Fuzzy Zoeller

Fuzzy Zoeller
— Golfer —
Zoeller in October 2008
Personal information
Full name	Frank Urban Zoeller, Jr.
Nickname	Fuzzy
Born	(1951-11-11) November 11, 1951 New Albany, Indiana
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight	190 lb (86 kg; 14 st)
Nationality	United States
Residence	Floyds Knobs, Indiana
Spouse	Diane Thornton Zoeller
Children	3 daughters, 1 son
Career
College	Edison Junior College (FL) University of Houston
Turned professional	1973
Current tour(s)	Champions Tour
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour
Professional wins	19
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	10
Champions Tour	2
Other	7
Best results in major championships (wins: 2)
Masters Tournament	Won: 1979
U.S. Open	Won: 1984
The Open Championship	3rd: 1994
PGA Championship	2nd: 1981
Achievements and awards
Bob Jones Award	1985

Frank Urban "Fuzzy" Zoeller, Jr. (/ˈzɛlər/; born November 11, 1951) is an American professional golfer who has won ten PGA Tour events including two major championships. He is one of three golfers to have won the Masters Tournament in his first appearance in the event. He also won the 1984 U.S. Open, which earned him the 1985 Bob Jones Award.

Life and career

Born and raised in New Albany, Indiana, Zoeller was successful golfer while at New Albany High School, finishing as the runner-up in the 1970 state high school tournament.^[1] After completing his high school career, he attended Edison Junior College in Florida, transferred to the University of Houston, and became a professional golfer in 1973. Zoeller won both of his two majors in playoffs: the 1979 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club in a three-way sudden-death playoff with Ed Sneed and Tom Watson; and the 1984 U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club after an 18-hole playoff with Greg Norman.

In 1979, Zoeller became the first golfer since 1935 to win The Masters in his first appearance in the event. The only two other golfers to have won The Masters on their debut at Augusta were the winners of the first two Masters tournaments Horton Smith and Gene Sarazen, in 1934 and 1935 respectively. It was the first sudden-death playoff at The Masters; the previous six playoffs were 18-hole rounds on Monday (except 1935, which was 36 holes).

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.

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.

Zoeller shared the 54-hole lead in the 1994 Open Championship after a 3rd round of 64, but finished the tournament in 3rd place, his best-ever finish in The Open. Zoeller missed an 8-foot birdie putt on the 18th green in his 3rd round at Turnberry which would have tied the record for the best single round at The Open.^[2]

He competed at the 1979, 1983 and 1985 Ryder Cups, collecting 1.5 points in 10 matches.

In 2002, Zoeller joined the Champions Tour and won the Senior PGA Championship, a senior major, that year. He also won the 2004 MasterCard Championship.

Controversies

Zoeller is often jokingly critical of his colleagues on the golf course, for instance, asking "Where are the windmills and animals?" on a newly designed golf course, or heckling Craig Stadler, saying, "Nice clods, Stadler. Did you get those at a Buster Brown fire sale?"^[3]

At the 1997 Masters Tournament, Zoeller made a racist remark regarding Tiger Woods. After finishing tied for 34th place with a score of 78, Zoeller, referring to the following year's Masters Champions Dinner, for which the defending champion selects the menu, said, "He's doing quite well, pretty impressive. 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 to serve fried chicken next year. Got it." Zoeller then smiled, snapped his fingers, and walked away before turning and adding, "or collard greens or whatever the hell they serve."^[4] K-Mart and Dunlop ceased sponsoring Zoeller after the incident.^[5]^[6]

"I know Fuzzy, and it was obvious to me that he was attempting to be funny," fellow golf professional Tom Lehman said. "He probably would have said the same thing to Tiger's face and they both would have yukked it up...[But] it wasn't the best timing, and it wasn't in good taste. It's not appropriate."^[4]

