Successful golfer, TV analyst Rosburg passes away

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Bob Rosburg, winner of the 1959 PGA Championship and five other PGA TOUR victories, who later gained acclaim as a television analyst, died May 14 at his home in Palm Springs, Calif. He was 82.

"Bob Rosburg was not only a PGA TOUR veteran and pioneer, but a great communicator and student of the game", said PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem. "His distinguished TOUR career was matched by his decades-long tenure with ABC Sports where his analysis and commentary as one of golf's first on-course announcers paved the way for how golf is reported. Even in his untimely passing, Bob reminds us of a by-gone era of our sport that is rich in history and anecdote that is all the more diminished by our loss. Our condolences to his wife Becky and his children Robert, Deborah, and Bruce."

Rosburg

Rosburg, a native of San Francisco, who learned the sport at the famed Olympic Club, turned professional in 1953, five years after graduating from Stanford University where he had a standout collegiate career.

Rosburg made his TOUR debut in 1944, playing in the Los Angeles Open as an amateur. His first professional title came in 1954 when he defeated Bo Wininger by a stroke at the Miami Open.

Rosburg's biggest win was the PGA Championship at Minneapolis Golf Club, where he came from six strokes behind entering the final round to win the lone major of his career. Earlier that season, he finished second at the U.S. Open. He was again runner-up at the 1969 U.S. Open.

Rosburg eventually transitioned into broadcasting and became known as "Rossie" to ABC Sports viewers who often heard his reports from the fairways as he walked with the players and reported the action.

Rosburg played occasionally on the Champions Tour once he turned 50 and did team with Gene Littler to win the 1981 Legends of Golf.