wife, Alma (nee Cummings), he was known as Fuzzy from an early age, on account of his initials. He started playing golf at the age of three, and shone in the sport at New Albany high school, Edison Junior College in Florida, and Houston University in Texas, before turning professional in 1973.

He earned his USPGA tour card the following year and after a modest first season improved vastly in his second with four top 10 finishes, two of which were in the runner-up slot. A quick player, he was easygoing on the fairways and could often be seen whistling and cracking jokes with the crowd.

Considered long off the tee in those days, Zoeller subsequently put himself into a number of good positions to win, but had begun to gain a reputation as something of a choker until his first win came in 1979, at the San Diego Open. Ten weeks later he won the Masters at the age of 27, taking advantage of a collapse by Sneed, who had looked to be the winner before bogeying the last three holes. “I’ve never been to heaven, and, thinking back on my life, I probably won’t get a chance to go,†Zoeller joked. “But I guess winning the Masters is as close as I’m going to get.â€

At the 1984 US Open, Zoeller had a three-stroke lead after nine holes of the final round, but Norman had drawn level by the 17th. On the 18th, Norman hit his approach shot into the stands, but after receiving relief without penalty chipped to 45ft from the flag and holed the par putt. It was then that Zoeller, standing in the group behind and believing Norman had just registered a birdie, waved his white towel. The playoff on the following day turned out to be heavily one-sided, with Zoeller leading by five shots after nine holes, and stretching the distance by a further three on the back half. The following year Zoeller was given the USPGA’s 1985 Bob Jones award for distinguished sportsmanship.

After that second major there were expectations of more to come. But Zoeller’s momentum slowed, and his next tournament victory, at the Anheuser-Busch golf classic in Virginia in 1986, proved to be his last on the main US tour, at the age of 34 – although he did have five top 10 finishes in the majors between 1986 and 1994.

In 1997, in the twilight of his career, Zoeller’s fondness for wisecracking embroiled him in controversy as Tiger Woods became the first black player to win a major – at the Masters. Relaxing with a drink in the Augusta clubhouse, Zoeller was collared by a CNN journalist looking for some off-the-cuff thoughts about Woods’ imminent victory. While he praised Woods’ performance, he also jokingly referred to the 21-year-old as “a little boy†and said he hoped that he would not be choosing fried chicken and collard greens for the celebratory champions dinner.

Although he swiftly apologised for the racial stereotyping – and Woods later brushed aside the incident – Zoeller found it difficult to repair the damage to his reputation, which led to the loss of lucrative sponsorship deals and caused him anguish for years.

In 2002 he joined the over-50s Champions Tour in the US, winning the Senior PGA Championship in Ohio in 2002 and the Mastercard Championship in Hawaii in 2004 before playing his last event in 2017. He also designed golf courses, and enjoyed hunting and fishing.

Zoeller’s wife, Diane (nee Thornton), whom he married in 1976, died in 2021. He is survived by their children, Sunnye, Heidi, Gretchen and Miles.

Frank (Fuzzy) Urban Zoeller, golfer, born 11 November 1951; died 27 November 2025

Kind of fitting, that Fuzzy Zoeller died on Thanksgiving. No player could have had a better temperament for Skins Game golf than Fuzzy, winner of the 1979 Masters, one of the best ever played, and the 1984 U.S. Open at Winged Foot. He was loose, he was funny, he was fast and, when he was on, he could stake shots and hole putts with anybody. He won the Thanksgiving made-for-TV golf ritual in 1985 (Tom Watson was second), won it again in ’86 (Lee Trevino was second) and finished second (with Jack Nicklaus) when Trevino won the most Skins money in ’87.

Do you think Frank Urban Zoeller was intimidated, at all, playing with Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino and Tom Watson, with a camera in his face? Impossible.

Here is a list of the three greatest modern-era natural golf talents in American professional golf: John Daly; Fred Couples; Fuzzy Zoeller. He had Hall of Fame talent, but the good life, Fuzzy style, was always pulling at him. Hunting, fishing, a long series of soggy red-meat dinners, the ashtrays crowded by last call. His favorite haunts on Washington Road in Augusta were TBonz Steakhouse and Rhinehart’s Oyster Bar.

He stopped playing in the Masters in 2009, after playing 31 straight. He never stopped going to the Tuesday-night Champions Dinner. He often wore pink shirts under his green Augusta National club coat, along with a loosely knotted tie. He was not a buttoned-down guy. He would have been an outstanding lighten-the-mood Ryder Cup captain, but there was no way he could do all that coat-and-tie, say-the-right-thing nonsense that the PGA of America leadership used to demand of its Ryder Cup captains.

Zoeller’s Ryder Cup record was weirdly terrible. He was 1-4 in 1979, 0-1-1 in 1983 and 0-3 in 1985, the year he received the USGA’s highest honor, its Bob Jones Award.

