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Juan “Chi Chi” Rodriguez, who rose from poverty in Puerto Rico to golf’s Hall of Fame, has died at age 88, the PGA Tour announced Thursday.
“A vibrant and colorful personality, on and off the golf course, he will be greatly missed by the PGA TOUR and those whose lives he touched in his mission to give back,” said PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan.
During his three decades as a professional, Rodriquez has 37 victories, including eight on the PGA Tour and 22 on the Senior Tour.
Born into a poor family in Puerto Rico, Rodríguez taught himself to play with crude clubs carved from guava branches, hitting crushed tin cans on baseball fields.
His father worked as a sugar cane cutter and at the age of seven he joined him to work on the plantations as a water carrier.
One day he went to a golf course frequented by wealthy tourists and discovered that the caddies there made more money. He joined them and did not leave his job as a caddy until he was 19 to enlist in the U.S. Army.
He was always seen as an entertainer, celebrating birdies by swinging his putter like a courageous swordsman.
Rodriquez competed in local Puerto Rican tournaments before joining the PGA Tour in 1960.
He won his first PGA Tour title in 1963 and his last PGA Tour Champions title in 1993.
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