"I've been on the tour for 23 years and anybody who knows me knows that I am a jokester," Zoeller said. "It's too bad that something I said in jest was turned into something it's not. But I didn't mean anything by it and I'm sorry if I offend anybody. If Tiger is offended by it, I apologize to him, too. I have nothing but the utmost respect for Tiger as a person and an athlete."^[7]

Zoeller later offered an apology directly to Woods, which Woods accepted.^[8]

Wikipedia controversy

On February 13, 2007, Zoeller sued Josef Silny & Associates, a foreign-credential evaluation firm based in Miami, Florida. The lawsuit alleged that defamatory statements appeared in the Wikipedia article about Zoeller in December 2006, originating from a computer at that firm.^[9]^[10] According to the suit, the edits suggested Zoeller had committed acts including alcohol, drug and domestic abuse.^[11] Defendant Josef Silny said a computer consultant would investigate.^[12]^[13] However, Zoeller dropped the lawsuit in December 2007 after being unsuccessful in finding the poster.^[14] Zoeller was unable to sue Wikipedia for the statements due to protections accorded to providers of "interactive computer services" under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.^[15]

Amateur wins (3)

1972 Florida State Junior College Championship (individual)
1973 Old Capital Invitational (Indiana)
1973 Indiana State Amateur

Professional wins (19)

PGA Tour wins (10)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Jan 28, 1979	Andy Williams-San Diego Open Invitational	76-67-67-72=282	−6	4 strokes	Billy Kratzert, Artie McNickle, Tom Watson
2	Apr 15, 1979	Masters Tournament	70-71-69-70=280	−8	Playoff	Ed Sneed, Tom Watson
3	May 17, 1981	Colonial National Invitation	67-69-68-70=274	−6	4 strokes	Hale Irwin
4	Apr 18, 1983	Sea Pines Heritage	67-72-65-71=275	−9	2 strokes	Jim Nelford
5	Sep 28, 1983	Panasonic Las Vegas Pro Celebrity Classic	63-70-70-64-73=340	−15	4 strokes	Rex Caldwell
6	Jun 17, 1984	U.S. Open	71-66-69-70=276	−4	Playoff	Greg Norman
7	Mar 10, 1985	Hertz Bay Hill Classic	70-72-66-67=275	−9	2 strokes	Tom Watson
8	Feb 2, 1986	AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am	69-66-70=205	−11	3 strokes	Payne Stewart
9	Apr 20, 1986	Sea Pines Heritage (2)	68-68-69-71=276	−8	1 stroke	Chip Beck, Roger Maltbie, Greg Norman
10	Jul 13, 1986	Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic	70-68-72-64=274	−10	2 strokes	Jodie Mudd

Other wins (4)

1985 Skins Game
1986 Skins Game
1987 Merrill Lynch Shoot-Out Championship
2003 Tylenol Par-3 Challenge

Champions Tour wins (2)

Senior major championship is shown in bold.

Other senior wins (3)

2002 Senior Slam
2008 Wendy's Champions Skins Game (with Peter Jacobsen)
2009 Wendy's Champions Skins Game (with Ben Crenshaw)

Major championships

Wins (2)

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	To par	Margin	Runner(s)-up
1979	Masters Tournament	6 shot deficit	70-71-69-70=280	−8	Playoff¹	Ed Sneed, Tom Watson
1984	U.S. Open	1 shot deficit	71-66-69-70=276	−4	Playoff²	Greg Norman

¹Defeated Sneed and Watson in a sudden-death playoff - Zoeller 4-3 (−1), Sneed 4-4 (E) and Watson 4-4 (E).
²Defeated Norman in an 18-hole playoff - Zoeller 67 (–3), Norman 75 (+5).

