Posted on 02/07/2015 8:34:47 PM PST by FlJoePa
SAN DIEGO -- Billy Casper, one of the most prolific winners on the PGA Tour who was overshadowed at the height of his career by the "Big Three," died Saturday at his home in Utah. He was 83.
Bob Casper said his father died quickly and peacefully with wife Shirley at his bedside. They had been married 62 years. Casper passed out in the clubhouse at the Masters last year, had work on his heart and recovered from a bout of pneumonia over Thanksgiving. His son said Casper was going to cardio rehab for the past four months and was doing well until he started to feel badly in the past week.
In any other era, Casper might have commanded more attention than he did.
Though overshadowed for most of his illustrious career by Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, three-time major champ Billy Casper ranks seventh in career PGA Tour wins with 51.
He won 51 times on the PGA Tour, putting him at No. 7 on the career list behind only Sam Snead, Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer and Byron Nelson. His three major championships include the 1966 U.S. Open, one of golf's most remarkable comebacks. He rallied from a 7-shot deficit on the back nine at Olympic Club to tie Palmer, and he beat him in an 18-hole playoff.
Casper also won the 1959 U.S. Open at Winged Foot and the 1970 Masters. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1978.
But he was overshadowed by the "Big Three" -- Palmer, Nicklaus and Gary Player, whose rivalry sparked a revival in golf in that era. Part of that was the marketing of Mark McCormack at IMG. Casper originally signed with IMG and then left.
But he kept winning.
(Excerpt) Read more at espn.go.com ...
According to Johnny Miller who knew him well, Casper had all the skills but one, he lacked length. Miller also said he never choked because he had no ego, and I don’t think he’s said that about anybody else.
Yes, he was overshadowed by Arnie and company but still a great golfer! And a gentleman.
my dad, NYPD for 23 years who used to caddy on the weekends as cops bad next to nothing in the 70’s, was very, very good friends with Casper...
Rest in peace, Mr. Casper.
Condolences to family and friends of Billy Casper.
"Gene [Littler] was so much better than me. I never beat him as a teenager," Casper told Golf Digest in the 2012 interview. "But I had a lot of inner confidence. I had such a tie with my eyes and my hands. I could look at a telephone pole 40 yards away, take out a 7-iron and hit it 10 times in a row. I had something special. And somehow, I really understood the game, all without having a lot of guidance."
Some quotes from Jack:
“I think it is fair to say that Billy was probably underrated by those who didn’t play against him,” Jack Nicklaus said Saturday night. “Those who did compete against him knew how special he was.”
“Billy was a fantastic player, and I don’t think he gets enough credit for being one,” Nicklaus said Saturday night. “I have said many times that during my career, when I looked up at a leader board, I wasn’t just looking to see where a Palmer or a Player or a (Lee) Trevino was. I was also checking to see where Billy Casper was. Billy had tremendous confidence. He just believed in himself.”
“You knew when you played against Billy Casper, Billy would not beat himself.”
“More important than what Billy Casper gave us inside the ropes, he has been so selfless outside them,” Nicklaus said. “He has always been so steadfast and committed to his family, his religion, his community, and his unwavering beliefs. And he never asked for anything in return. It was not even a year ago, someone asked Billy how he wanted to remembered, and he said, ‘I want to be remembered for how I loved my fellow man.’
Outside in. The “octopus out of the tree” of that era, the Golden era.
RIP.
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