Casper – who won the 1970 Masters and 1959 and ’66 U.S. Opens – had endured multiple surgeries recently and spent a month in the hospital in December with pneumonia. He died at his home in Springville, Utah, of a heart attack.
“He went downhill quick,” Casper’s son, Bob, told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “It was quick. But he didn’t have any pain. It was peaceful.”
He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1978 and won 51 times on the PGA Tour, seventh on the all-time victory list.
His most famous victory came in the 1966 U.S. Open, in which he came from seven shots back on the final nine holes to tie Arnold Palmer, then won in an 18-hole playoff.
"Billy was one of the true gentlemen of the game and a great competitor," Palmer said. "He was a better player than most people gave him credit for being and is going to be sorely missed in the golf world. My deepest sympathies go out to Shirley and the family."
“Billy Casper was one of the greatest family men — be it inside the game of golf or out — I have had the fortunate blessing to meet,” Jack Nicklaus said via Facebook late Saturday. “He had such a wonderful balance to his life. Golf was never the most important thing in Billy’s life — family was.”
Casper played on eight consecutive U.S. Ryder Cup teams, earning 25 1/2 points, the most by any American, and received the 2010 PGA Distinguished Service Award in recognition of his charitable foundation, the Billy Casper Youth Foundation.
Read full article here: http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-central-blog/prolific-tour-winner-billy-casper-dies-83/
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