Hall of Famer Ken Venturi, 82, dies

espn ^ | 5-17-13 | n/a

[FlJoePa]

Ken Venturi, who overcame dehydration to win the 1964 U.S. Open and spent 35 years in the booth for CBS Sports, died Friday afternoon. He was 82.

His son, Matt Venturi, said he died in a hospital in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Venturi had been hospitalized the past two months for a spinal infection, pneumonia and then an intestinal infection that he could no longer fight.

[FlJoePa]

I always appreciated his commentary. He was a dignified champion - something we all took for granted back then.

[Baynative]

The last paragraph from "THE MATCH" by Mark Frost:
"No four men will ever play such a match again. No four men like like these. The genuine way they lived their lives makes most of today's fast and frenzied sports and entertainment culture seem like so much packaged goods, a self-conscious, inauthentic hustle. In their best and worst hours alike each of these four stood his ground, put all he had on the line, and for better or worse lived with the consequences of his actions and moved on. Some green, untested souls might be tempted to wonder why one should still care, but none of us are here forever, we're not even here for long; and if it's true that our collective past exists inside all of us, unless we take time to bear witness to the best of those who strived before us, our chance to learn from their lives will be lost forever, and we will be the poorer for it."

[Lib-Lickers 2]

a great golf announcer.. I learned a lot of golf just listening to him.. RIP

[FlJoePa]

Better story from CBS - w/ Nance video. Also better comments. Some people that comment on espn stories should be exterminated. Just saying.

CBS Link w/ Nance video

[A.A. Cunningham]

[Dacula]

One of the best.

God rest your soul and give comfort to your family.

[PAR]

“Don’t give the hole away”

[fieldmarshaldj]

RIP.

[alarm rider]

When it comes to class and honor, Woods could not hold Venturi’s scoring pencil.

[SomeCallMeTim]

Venturi unwittingly said one of the funniest things I ever heard on TV.

On a par three, some golfer hit a wayward shot that landed in the pants leg of a woman sitting cross-legged (Indian style) by the green. The ball was lodged between her shorts and her leg... they were pretty SHORT shorts... :-)

The camera was zooming in on her crotch just as the announcers asked Venturi for a ruling. Without thinking, Venturi reeled off his standard “by the book” ruling:

“Well, the rule is... the player gets a free drop, within one club length, but NO CLOSER to the hole”.

There was almost a full minute of silence before the reply. “Um, yeah.... we’re gonna agree on that last part, Ken!”

I was cracking up.

To me, golf IS Ken Venturi. I hear his voice in my head when I play... “open your stance, take a vertical swing, follow through... “

Definitely been missing him.