Zoeller always enjoyed a reputation for being an easygoing playing partner. Fall golf was never his thing. His 10 PGA Tour wins were all in winter, spring and early summer. One of his most famous acts was waving a white flag of surrender in Greg Norman’s direction, when Norman was on his way to winning the 1984 U.S. Open at Winged Foot. (Can you imagine, golfers with a sense of humor?) Zoeller won in a playoff. His air-tight Monday 67 is probably one of the most underrated rounds of now-or-never golf ever played. Norman shot 75, five over par. That’s how hard the course was. Zoeller’s Masters win came in his first appearance, in a three-way playoff with Ed Sneed and Tom Watson. It was a Sunday so tense there was no air. Two wins in majors in two playoffs. Astounding.

Sneaky long is no longer a thing, in the age of graphite and carbon. Innumerable players, through the last days of persimmon, were described as sneaky long. Fuzzy Zoeller — steel shaft, wood head, low hands, curved back — was the sneaky longest of them. Without a hint of hit in his swing, without a bit of grunt, he could drive it out there with anybody. His swing was two waggles and go, with a slow, long and across-the-line backswing and a hugely full body turn. His paunch helped. He was strong as an ox, and he was a great shooter in basketball. In other words, aided and abetted by his superior eye-hand coordination, he could catch golf shot after golf shot on the center of the face.

Zoeller was a great short putter. He liked to take break out of his short putts and, from five feet and in, few golfers hit putts harder. Peter Jacobsen, who likely played hundreds of rounds with Zoeller, offered this analysis of Zoeller’s short putting: “Unorthodox set up. Aimed left. Flat lie on his putter. Played a bit of a cut with his putter. But was deadly when he needed to be.”

There was not a mean bone in his body. Every player of Fuzzy’s era will tell you that. Some of his favorite practice-round partners were good-ol’-boy Southerners like Hubert Green and John Daly, or golfers of color, like Vijay Singh and Jim Thorpe. He was a central member in a generation of singular talents.

He was three months older than Ben Crenshaw. In a text Thursday night, Crenshaw offered this tribute: “I’m going to personally miss Fuzzy as a dear friend. Fuzzy had an exceptional touch, and he was so strong. You can’t win at Augusta and Winged Foot without having a sensitive touch around the greens. But what got him through many pressure-packed situations was his attitude. We shared many happy golf memories as well as time together as families. My wife and I send out love and prayers to their children.”

Zoeller and his late wife, Diane, had four children. They were a family of Hoosiers, through and through, living on a large farm in Floyds Knob, Ind., near the Kentucky border, rooting for Indiana basketball teams, identifying with America’s rural tradition. Fuzzy lived in camo. His life revolved around his family, his love hunting and fishing — and driving a tractor. He liked to say that if didn’t play golf he would have made a living doing something with a tractor.

Zoeller made millions via Kmart, selling a line of no-fuss golf clubs for 13 years. (He had his own seven-seat Falcon 100 jet.) He lost the opportunity to make millions more. If you know anything about the life and times of Fuzzy Zoeller, you likely know about the crude 20-second remark he made, one marinated in a racist trope about old Southern Black eating habits and pointed at Tiger Woods, a 21-year-old Californian with a Black father and a Thai mother. It cost Zoeller his Kmart contract and, to some incalculable degree, his public ease.

Fuzzy Zoeller, two-time major champion, dies at 74

By:

Zephyr Melton

On Masters Sunday in 1997, with Woods putting the finishing touches on his historic 12-shot win, Zoeller, drink in hand and sunglasses on, stopped to talk to a group of reporters assembled near the clubhouse, including TV crews with live cameras. The ’79 Masters winner looked at the scoreboard and said, “Pretty impressive. That little boy is driving it well, and he’s putting well. He’s doing everything it takes to win. 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 to serve fried chicken next year. Got it?”

He snapped his fingers and started to walk away. Then, over his shoulder and still walking, he concluded this bit with a dismissive addendum that sealed his fate: “Or collard greens or whatever the hell they serve.”

They serve.Those were the two words that changed the course of Zoeller’s fortunes.

In November 2001, as Zoeller was preparing to go on the senior tour, Earl Woods, Tiger’s father, summarized Zoeller’s infamous comments in a story for Sports Illustrated.He said, “We’re all prisoners of our own words, captured for posterity. Growing up in Indiana in the 1950s and ’60s, as Fuzzy did, I’m sure he saw racial ugliness. Some respond to that with intellect, some with anger, some by isolating themselves. Fuzzy’s response was humor. The problem with his comments is they were funny only to a very select audience.”

