Fuzzy Zoeller, a two-time major champion and one of golf’s most gregarious characters whose career was marred 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, prevailing in a three-man playoff in 1979. He famously waved a white towel at Winged Foot in 1984 when he thought Greg Norman had beaten him, only to force and then win an 18-hole playoff the next day.
But it was the 1997 Masters that changed his popularity. Woods was delivering a watershed performance at Augusta National, one of the most dominant victories in the tournament’s history. Zoeller had finished his round and was standing near the clubhouse with a drink when CNN stopped him for a comment about the 21-year-old Woods.
“That little boy is driving well and he’s putting well. He’s 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 serve fried chicken next year. Got it?” Zoeller said. He smiled and snapped his fingers, and as he walked away added, “Or collard greens or whatever the hell they serve.”
That moment haunted him for the rest of his career. Zoeller apologized; Woods was traveling and took about two weeks to comment as the controversy grew. Zoeller later said he received death threats for years after the remark. Writing for Golf Digest in 2008, he called it “the worst thing I’ve gone through in my entire life.”
“If people wanted me to feel the same hurt I projected on others, I’m here to tell you they got their way,” Zoeller wrote. “I’ve cried many times. I’ve apologized countless times for words said in jest that just aren’t a reflection of who I am. I have hundreds of friends, including people of color, who will attest to that. Still, I’ve come to terms with the fact that this incident will never, ever go away.”
The controversy overshadowed a career that included two major titles, eight other PGA Tour victories and a Senior PGA Championship among his PGA Tour Champions wins. More than his victories, Zoeller was known for the way he played: fast, with an easygoing manner and often whistling between shots.
He made his Masters debut in 1979 and reached a three-way playoff after Ed Sneed bogeyed the last three holes. Zoeller defeated Sneed and Tom Watson with a birdie on the second playoff hole, famously flinging his putter into the air in celebration. “I’ve never been to heaven, and thinking back on my life, I probably won’t get a chance to go,” Zoeller once said. “I guess winning the Masters is as close as I’m going to get.”
At Winged Foot in 1984, Zoeller was locked in a duel with Norman. Watching Norman sink what he believed was a birdie putt on the 18th, Zoeller waved a white towel in apparent sportsmanship. He later realized the putt was for par; Zoeller made par to force the playoff and then beat Norman by eight strokes in the 18-hole playoff (67-75). He later lamented giving the towel to a kid after the round.
Zoeller was born Frank Urban Zoeller Jr. in New Albany, Indiana. His father was known as “Fuzzy,” and the nickname was passed to him. He played at a junior college in Florida before joining the powerhouse University of Houston golf team and then turning professional.
His wife, Diane, died in 2021. Zoeller had three children, including daughter Gretchen, with whom he used to play in the PNC Championship. In 1985 he received the USGA’s Bob Jones Award, the organization’s highest honor for distinguished sportsmanship.
