Posted on 11/27/2025 6:48:56 PM PST by nickcarraway
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at espn.com ...
Masterr’s winner in 1979 and US Open champ in 1984, defeating Greg Norman in a p[layoff. Two majors is a great career for most. Yes he said some regrettable things about the young Tiger Woods but I think that was blown all out of proportion.
RIP Fuzzy.
“racially insensitive joke about Tiger Woods”
…no surprise these race baiting sob’s zero in on his innocuous comment about fried chicken 30+ years ago.
He joked about a black guy liking fried chicken. So, off with his head!
/s
An aunt of my mom used to send my grandmother postcards in the 1950s with pictures that would upset ESPN. R.I.P., Fuzzy Zoeller.
If I remember correctly, Woods was not the one who complained. Quite the opposite.
In fairness, anyone on this forum could probably beat Greg Norman in a playoff.
Norman is the Michael Jordan of choking.
One must respect Woods as a golfer. He did things other players could only dream about. But as a man, as a person? I think he has a big black hole in himself that he cannot fill. He does good work through his foundation and is apparently a good father. But.... For instance, I'm convinced his single-car accident of several years ago was a suicide attempt. (no other vehicle involved and investigators said the gas pedal was floored, on a road he was very familiar with. And why was he even driving himself?!). Yet the media fawns over him continuously... for whatever reason.
LOL! Norman has the distinction of losing all four majors in playoffs. To be fair I think Arnold Palmer lost two or three that way too. Of course Arnold has his seven majors versus Norman's two.
Fuzzy learned a lesson. The lesson was that CNN has no shame. Fuzzy was just trying to get a quick laugh off the record.
The story is Tiger like to hang out with Seals and other SpecOps types and do the “fun training”. Thats how he initially hurt his back and his knee.
I am no fan of Eldrick Woods (I refuse to use his stupid nickname) even if Rush Limbaugh admired him. He once claimed that he was bullied because of his race when he was in kindergarten. His kindergarten teacher, who was still living at the time, said that he was lying and that the incident never happened.
I liked Fuzzy. He was good for golf and he had a sense of humor. The chicken and collard greens thing was typical Fuzzy humor, not a slight.
“For much of his career, Zoeller was famous for waving a white towel in mock surrender from the fairway of the 72nd hole of the 1984 U.S. Open, after Greg Norman holed a long putt on the 72nd green to tie Zoeller for the tournament lead. At the end of the 18-hole playoff the next day between Norman and Zoeller (which Zoeller won by 8 strokes), Norman waved a white towel himself, returning the joke.[citation needed]
Zoeller was voted the 1985 winner of the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf.[2]”
-Wiki
Like so many others, the drugs took Tiger down.
Interesting. That should be pro forma in any serious accident.
Ambien probably doesn’t come up as “toxic.”
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