Earl Woods died in 2006. Tiger Woods will be eligible to play on the senior tour come January. Fuzzy Zoeller died on Thanksgiving Day, four years after his wife. Woods will be the host of his tournament in the Bahamas next week. He won’t be playing, and his body continues to betray him. He hasn’t made a public comment about Zoeller’s death. Zoeller’s ill-considered comments from 1997 followed him right into his obits, along with the green club coat he won at Augusta and the U.S. Open trophy he won at Winged Foot. They threatened to overshadow the greatness of his golf and the effortless cool that was at the true heart of his demeanor.

Fuzzy Zoeller lived a large life. Whatever you imagine his breakfast looks like, double it. There won’t be another Fuzzy. The eating, the drinking, the smoking, the fast play, the easygoing nature. You wouldn’t say he was slow to anger because there didn’t seem to be an angry bone in his body, not in his public life, not on golf courses across the world, not at Augusta National or up and down Washington Road.

Millions of people, he once said, “think I’m a hating man when I know in my heart I’m not.”

Millions of others know he could flat-out play, and did so with a certain distinctive style that has made professional golf the sport it is, and the game it was.

Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments at Michael.Bamberger@Golf.com

Nov 27, 2025, 12:50 PM ET

Fuzzy Zoeller, a two-time major champion and one of golf’s most gregarious characters whose career was tainted by a racially insensitive joke about Tiger Woods, 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.

But it was the 1997 Masters that changed his popularity.

Masters and U.S. Open champion Fuzzy Zoeller was one of golf’s most gregarious characters and great champions. But his career was tainted by a racially insensitive joke he made about Tiger Woods at the 1997 Masters. Chris Condon/PGA TOUR/Getty Images

Woods was on his way to a watershed moment in golf with the most dominant victory in Augusta National history. Zoeller had finished his round and had a drink in hand under the oak tree by the clubhouse when he was stopped by CNN and asked for his thoughts on the 21-year-old Woods on his way to the most dominant win ever at Augusta National.

“That little boy is driving well and he’s putting well. He’s doing everything it takes to win. 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?” Zoeller said.

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 apologized. Woods was traveling and it took two weeks for him to comment as the controversy festered. Zoeller later said he received death threats for years after that moment.

Writing for Golf Digest in 2008, he said it was “the worst thing I’ve gone through in my entire life.”

“If people wanted me to feel the same hurt I projected on others, I’m here to tell you they got their way,” Zoeller wrote. “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.”

It marred a career filled with two famous major titles, eight other PGA Tour titles and a Senior PGA Championship among his two PGA Tour Champions titles.

More than winning was how he went about it. Zoeller played fast and still had an easygoing nature to the way he approached the game, often whistling between shots.

He made his Masters debut in 1979 and got into a three-way playoff when Ed Sneed bogeyed the last three holes. Zoeller defeated Sneed and Tom Watson with a birdie on the second playoff hole, flinging his putter high in the air.

“I’ve never been to heaven, and thinking back on my life, I probably won’t get a chance to go,” Zoeller once said. “I guess winning the Masters is as close as I’m going to get.”

Zoeller was locked in a duel with Norman at Winged Foot in ’84, playing in the group behind and watching Norman make putt after putt. So when he saw Norman make a 40-footer on the 18th, he assumed it was for birdie and began waving a white towel in a moment of sportsmanship.

Only later did he realize it was for par, and Zoeller made par to force a playoff. Zoeller beat him by eight shots in the 18-hole playoff (67-75). Zoeller’s lone regret was giving the towel to a kid after he finished in regulation.

“If you happen to see a grungy white towel hanging around, get it for me, will you?” he once said.

He was born Frank Urban Zoeller Jr. in New Albany, Indiana. Zoeller said his father was known only as “Fuzzy” and he was given the same name. He played at a junior college in Florida before joining the powerful Houston golf team and then going pro.

His wife, Diane, died in 2021. Zoeller has three children, including daughter Gretchen, with whom he used to play in the PNC Championship. Zoeller was awarded the Bob Jones Award by the USGA in 1985, the organization’s highest honor given for distinguished sportsmanship.

Fuzzy Zoeller, the two-time major champion whose genial public persona was overshadowed by a racially insensitive joke about Tiger Woods that came to define the latter part of his career, has died aged 74.

No cause of death was immediately available. Brian Naugle, tournament director of the Insperity Invitational in Houston and a longtime colleague, said Zoeller’s daughter notified him of the death on Thursday.

Zoeller, born Frank Urban Zoeller Jr in New Albany, Indiana, was one of golf’s most outgoing characters across a career that delivered historic highs. He was the first player in more than four decades to win the Masters on his debut, claiming the 1979 green jacket after a three-man playoff. Five years later at the US Open at Winged Foot, he outlasted Greg Norman in an 18-hole Monday playoff after famously waving a white towel from the fairway, believing Norman had just holed a birdie putt to beat him. It turned out to be a par, and Zoeller won by eight shots the next day.