Results timeline

Tournament	1976	1977	1978	1979
Masters Tournament	DNP	DNP	DNP	1
U.S. Open	T38	T44	CUT	CUT
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT
PGA Championship	DNP	T54	10	T54

Tournament	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
Masters Tournament	T19	T43	T10	T20	T31	CUT	T21	T27	T16	T26
U.S. Open	T53	DNP	T15	CUT	1	T9	T15	CUT	T8	CUT
The Open Championship	CUT	DNP	T8	T14	T14	T11	T8	T29	T52	CUT
PGA Championship	T41	2	CUT	T6	DNP	T54	CUT	64	CUT	CUT

Tournament	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
Masters Tournament	T20	T12	T19	T11	T35	CUT	CUT	T34	T33	CUT
U.S. Open	T8	T5	CUT	T68	T58	T21	DNP	T28	CUT	CUT
The Open Championship	DNP	T80	DNP	T14	3	DNP	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	T14	CUT	DNP	T31	T19	69	T36	CUT	DNP	DNP

Tournament	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Masters Tournament	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT	60	CUT	CUT
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

Summary

Tournament	Wins	2nd	3rd	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Masters Tournament	1	0	0	1	2	10	31	18
U.S. Open	1	0	0	2	5	8	22	14
The Open Championship	0	0	1	1	3	7	14	10
PGA Championship	0	1	0	1	3	5	20	13
Totals	2	1	1	5	13	30	87	55

Most consecutive cuts made – 8 (1993 Masters – 1994 PGA)
Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (twice)

Champions Tour major championships

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	Winning score	To par	Margin	Runners-up
2002	Senior PGA Championship	69-71-70-68=278	−2	2 strokes	Hale Irwin, Bobby Wadkins

References

↑ "IHSAA Boys Golf State Champions". Indiana High School Athletic Association.
↑ Verdi, Bob (July 17, 1994). "Fittingly, Zoeller Thrives On Sunny Day At Turnberry". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
↑ Apfelbaum, Jim, ed. (2007). The Gigantic Book of Golf Quotations. Skyhorse Publishing. ASIN B001IWOFQO.
1 2 "Golfer says comments about Woods 'misconstrued'". CNN. April 21, 1997. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
↑ "Kmart Drops Zoeller". The New York Times. April 23, 1997. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
↑ Sirak, Ron (February 15, 1998). "Daly, Zoeller are birds of a feather". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
↑ "Zoeller Apologizes for Woods Comments". The New York Times. April 22, 1997. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
↑ Drape, Joe (May 21, 1997). "Woods Meets Zoeller For Lunch". The New York Times. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
↑ "Golfer Zoeller sues law firm for Wikipedia posting". Miami Herald. February 22, 2007.
↑ "Golfer Sues Over Vandalized Wikipedia Page". The Smoking Gun. February 22, 2007.
↑ "Fuzzy teed off". Sports Illustrated. February 22, 2007. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
↑ "Zoeller sues to identify the author of a disputed entry on Wikipedia". PGA of America. February 22, 2007. Archived from the original on March 27, 2007. Retrieved February 23, 2007.
↑ Zaharov-Reutt, Alex (February 25, 2007). "Wikipedia entry causes pro-golfer Fuzzy Zoeller to sue". iTWire. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
↑ "Zoeller v. Josef Silny & Associates". Digital Media Law Project. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
↑ Beaumont, Claudine (May 11, 2008). "Wikipedia fights defamation lawsuit". The Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved May 22, 2013.

