BOB Goalby, a Masters champion who won the tournament after a scorecard flub, has died at the age of 92.
Goalby passed away on Wednesday in Belleville, Illinois, the PGA Tour and his great-nephew Bill Haas confirmed.
The champion, who won the 1968 Masters without having to go to a playoff when Roberto De Vicenzo infamously signed for the wrong score, died in his hometown, according to The Associated Press.
Goalby was among the players who led the Tournament Players Division to break away from the PGA of America and become the PGA Tour.
Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus brought in the support that made it happen and Goalby was among those who initiated the change.
Later, he joined Gardner Dickinson and Dan Sikes in 1980 to organize a tour for players 50 and older.
The American professional golfer’s nephew, Jay Haas, said: “He was never saying, ‘Here’s what I did.’”
“To the men of his era, Bob was a leader, but he had a lot of humility,” Jay Haas, a nine-time PGA Tour winner added.
Goalby told Golf Digest in 2018 of his 1968 performance at Augusta National being overlooked: “The presentation ceremony wasn’t what it could have been.
“I sat next to Roberto and did what I could to console him. There’s video of me patting him on the leg. I felt no elation, nothing like you’d expect from winning the biggest tournament of your life. It was awkward. It was tragic for Roberto, but it was equally unfortunate for me.
“I never did get full credit for what I’d done. I played damned well, especially the last day.”
Goalby was talking about when he hit 3-iron to 8 feet for eagle on the par-5 15th and closed with a 66 and finished at 11-under 277, according to AP News.
He assumed he would be going to a Monday playoff with De Vicenzo, who had birdied the par-4 17th and finished with a 65.
But Tommy Aaron was keeping the Argentine’s card that day and put him down for a 4 on the 17th hole instead of a 3. De Vicenzo signed the card, and under the Rules of Golf, had to accept the higher score. That gave De Vicenzo a 66 and he finished one shot behind, leading to one of the most famous lines in golf: “What a stupid I am.”
Goalby was born March 14, 1929, in Belleville and was a multi-sport player through high school and college.
In 2017, Belleville West High School renamed its football field after Goalby.
He went to Illinois on a football scholarship, and then played baseball at Southern Illinois. He was drafted into the military during the Korean War and turned pro in 1952.
According to the PGA Tour, he worked as a club pro in Darien, Connecticut, but only until he shot 64 in the final round of the 1957 Mayfair Inn Open in Florida and earned $20 for finishing 30th.
His first win was the 1958 Greater Greensboro Open. The last of his 11 PGA Tour titles was the Bahamas National Open in 1971. He played in one Ryder Cup, in 1963 at East Lake in Atlanta, with Arnold Palmer as the playing captain.
He is remembered for the 1968 Masters, the final round he played and the grace with which he won based on a rules infraction that was not of his doing. Goalby and De Vicenzo remained friends, and were partners twice in a PGA Tour Champions event.
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