Fuzzy Zoeller, a two-time major champion known for his outgoing personality and a career overshadowed by a racially insensitive remark about Tiger Woods, has died, a longtime colleague said. He was 74.
A cause of death was not immediately available. Brian Naugle, tournament director of the Insperity Invitational in Houston, said Zoeller’s daughter called with the news Thursday.
Zoeller was the last player to win the Masters in his first appearance, prevailing in a three-man playoff in 1979. He was also the victor at the 1979 Masters and won the U.S. Open in an 18-hole playoff at Winged Foot in 1984 after a dramatic finish against Greg Norman. At Winged Foot he waved a white towel in what he thought was a sportsmanlike gesture when Norman had made a long putt; he later realized the putt was for par and forced a playoff, which he then won handily. Zoeller’s career included two major titles, eight other PGA Tour victories, and among his senior accomplishments a Senior PGA Championship as one of two PGA Tour Champions wins.
Zoeller’s public image changed after the 1997 Masters, when Tiger Woods produced a dominant win at Augusta. After finishing his round and speaking to CNN, Zoeller made a joke about what Woods should or should not have for the champions’ dinner, saying, “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?” He added as he walked away, “Or collard greens or whatever the hell they serve.”
Zoeller apologized for the remark, which he later said was “misconstrued.” Woods was traveling at the time and did not comment for about two weeks as the controversy grew. Zoeller said he received death threats for years afterward and described the episode in a 2008 Golf Digest piece as “the worst thing I’ve gone through in my entire life.” He wrote that if people wanted him to feel the same hurt he had projected on others, “they got their way,” and that he had “cried many times” and apologized “countless times” for words said in jest that did not reflect who he was. He acknowledged the incident would not go away.
Beyond the controversy, Zoeller was admired for his quick pace of play, easygoing demeanor and tendency to whistle between shots. He made an unforgettable entrance at the 1979 Masters when Ed Sneed’s late collapses sent the tournament to a playoff; Zoeller birdied the second playoff hole to beat Sneed and Tom Watson, jubilantly flinging his putter into the air.
Born Frank Urban Zoeller Jr. in New Albany, Indiana, he took the nickname “Fuzzy” from his father, who was called the same. Zoeller played junior college golf in Florida before joining the University of Houston team and turning professional.
Zoeller’s wife, Diane, died in 2021. He is survived by three children, including daughter Gretchen, with whom he sometimes played in the PNC Championship. In 1985 he received the Bob Jones Award from the U.S. Golf Association, the organization’s highest honor for distinguished sportsmanship.