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<\/p>\nFrank Urban Zoeller Jr, forever shortened to \u201cFuzzy\u201d, was once asked how he would like to be remembered. \u201cI don\u2019t want to be,\u201d he replied. \u201cWhat for? Just enjoy the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now that he has died, aged 74, the memories have been flowing. As his name was shortened, so too a life is often reduced to brief moments, from the sporting highs of his two major victories to the racist remark about Tiger Woods that haunted him for decades.<\/p>\n
On the course, one of his feats is reheated every year. In 1979, he won the Masters at his first attempt. Nobody had done this since Gene Sarazen in 1935, when the event was in its infancy. And nobody has done it since. <\/p>\n
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Zoeller, right, beat Norman in a play-off to win the US Open at Winged Foot in 1984<\/p>\n
AP<\/p>\n
Zoeller, 27 at the time, did it with some drama too, beating Tom Watson and Ed Sneed in the tournament\u2019s first sudden-death play-off. He had trailed Sneed by six shots going into the final round but drew level and won on the second extra hole. \u201cAll the pressure was on other people,\u201d he said. \u201cThey were the ones who said I couldn\u2019t win.\u201d<\/p>\n
Years later, he added: \u201cIt was my first Masters, and my only goal was to play well enough to come back the next year. With that in the bag, the play-off was pure gravy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Three wins and five years later, he won the US Open at Winged Foot in another play-off. Zoeller waved his white towel in surrender on the 18th when he thought Greg Norman had made a winning birdie. It was, in fact, a par and they went to a play-off that Zoeller dominated, beating Norman by eight shots over 18 holes. Known for interacting with crowds, he gave the famous towel away to a young spectator, once quipping that it was \u201cdirty and cruddy and probably had a cure for some virus on it\u201d.<\/p>\n
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Zoeller received hate mail for several years after his racist remark about Woods<\/p>\n
TIMOTHY A. CLARY\/AFP\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n
Zoeller\u2019s brisk play and approachable nature endeared him to galleries, and he had his last PGA Tour win two years later, although he was third at the Open Championship in 1994 at the age of 42. However, he had been thrust back into the ugly spotlight in 1997 with the line he could never escape from. <\/p>\n
Woods was then the nascent sensation on his way to his first major triumph at the Masters. Zoeller was standing under the old oak tree by the clubhouse at Augusta, drink in hand, when CNN asked for his thoughts on the precocious 21-year-old. A 20-second reference to the Champions Dinner would taint his reputation. \u201cThat little boy is driving well and he\u2019s putting well. 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 and enjoy it and tell him not to serve fried chicken next year. Got it?\u201d As he walked away, he turned and added: \u201cOr collard greens, or whatever the hell they serve.\u201d<\/p>\n
He apologised and, in the void before Woods responded, the die was cast. Woods did release a statement accepting Zoeller\u2019s apology, but in a 2008 first-person piece in Golf Digest, Zoeller admitted his wife and children had received death threats and he was still receiving hate mail. <\/p>\n
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Zoeller had been a popular player on the PGA Tour<\/p>\n
CHARLIE NEIBERGALL\/AP<\/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 he said. \u201cI\u2019ve cried many times. I\u2019ve apologised countless times for words said in jest that just aren\u2019t a reflection of who I am. Still, I\u2019ve come to terms with the fact that this incident will never, ever go away.\u201d <\/p>\n
In 2002 Zoeller won the Senior PGA Championship, and his career CV includes ten PGA Tour wins and three Ryder Cup appearances, winning in 1979 and 1983. His wife, Diane, died in 2021 and they are survived by three children. President Trump was among those to pay tribute, hailing him as \u201ca truly remarkable\u201d person. <\/p>\n