External links

Official website
Fuzzy Zoeller at the PGA Tour official site

Fuzzy Zoeller in the major championships

Masters Tournament champions

1934 Horton Smith 1935 Gene Sarazen† 1936 Horton Smith 1937 Byron Nelson 1938 Henry Picard 1939 Ralph Guldahl 1940 Jimmy Demaret 1941‡ Craig Wood 1942 Byron Nelson† 1943–45 cancelled due to World War II 1946 Herman Keiser 1947 Jimmy Demaret 1948 Claude Harmon 1949 Sam Snead 1950 Jimmy Demaret 1951 Ben Hogan 1952 Sam Snead 1953 Ben Hogan 1954 Sam Snead† 1955 Cary Middlecoff 1956 Jack Burke, Jr. 1957 Doug Ford 1958 Arnold Palmer 1959 Art Wall, Jr. 1960‡ Arnold Palmer 1961 Gary Player 1962 Arnold Palmer† 1963 Jack Nicklaus 1964 Arnold Palmer 1965 Jack Nicklaus 1966 Jack Nicklaus† 1967 Gay Brewer 1968 Bob Goalby 1969 George Archer 1970 Billy Casper† 1971 Charles Coody 1972‡ Jack Nicklaus 1973 Tommy Aaron 1974 Gary Player 1975 Jack Nicklaus 1976‡ Raymond Floyd 1977 Tom Watson 1978 Gary Player 1979 Fuzzy Zoeller† 1980 Seve Ballesteros 1981 Tom Watson 1982 Craig Stadler† 1983 Seve Ballesteros 1984 Ben Crenshaw 1985 Bernhard Langer 1986 Jack Nicklaus 1987 Larry Mize† 1988 Sandy Lyle 1989 Nick Faldo† 1990 Nick Faldo† 1991 Ian Woosnam 1992 Fred Couples 1993 Bernhard Langer 1994 José María Olazábal 1995 Ben Crenshaw 1996 Nick Faldo 1997 Tiger Woods 1998 Mark O'Meara 1999 José María Olazábal 2000 Vijay Singh 2001 Tiger Woods 2002 Tiger Woods 2003 Mike Weir† 2004 Phil Mickelson 2005 Tiger Woods† 2006 Phil Mickelson 2007 Zach Johnson 2008 Trevor Immelman 2009 Ángel Cabrera† 2010 Phil Mickelson 2011 Charl Schwartzel 2012 Bubba Watson† 2013 Adam Scott† 2014 Bubba Watson 2015‡ Jordan Spieth 2016 Danny Willett

† indicates the event was won in a playoff; ‡ indicates the event was won wire-to-wire

U.S. Open champions

1895 Horace Rawlins 1896 James Foulis 1897 Joe Lloyd 1898 Fred Herd 1899 Willie Smith 1900 Harry Vardon 1901 Willie Anderson† 1902 Laurie Auchterlonie 1903 Willie Anderson† 1904 Willie Anderson 1905 Willie Anderson 1906 Alex Smith 1907 Alec Ross 1908 Fred McLeod† 1909 George Sargent 1910 Alex Smith† 1911 John McDermott† 1912 John McDermott 1913 Francis Ouimet#† 1914‡ Walter Hagen 1915 Jerome Travers# 1916 Chick Evans# 1917–18 Cancelled due to World War I 1919 Walter Hagen† 1920 Ted Ray 1921‡ Jim Barnes 1922 Gene Sarazen 1923 Bobby Jones#† 1924 Cyril Walker 1925 Willie Macfarlane† 1926 Bobby Jones# 1927 Tommy Armour† 1928 Johnny Farrell† 1929 Bobby Jones#† 1930 Bobby Jones# 1931 Billy Burke† 1932 Gene Sarazen 1933 Johnny Goodman# 1934 Olin Dutra 1935 Sam Parks, Jr. 1936 Tony Manero 1937 Ralph Guldahl 1938 Ralph Guldahl 1939 Byron Nelson† 1940 Lawson Little† 1941 Craig Wood 1942–45 Cancelled due to World War II 1946 Lloyd Mangrum† 1947 Lew Worsham† 1948 Ben Hogan 1949 Cary Middlecoff 1950 Ben Hogan† 1951 Ben Hogan 1952 Julius Boros 1953‡ Ben Hogan 1954 Ed Furgol 1955 Jack Fleck† 1956 Cary Middlecoff 1957 Dick Mayer† 1958 Tommy Bolt 1959 Billy Casper 1960 Arnold Palmer 1961 Gene Littler 1962 Jack Nicklaus† 1963 Julius Boros† 1964 Ken Venturi 1965 Gary Player† 1966 Billy Casper† 1967 Jack Nicklaus 1968 Lee Trevino 1969 Orville Moody 1970‡ Tony Jacklin 1971 Lee Trevino† 1972 Jack Nicklaus 1973 Johnny Miller 1974 Hale Irwin 1975 Lou Graham† 1976 Jerry Pate 1977 Hubert Green 1978 Andy North 1979 Hale Irwin 1980 Jack Nicklaus 1981 David Graham 1982 Tom Watson 1983 Larry Nelson 1984 Fuzzy Zoeller† 1985 Andy North 1986 Raymond Floyd 1987 Scott Simpson 1988 Curtis Strange† 1989 Curtis Strange 1990 Hale Irwin† 1991 Payne Stewart† 1992 Tom Kite 1993 Lee Janzen 1994 Ernie Els† 1995 Corey Pavin 1996 Steve Jones 1997 Ernie Els 1998 Lee Janzen 1999 Payne Stewart 2000‡ Tiger Woods 2001 Retief Goosen† 2002‡ Tiger Woods 2003 Jim Furyk 2004 Retief Goosen 2005 Michael Campbell 2006 Geoff Ogilvy 2007 Ángel Cabrera 2008 Tiger Woods† 2009 Lucas Glover 2010 Graeme McDowell 2011‡ Rory McIlroy 2012 Webb Simpson 2013 Justin Rose 2014‡ Martin Kaymer 2015 Jordan Spieth