US president Donald Trump, who often praised Zoeller, posted a tribute on Truth Social. “Very sad to hear that the highly respected and beloved Professional Golfer, Fuzzy Zoeller, has passed away,†he wrote, citing Zoeller’s major victories and calling him “a truly remarkable person and playerâ€.

But for all of Zoeller’s success and easygoing charm, it was the 1997 Masters that irrevocably altered his standing in the sport. As Woods marched toward a transformative, record-breaking victory at Augusta National, a relaxed Zoeller – drink in hand – was stopped by a CNN crew near the clubhouse and asked for his thoughts. His reply, delivered with a smile and a snap of his fingers, sparked immediate outrage.

“That little boy is driving well and he’s putting well,†Zoeller said, before adding that Woods should be congratulated, then joking that officials should “tell him not [to] serve fried chicken next year … or collard greens or whatever the hell they serve.â€

Zoeller apologized, but the blowback only grew as it took Woods two weeks to address the remarks while traveling. Zoeller later said he received death threats for years. In Golf Digest in 2008, he called it “the worst thing I’ve gone through in my entire life,†adding: “If people wanted me to feel the same hurt I projected on others, I’m here to tell you they got their way.â€

He said he had “cried many times†and offered “countless†apologies for words he described as a misguided attempt at humor that did not reflect who he was. “Still, I’ve come to terms with the fact that this incident will never, ever go away.â€

Fuzzy Zoeller is congratulated by his caddie during the 1979 Masters in Augusta, Georgia. Photograph: Augusta National/Getty Images

Zoeller’s playing record extended well beyond his two major triumphs. He won eight additional PGA Tour titles, captured two PGA Tour Champions victories including a Senior PGA Championship, and represented the United States in three Ryder Cups. Known for playing quickly and whistling between shots, he cultivated an image of a player who both competed hard and relished the walk.

His 1979 Masters win remains one of Augusta’s most enduring debuts. Arriving as a first-time competitor, he reached a playoff after Ed Sneed bogeyed the final three holes. On the second extra hole, Zoeller stiffed his approach to six feet and rolled in the winning birdie, tossing his putter skyward in celebration. “I’ve never been to heaven,†he once said. “I guess winning the Masters is as close as I’m going to get.â€

At Winged Foot five years later, he believed Norman’s 40-plus-foot par putt on the 18th was a birdie that had beaten him and responded with a theatrical white-towel wave from the fairway. After an official told him the score, Zoeller forced the playoff and dominated, though he later joked that he regretted giving away the now-famous towel.

Zoeller played college golf first at Edison Junior College and later at the University of Houston, then a powerhouse programme. He turned professional in 1973. His wife, Diane, died in 2021. He is survived by three children, including his daughter Gretchen, with whom he often played in the PNC Championship. He was awarded the USGA’s Bob Jones Award for sportsmanship in 1985.

Frank “Fuzzy” Zoeller, winner of the Masters and U.S. Open, has died at the age of 74, according to multiple reports. A cause of death was not immediately available.

Zoeller, who hailed from Indiana and played collegiately at the University of Houston, is the last player to win the Masters in his debut in the event. He earned his green jacket in a three-hole playoff over Tom Watson and Ed Sneed in 1979.

“I’ve never been to heaven, and thinking back on my life, I probably won’t get a chance to go,” Zoeller famously said. “I guess winning the Masters is as close as I’m going to get.”

Zoeller went on to win 10 PGA Tour titles, including another major triumph at the 1984 U.S. Open at Winged Foot. He won the championship in an 18-hole playoff over Greg Norman, the day after he infamously waved a white towel in surrender on the 18th hole thinking he’d lost the tournament.

“Fuzzy was one of a kind,” USGA CEO Mike Whan said in a statement. “We are grateful for all he gave to golf. I hope we can all remember his unmistakable joy.”

Zoeller continued his excellent play on the Champions Tour, winning twice on the senior circuit, including a title at the 2002 Senior PGA Championship, in which he prevailed over Hale Irwin and Bobby Wadkins by a single shot.

Despite his success on the course, Zoeller’s reputation off the course was scarred after he made racially insensitive remarks about Tiger Woods at the 1997 Masters. Speaking immediately following Woods’ record-setting win at Augusta National, Zoeller said, “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.”

Zoeller later apologized for the gaffe. He would go on to receive death threats over his remarks and in 2008 wrote that the incident was “the worst thing I’ve gone through in my entire life.”

“If people wanted me to feel the same hurt I projected on others, I’m here to tell you they got their way,” Zoeller wrote. “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.”

Zoeller’s wife, Diane, died in 2021. He is survived by his four children, Sunny, Heidi, Gretchen and Miles, as well as multiple grandchildren.