Fuzzy Zoeller


Frank Urban "Fuzzy" Zoeller Jr. 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 with a state record low round. 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.
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, 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.
He competed at the 1979, 1983 and 1985 Ryder Cups.
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.
Zoeller has often been 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?"
In 2009, Zoeller began selling vodka under the brand name "Fuzzy's Vodka". Starting in 2012, the brand sponsored Ed Carpenter Racing's entries in the IndyCar Series.

Remarks about Tiger Woods

At the 1997 Masters Tournament, Zoeller made remarks, described by some sections of the media as racist 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." K-Mart and Dunlop ceased sponsoring Zoeller after the incident.
"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... it wasn't the best timing, and it wasn't in good taste. It's not appropriate."
"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."
Zoeller later offered an apology directly to Woods, which Woods accepted.

Defamation lawsuit

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. According to the suit, the edits suggested Zoeller had committed acts including alcohol, drug and domestic abuse. Defendant Josef Silny said a computer consultant would investigate. However, Zoeller dropped the lawsuit in December 2007 after being unsuccessful in finding the poster. 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.

Amateur wins (3)

PGA Tour wins (10)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1Jan 28, 1979Andy Williams-San Diego Open Invitational76-67-67-72=282−65 strokes Billy Kratzert, Wayne Levi,
Artie McNickle, Tom Watson
2Apr 15, 1979Masters Tournament70-71-69-70=280−8Playoff Ed Sneed, Tom Watson
3May 17, 1981Colonial National Invitation67-69-68-70=274−64 strokes Hale Irwin
4Apr 18, 1983Sea Pines Heritage67-72-65-71=275−92 strokes Jim Nelford
5Sep 18, 1983Panasonic Las Vegas Pro Celebrity Classic63-70-70-64-73=340−184 strokes Rex Caldwell
6Jun 18, 1984U.S. Open71-66-69-70=276−4Playoff Greg Norman
7Mar 10, 1985Hertz Bay Hill Classic70-72-66-67=275−92 strokes Tom Watson
8Feb 2, 1986AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am69-66-70=205−115 strokes Payne Stewart
9Apr 20, 1986Sea Pines Heritage 68-68-69-71=276−81 stroke Chip Beck, Roger Maltbie,
Greg Norman
10Jul 13, 1986Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic70-68-72-64=274−102 strokes Jodie Mudd

PGA Tour playoff record
No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
11979Masters Tournament Ed Sneed, Tom WatsonWon with birdie on second extra hole
21983Colonial National Invitational Jim ColbertLost to par on sixth extra hole
31984U.S. Open Greg NormanWon 18-hole playoff;
Zoeller: −3,
Norman: +5
41994Tour Championship Mark McCumberLost to birdie on first extra hole

Other wins (4)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1Jun 9, 2002Senior PGA Championship−2 1 stroke Hale Irwin, Bobby Wadkins
2Jan 25, 2004MasterCard Championship−20 1 stroke Dana Quigley

Other senior wins (3)

Wins (2)

1Defeated Sneed and Watson in a sudden-death playoff - Zoeller 4-3, Sneed 4-4 and Watson 4-4.
2Defeated Norman in an 18-hole playoff - Zoeller 67, Norman 75.

Results timeline

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.

Summary

CUT = missed the halfway cut

"T" indicates a tie for a place

Champions Tour major championships

Wins (1)

U.S. national team appearances

Professional