Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (2024)

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Juan “Chi Chi” Rodriguez, a Hall of Fame golfer whose antics on the greens and inspiring life story made him among the sport’s most popular players during a long professional career, died Thursday People are also reading… Photos: Notable deaths in 2024 Glynis Johns Adan Canto Bud Harrelson Dejan Milojevic Jack Burke Mary Weiss Norman Jewison Charles Osgood Melanie Safka Chita Rivera Carl Weathers Wayne Kramer Ian Lavender Toby Keith Henry Fambrough Bob Edwards Don Gullett Lefty Driesell Andreas Brehme Golden Richards Richard Lewis Nikolai Ryzhkov Brian Mulroney Akira Toriyama Iris Apfel Andy Russell Ed Ott Chris Mortensen Steve Lawrence Naomi Barber King Paul Alexander Thomas P. Stafford Chris Simon M. Emmet Walsh Laurent de Brunhoff Obit Angelos Baseball Joe Lieberman Louis Gossett Jr. Joe Flaherty John Sinclair Larry Lucchino Christopher Durang Jerry Grote Schappell Twins Peter Higgs Ralph Puckett Jr. O.J. Simpson Eleanor Coppola Robert MacNeil Faith Ringgold Steve Sloan Ken Holtzman Carl Erskine Whitey Herzog Bob Graham Dickey Betts Mandisa David Pryor Roman Gabriel Andrew Davis Terry Anderson Bill Gladden Duane Eddy Paul Auster Dick Rutan Steve Albini Jimmy Johnson Sean Burroughs Roger Corman A.J. Smith David Sanborn Obit Alice Munro Dabney Coleman Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi Jim Otto Ivan Boesky Jan. A.P. Kaczmarek Carlie Colin Morgan Spurlock Richard M. Sherman Bill Walton Albert Ruddy Larry Allen Janis Paige Parnelli Jones Chet Walker The Rev. James Lawson Jr. Jerry West Ron Simons Bob Schul Willie Mays Donald Sutherland Bill Cobbs Kinky Friedman Martin Mull Robert Towne Vic Seixas Obit Jon Landau James Inhofe Joe Bonsall Shelley Duvall Dr. Ruth Westheimer Richard Simmons Jacoby Jones Shannen Doherty James Sikking Pat Williams Lou Dobbs Cheng Pei-Pei Abdul 'Duke' Fakir Bernice Johnson Reagon John Mayall Erica Ash Bob Newhart Get in the game with our Prep Sports Newsletter References

AP Spotlight

Juan “Chi Chi” Rodriguez, a Hall of Fame golfer whose antics on the greens and inspiring life story made him among the sport’s most popular players during a long professional career, died Thursday

  • By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer
  • 0

We’ve had to say goodbye to some beloved musicians, athletes, actors and more. Here's a look at the stars we've lost so far in 2024, through July.

Juan “Chi Chi” Rodriguez, a Hall of Fame golfer whose antics on the greens and inspiring life story made him among the sport’s most popular players during a long professional career, died Thursday. He was 88.

Rodriguez's death was announced by Carmelo Javier Ríos, a senator in Rodriguez’s native Puerto Rico. He didn't provide a cause of death.

“Chi Chi Rodriguez’s passion for charity and outreach was surpassed only by his incredible talent with a golf club in his hand,” PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said in a statement. “A vibrant, colorful personality both on and off the golf course, he will be missed dearly by the PGA Tour and those whose lives he touched in his mission to give back. The PGA Tour sends its deepest condolences to the entire Rodriguez family during this difficult time.”

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He was born Juan Antonio Rodriguez, the second oldest of six children, in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, when it was blanketed with sugar cane fields and where he helped his father with the harvest as a child. The area is now a dense urban landscape, part of San Juan, the capital of the U.S. island territory.

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (1)

Rodriguez said he learned to play golf by hitting tin cans with a guava tree stick and then found work as a caddie. He claimed he could shoot a 67 by age 12, according to a biography provided by the Chi Chi Rodriguez Management Group in Stow, Ohio.

No one from Puerto Rico had ever made it to the PGA Tour and Rodriguez was determined to not only get there but to beat the best. “They told me I was a hound dreaming about pork chops,” he once told Sports Illustrated.

He served in the U.S. Army from 1955-57 and joined the PGA Tour in 1960 and won eight times during his 21-year career, playing on one Ryder Cup team.

The first of his eight tour victories came in 1963, when he won the Denver Open. He followed it up with two the next year and continued through 1979 with the Tallahassee Open. He had 22 victories on the Champions Tour from 1985-2002, and had total combined career earnings of more than $7.6 million. He was inducted into the PGA World Golf Hall of Fame in 1992.

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (2)

His playing record doesn't look like Hall of Fame material. He contributions to the game with his showmanship and charity and devotion to youth development was gigantic.

He started an academy for children in the Tampa, Florida, area in the 1970s, focusing on those who were at risk. “Why do I love kids so much? Because I was never a kid myself. I was too poor to really have a childhood,” Rodriguez once said.

And his humor never left him. He had a passion for baseball, and when the U.S. Senior Open went to Canterbury outside Cleveland in 1996, he was asked why he was why he gave up the sport. “I used to steal bases,” Rodriguez said as the room erupted in laughter.

