Sunday 8 February 2015 20:06, UK
Three-time major champion Billy Casper has died at the age of 83, the PGA Tour has announced.
Casper, who won the US Open in 1959 and 1966 and the Masters in 1970, claimed 51 PGA Tour titles in total between 1956 and 1975 to sit seventh on the Tour's all-time victories list.
He also appeared on eight US Ryder Cup teams and was victorious in all eight, while he captained the team to victory in 1979.
Casper competed annually at Augusta until 2005, when he struggled round in 105 which would have been the highest score in the tournament's history, but he officially withdrew without signing his card.
The PGA Tour said on its website: "Billy Casper, one of the most prolific PGA TOUR winners in history and long considered among the sport's finest putters, suffered a heart attack and died Saturday at his home in Springview, Utah. He was 83."
A report in the San Diego Union-Tribune quoted Casper's son Bob as saying his father had been recovering from a bout of pneumonia, returning home for rehabilitation after spending five weeks in hospital towards the end of last year.
Casper, who became known as one of the finest putters in the history of the game, turned professional in 1954 and lifted his first PGA Tour title at the Labatt Open in Canada two years later.
He claimed his first US Open title at Winged Foot in 1959, earning a tense one-shot victory over Bob Rosburg while the likes of Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer and Sam Snead faded on the final day.
Famous win over Palmer
Casper's most famous victory came in the US Open in 1966, when he trailed Palmer by seven shots with just nine holes to play at the Olympic Club in San Francisco. He told Palmer on the 10th tee: "I'd like to finish second", to which Palmer apparently replied: “I’ll do everything I can to help you.”
Both men traded birdies at the 12th, but Palmer then bogeyed four of the next five holes while Casper birdied 15 and 16 to draw level before returning the next day to beat Palmer by four strokes in an 18-hole play-off.
Casper won his final major in the last 18-hole play-off to be played at the Masters in 1970, when he and Gene Littler finished a shot ahead of Gary Player after four rounds and Casper then eased to a five-stroke victory over his childhood friend the following day.
He posted a further seven top-10 finishes in major tournaments and won six more PGA Tour titles, his last being a two-shot win over Peter Oosterhuis at the First NBC New Orleans Open in May 1975, while he also lifted the Italian Open title on the European Tour the same year.
Casper also enjoyed success on the Champions Tour, winning eight times after turning 50 including a play-off victory over Rod Funseth in the 1983 US Senior Open at Hazeltine in Minnesota.
He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in the class of 1978, which also included Bing Crosby, Harold Hilton and Clifford Roberts, while Casper was also heavily involved with various charities in San Diego and Utah.
Casper was married to Shirley for over 62 years and had 11 children and 71 grandchildren and great grandchildren.
PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said: “Billy Casper was one of the greatest winners in PGA TOUR history and was a dominant player for the better part of three decades. We remember his three major championships and his incredible work on the greens that made him one of the best putters of his generation.
“Beyond his career as a player, though, we will remember Billy as tremendous husband and father, a man devoted to family, charitable pursuits and his religion. He truly has left us with a lasting legacy."
