{"id":327563,"date":"2025-12-04T16:57:20","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T16:57:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/327563\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T16:57:20","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T16:57:20","slug":"golf-legend-dies-aged-74-tiger-woods-joke-that-tarnished-legacy-the-masters-interview-1997","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/327563\/","title":{"rendered":"Golf legend dies aged 74, Tiger Woods joke that tarnished legacy, The Masters interview 1997"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fuzzy Zoeller, a two-time major champion and one of golf<\/a>‘s most gregarious characters whose career was tainted by a racially insensitive joke about Tiger Woods<\/a>, has died, according to a long-time colleague. He was 74.<\/p>\n

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 with the news.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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\"Fuzzy<\/p>\n

Fuzzy Zoeller watches his shot during the 1979 Masters Tournament.\u00a0Augusta National\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

But it was the 1997 Masters that changed his popularity.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat little boy is driving well and he\u2019s putting well,” he said.<\/p>\n

“He\u2019s 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, enjoy it and tell him not serve fried chicken next year. Got it?”<\/p>\n

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.\u201d<\/p>\n

That moment haunted him the rest of his career.<\/p>\n

Zoeller apologised. Woods was travelling and it took two weeks for him to comment. Zoeller later said he received death threats for years after that moment.<\/p>\n

Writing for Golf Digest in 2008, he said it was \u201cthe worst thing I’ve gone through in my entire life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf people wanted me to feel the same hurt I projected on others, I\u2019m here to tell you they got their way,\u201d Zoeller wrote.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019ve cried many times. I\u2019ve apologised countless times for words said in jest that just aren\u2019t a reflection of who I am. I have hundreds of friends, including people of colour, who will attest to that.<\/p>\n

\u201cStill, I\u2019ve come to terms with the fact that this incident will never, ever go away.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

More than winning was how he went about it. Zoeller played fast and still had an easy-going nature to the way he approached the game, often whistling between shots.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019ve never been to heaven, and thinking back on my life, I probably won\u2019t get a chance to go,\u201d Zoeller once said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess winning the Masters is as close as I\u2019m going to get.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Fuzzy<\/p>\n

Fuzzy Zoeller in action at the PGA Championship.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

Zoeller was locked in a duel with Norman at Winged Foot in the 1984, 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.<\/p>\n

Only later did he realise 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you happen to see a grungy white towel hanging around, get it for me, will you?\u201d he once said.<\/p>\n

He was born Frank Urban Zoeller Jr. in New Albany, Indiana. Zoeller said his father was known only as \u201cFuzzy\u201d and he was given the same name. He played at a junior college in Florida before joining the powerful Houston golf team before turning pro.<\/p>\n

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 organisation’s highest honour given for distinguished sportsmanship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fuzzy Zoeller, a two-time major champion and one of golf‘s most gregarious characters whose career was tainted by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":327564,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,755,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-327563","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-golf","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}