† indicates the event was won in a playoff; ‡ indicates the event was won wire-to-wire; # indicates the event was won by an amateur

Senior PGA Championship champions

1980 Arnold Palmer† 1981 Miller Barber 1982 Don January 1983 Not held 1984 (Jan) Arnold Palmer 1984 (Dec) Peter Thomson 1985 Not held 1986 Gary Player 1987 Chi-Chi Rodríguez 1988 Gary Player 1989 Larry Mowry 1990 Gary Player 1991 Jack Nicklaus 1992 Lee Trevino 1993 Tom Wargo† 1994 Lee Trevino 1995 Raymond Floyd 1996 Hale Irwin 1997 Hale Irwin 1998 Hale Irwin 1999 Allen Doyle 2000 Doug Tewell 2001 Tom Watson 2002 Fuzzy Zoeller 2003 John Jacobs 2004 Hale Irwin 2005 Mike Reid† 2006 Jay Haas† 2007 Denis Watson 2008 Jay Haas 2009 Michael Allen 2010 Tom Lehman† 2011 Tom Watson† 2012 Roger Chapman 2013 Kōki Idoki 2014 Colin Montgomerie 2015 Colin Montgomerie

† indicates the event was won in a playoff

Fuzzy Zoeller in the Ryder Cup

United States Ryder Cup team – 1979

Andy Bean Lee Elder Hubert Green Mark Hayes Hale Irwin Tom Kite John Mahaffey Gil Morgan Larry Nelson Lee Trevino Lanny Wadkins Fuzzy Zoeller Billy Casper (non-playing captain)

Won: 17 – 11

United States Ryder Cup team – 1983

Ben Crenshaw Raymond Floyd Bob Gilder Jay Haas Tom Kite Gil Morgan Calvin Peete Craig Stadler Curtis Strange Lanny Wadkins Tom Watson Fuzzy Zoeller Jack Nicklaus (non-playing captain)

Won: 14.5 – 13.5

United States Ryder Cup team – 1985

Raymond Floyd Hubert Green Peter Jacobsen Tom Kite Andy North Mark O'Meara Calvin Peete Craig Stadler Curtis Strange Hal Sutton Lanny Wadkins Fuzzy Zoeller Lee Trevino (non-playing captain)

Lost: 11.5 – 16.5

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