Chi Chi Rodriguez, an eight-time PGA Tour winner and one of golf’s most flamboyant players, died on Thursday at 88 years old. News of Rodriguez’s death first broke on Facebook in a statement from Puerto Rico Senate member Carmelo Javier Rios. The Puerto Rico Golf Association website also released a report on Rodriguez’s death. Cause of death is not known at this time.
A native of Puerto Rico, Rodriguez was small in stature at 5-foot-7 but he was big at heart. Golf fans from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s spent time in front of televisions watching him play. Rodriguez could hold his own along with other golf legends like Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. In fact, Rodriguez and Nicklaus had a famous 18-hole at the 1991 U.S. Senior Open. Nicklaus won that title, but Rodriguez more than earned The Golden Bear’s respect.
Chi Chi Rodriguez Entertained Fans
1990 Tampa Bay
PGA TOUR Archive
“Chi Chi Rodriguez’s passion for charity and outreach was surpassed only by his incredible talent with a golf club in his hand,” PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said in a statement, according to Golf Week. “A vibrant, colorful personality both on and off the golf course, he will be missed dearly by the PGA Tour and those whose lives he touched in his mission to give back. The PGA Tour sends its deepest condolences to the entire Rodriguez family during this difficult time.”
Golf, and sports fans in general, know about Rodriguez’s on-course antics. When he made a long putt or chipped in from the edge of the putting green, fans knew what would follow. Rodriguez took his putter, waved it in front of him like a sword and replaced it in his “holster.” He’d also add a little dance step at times, too. Any fan in attendance roared and clapped their approval. By no means was Rodriguez showing up his fellow golfers. They smiled at Rodriguez’s antics, too.
Yet looking at some of his on-course work shows more than an adept player. Rodriguez turned pro in 1960, winning his first PGA Tour title at the 1963 Denver Open Invitational. He also scored six PGA wins between 1964 and 1979. At the 1972 Byron Nelson Classic in Fort Worth, Texas, Rodriguez pocketed a career-best $114,000 for his win. He played a major part in the 1973 U.S. Ryder Cup team’s victory.
A Humanitarian for the Game
Rodriguez competed in 591 PGA Tour events, making 422 cuts. When Rodriguez got older, he simply moved over to to play in the PGA Tour Champions events. He took part in 466 events, winning 22 titles. They included the 1986 Senior Players Championship and 1987 Senior PGA Championship. Rodriguez played his final Tour round in 2012, at 76 years old, in the Puerto Rico Open. He made his final professional start in 2016.
But the Chi Chi Rodriguez story is much more than a legendary golfer. He was a tremendous humanitarian, starting up one of the first golf academies for youngsters in the United States. Rodriguez built a place on a public par-3 course. He also took time to take at-risk youth between the fourth and eighth grades to help them.
“We make them taxpayers instead of tax burdens,” Rodriguez said in an interview with the Florida Times Union in 2016. “We make them executives instead of felons. Every day, the first thing we do is pledge allegiance to the flag because if they learn respect for the flag they can learn respect for themselves and for others.”
Because of his sportsmanship to the game of golf, Rodriguez was awarded the Bob Jones Award in 1989. It is the U.S. Golf Association’s highest honor. “For a little man like me to receive this greatest award in golf makes me feel 10 feet tall,” Rodriguez said. He also was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1992.
For golf fans around the world, news of Rodriguez’s death probably sends them over to social media. Plenty of tributes to him popped up as word spread. And yes, you can go find a video of him and his famous sword antics.
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