Fuzzy Zoeller

Lore & Background

Zoeller was born and raised in New Albany, Indiana. He attended New Albany High School, where he was a star golfer, finishing as the runner-up in the 1970 state high school tournament with a state record low round (67). After high school, he attended Edison Junior College in Florida, transferred to the University of Houston in Texas, and became a professional golfer in 1973. He won the 1979 Masters in a three-way sudden-death playoff with Ed Sneed and Tom Watson, becoming the first golfer since 1935 to win The Masters in his first appearance. He also won the 1984 U.S. Open after an 18-hole playoff with Greg Norman. 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 Norman holed a long putt to tie; Norman returned the joke the next day. Zoeller was voted the 1985 winner of the Bob Jones Award. He shared the 54-hole lead in the 1994 Open Championship after a 3rd round of 64, finishing 3rd. He competed in the 1979, 1983, and 1985 Ryder Cups. In 2002, he joined the Champions Tour and won the Senior PGA Championship. In 1997, during the Masters, he made racist remarks about Tiger Woods. In 2007, he sued a firm for defamatory edits to his Wikipedia article but dropped the lawsuit in December 2007. Zoeller died on November 27, 2025, at age 74.

In Their Own Story

Augusta, April 1978. The air hangs thick with azalea scent and the low hum of a crowd that has been watching this lanky, quiet kid from St. Louis for three days. Fuzzy lines up on the 18th green. The flagstick jiggles in a breeze that seems to stop the moment he steps into his stance. His caddie sets the bag down, says nothing—no need. Fuzzy taps the putter head against the green, feels the break, and the world narrows to the line between ball and cup. He strikes. The ball rolls, wobbles, and drops. The flagstick lifts. For a heartbeat, no one moves. Then the Augusta crowd detonates, and a kid from Missouri is holding the green jacket, and the rest of his life is already written in that single, quiet putt.

Reader's Guide

Zoeller won 10 PGA Tour events, including two majors: the 1979 Masters and the 1984 U.S. Open. He also won the Senior PGA Championship in 2002 and the MasterCard Championship in 2004 on the Champions Tour. His amateur wins include the 1972 Florida State Junior College Championship, the 1973 Old Capital Invitational, and the 1973 Indiana State Amateur. He had a 2–2 record in PGA Tour playoffs.

Did You Know?

• Zoeller was the third golfer to win the Masters in his first appearance.
• He waved a white towel in mock surrender at the 1984 U.S. Open, and Greg Norman returned the gesture the next day.
• He was awarded the Bob Jones Award in 1985 for distinguished sportsmanship.
• Zoeller began selling Fuzzy's Vodka in 2009, which later sponsored an IndyCar team.