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Legendary golfer Juan “Chi-Chi” Rodriguez, who won eight events on the PGA Tour between 1963 and 1979, has died at 88, per the Associated Press’ Doug Ferguson.
Carmelo Javier Ríos, a senator in Rodriguez’s native Puerto Rico, announced Rodriguez’s death on Thursday.
“Chi Chi Rodriguez’s passion for charity and outreach was surpassed only by his incredible talent with a golf club in his hand,” PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said in a statement. “A vibrant, colorful personality both on and off the golf course, he will be missed dearly by the PGA TOUR and those whose lives he touched in his mission to give back. The PGA TOUR sends its deepest condolences to the entire Rodriguez family during this difficult time.”
Born and raised in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, Rodriguez said he learned to play golf by hitting tin cans with a guava tree stick and began working as a caddie as a child.
Rodriguez turned professional in 1960 when he was 25 years old and won his first event just three years later, winning the Denver Open in 1963. He won seven more events on the PGA Tour, his last coming in 1979 at the Tallahassee Open.
He also won 22 events on the Senior PGA Tour, including a pair of major championships—the Senior Tournament Players Championship in 1986 and the General Foods PGA Seniors’ Championship in 1987.
Off of the golf course, he started the Chi-Chi Rodriguez Youth Foundation at the Glen Oaks Golf Course in Clearwater, Florida. The afterschool program gives children from low-income families or broken homes the chance to practice golf skills while also learning responsibility and work ethic.