Rodriguez was perhaps best known for fairway antics that included twirling his club like a sword, sometimes referred to as his “matador routine,” or doing a celebratory dance, often with a shuffling salsa step, after making a birdie putt. He often irritated fellow players in what he insisted was meant as good-natured fun.

He was hospitalized in October 1998 after experiencing chest pains and reluctantly agreed to see a doctor, who told him he was having a heart attack.

“It scared me for the first time,” Rodriguez recalled in a 1999 interview with The Associated Press. “Jim Anderson (his pilot) drove me to the hospital and a team of doctors were waiting to operate. If I had waited another 10 minutes, the doctor said I would have needed a heart transplant.

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (3)

“They call it the widow-maker,” he said. “About 50% of the people who get this kind of heart attack die. So I beat the odds pretty good.”

After his recovery, he returned to competition for a couple of years but phased out his professional career and devoted more of his time to community and charity activities, such as the Chi Chi Rodriguez Youth Foundation, a charity based in Clearwater, Florida, founded in 1979.

In recent years, he spent most of his time in Puerto Rico, where he was a partner in a golf community project that struggled amid the recession and housing crisis, hosted a talk show on a local radio station for several years, and appeared at various sporting and other events.

He showed up at the 2008 Puerto Rico Open and strolled through the grounds in a black leather coat and dark sunglasses, shaking hands and posing for pictures but playing no golf. “I didn’t want to take a spot away from young men trying to make a living,” he said.

Photos: Notable deaths in 2024

Glynis Johns

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (4)

Adan Canto

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (5)

Bud Harrelson

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (6)

Dejan Milojevic

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (7)

Jack Burke

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (8)

Mary Weiss

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (9)

Norman Jewison

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (10)

Charles Osgood

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (11)

Melanie Safka

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (12)

Chita Rivera

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (13)

Carl Weathers

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (14)

Ian Lavender

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (16)

Toby Keith

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (17)

Henry Fambrough

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (18)

Bob Edwards

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (19)

Don Gullett

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (20)

Lefty Driesell

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (21)

Andreas Brehme

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (22)

Golden Richards

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (23)

Richard Lewis

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (24)

Nikolai Ryzhkov

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (25)

Brian Mulroney

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (26)

Akira Toriyama

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (27)

Iris Apfel

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (28)

Andy Russell

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (29)

Ed Ott

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (30)

Chris Mortensen

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (31)

Steve Lawrence

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (32)

Naomi Barber King

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (33)

Paul Alexander

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (34)

Thomas P. Stafford

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (35)

Chris Simon

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (36)

M. Emmet Walsh

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (37)

Laurent de Brunhoff

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (38)

Obit Angelos Baseball

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (39)

Joe Lieberman

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (40)

Louis Gossett Jr.

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (41)

Joe Flaherty

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (42)

John Sinclair

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (43)

Larry Lucchino

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (44)

Christopher Durang

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (45)

Jerry Grote

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (46)

Schappell Twins

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (47)

Peter Higgs

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (48)

Ralph Puckett Jr.

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (49)

O.J. Simpson

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (50)

Eleanor Coppola

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (51)

Robert MacNeil

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (52)

Faith Ringgold

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (53)

Steve Sloan

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (54)

Ken Holtzman

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (55)

Carl Erskine

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (56)

Whitey Herzog

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (57)

Bob Graham

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (58)

Dickey Betts

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (59)

Mandisa

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (60)

David Pryor

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (61)

Roman Gabriel

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (62)

Andrew Davis

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (63)

Terry Anderson

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (64)

Bill Gladden

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (65)

Duane Eddy

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (66)

Paul Auster

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (67)

Dick Rutan

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (68)

Steve Albini

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (69)

Jimmy Johnson

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (70)

Sean Burroughs

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (71)

Roger Corman

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (72)

A.J. Smith

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (73)

David Sanborn

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (74)

Obit Alice Munro

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (75)

Dabney Coleman

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (76)

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (77)

Jim Otto

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (78)

Ivan Boesky

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (79)

Jan. A.P. Kaczmarek

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (80)

Carlie Colin

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (81)

Morgan Spurlock

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (82)

Richard M. Sherman

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (83)

Bill Walton

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (84)

Albert Ruddy

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (85)

Larry Allen

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (86)

Janis Paige

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (87)

Parnelli Jones

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (88)

Chet Walker

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (89)

The Rev. James Lawson Jr.

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (90)

Jerry West

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (91)

Ron Simons

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (92)

Bob Schul

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (93)

Willie Mays

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (94)

Donald Sutherland

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (95)

Bill Cobbs

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (96)

Kinky Friedman

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (97)

Martin Mull

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (98)

Robert Towne

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (99)

Vic Seixas

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (100)

Obit Jon Landau

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (101)

James Inhofe

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (102)

Joe Bonsall

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (103)

Shelley Duvall

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (104)

Dr. Ruth Westheimer

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (105)

Richard Simmons

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (106)

Jacoby Jones

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (107)

Shannen Doherty

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (108)

James Sikking

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (109)

Pat Williams

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (110)

Lou Dobbs

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (111)

Cheng Pei-Pei

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (112)

Abdul 'Duke' Fakir

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (113)

Bernice Johnson Reagon

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (114)

John Mayall

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (115)

Erica Ash

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (116)

Bob Newhart

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (117)

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Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer known for antics on the greens, dies at 88 (2024)

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