Fuzzy Zoeller, a gregarious, wisecracking golfer who won 10 tournaments on the PGA Tour, including two major championships, but whose racially derogatory and stereotypical remarks about Tiger Woods at the 1997 Masters tarnished his image, died on Thursday. He was 74.
The PGA Tour announced the death but did not give the cause or say where he died.
Zoeller won his two majors in playoffs after being tied following 72 holes. At the 1979 Masters, he defeated Ed Sneed and Tom Watson with a birdie on the second hole of a playoff. Five years later, at the United States Open, he won by eight strokes over Greg Norman in an 18-hole playoff.
Entering the 1997 Masters, Zoeller had not won a tournament in 11 years, but he maintained his hold on fans because of his sense of humor and easygoing style. Woods, by comparison, was in the early stages of what would be a spectacular career.
Woods was 21 when he won the Masters with a score of 18 under 270, a record at the time. His 12-stroke victory over Tom Kite is still the widest margin of victory in the tournament’s history. He was also the first man of African heritage to win a professional major championship. Zoeller finished 25 strokes behind Woods.
Zoeller’s response to Woods’s dominating performance was recorded by CNN at the Masters but not televised until the next Sunday.
“That little boy is driving well and he’s putting well,” Zoeller said. “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 to serve fried chicken next year. Got it?”
As he walked away from the camera, he added, “Or collard greens or whatever the hell they serve.”
The winner of each Masters chooses the menu at the next year’s Champions Dinner.
Zoeller quickly apologized. Woods said in a statement that he was “shocked to hear” Zoeller’s remarks, and added, “But having played golf with Fuzzy, I know he is a jokester, and I have concluded that no personal animosity toward me was intended.”
Soon after, Zoeller withdrew from the Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic and lost an endorsement contract with Kmart. A month later, he apologized again during a lunch with Woods before they played in the MasterCard Colonial tournament.
In 2008, Zoeller recalled the episode as “the worst thing I’ve gone through in my entire life,” and said that it led to death threats against him and his family.
“I’ve cried many times,” he told Golf Digest. “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.”
Frank Urban Zoeller Jr. was born on Nov. 11, 1951, in New Albany, Ind., to Alma (Cummings) Zoeller and Frank Sr., chairman of a wood veneer company, who went by Fuzzy. At a young age, Frank Jr. became known as Fuzzy, and his father’s name reverted to Frank.
“The last person to call me Frank,” Zoeller told Golf Digest, “was a nun when I was in first grade.”
Fuzzy’s father, a golfer, gave him his first club — a cutoff women’s 5-iron — when he was 3, and he played in his first tournament at 5. The family lived in a house on a course in Floyds Knobs, Ind., and Fuzzy played there as often as he could.
He played golf and basketball for his high school teams and attended Edison Community College in Fort Myers, Fla., before transferring to the University of Houston, which has a strong golf program. In the summer of 1973, he turned pro after winning the Indiana State Amateur tournament.
“He hits a ball 340 yards off the tee without too much strain, has a deadly short game to atone for times he strays and doesn’t mess around when he’s putting,” The Indianapolis News wrote.
He debuted on the PGA Tour in 1975 and won his first tournament, the Andy Williams-San Diego Open Invitational in 1979, a few months before his victory at the Masters as a rookie; the last golfer to win the Masters in his first attempt was Gene Sarazen in 1935. He won three more events before playing in the 1984 U.S. Open.
From the 18th fairway during the final regulation round, Zoeller watched Norman sink a 40-yard putt on the 18th green. Thinking it was a birdie, Zoeller waved a white towel, as if to surrender, knowing that he would need a birdie to tie Norman.
“But then,” Zoeller said, “I heard a spectator say that Greg’s putt was for a par, so I knew I could get a par to tie.” Relieved, Zoeller putted for a par and then defeated Norman in the playoff.
His most dramatic shot of the playoff was a 68-foot putt that clunked into the cup on the second hole for a birdie and gave him a three-shot lead. “Take that, Shark,” someone in the gallery said, referring to Norman by his nickname.
Zoeller earned $5.8 million on the PGA Tour and then another $4.7 million on PGA Tour Champions, the circuit for golfers over 50. He also won the Skins Game, a made-for-TV exhibition, in 1985 and 1986, and designed golf courses.
His survivors include his daughters, Sunnye Zoeller-Stumler; Heidi Zoeller Hubler and Gretchen Zoeller-Wright, and his son, Miles. His wife, Diane (Thornton) Zoeller, died in 2021.
A month before his final Masters in 2009, Golf Digest asked Zoeller if he would talk to Woods when he returned to play at the Augusta National Golf Club.
“Tiger and I are very good friends,” he said. “Tiger’s just one of the guys, trust me. Look, we don’t say everything correctly every time. People tried to make it a Black and white issue. It wasn’t. It was just a joke that went bad. I’ll take it to my grave.”
Richard Sandomir, an obituaries reporter, has been writing for The Times for more than three decades.
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