One day short of his 76th birthday, PGA Tour winner and former Masters broadcaster Peter Oosterhuis passed away on Thursday morning according to the PGA Tour.
The Englishman won the 1981 Canadian Open but was probably more known as the longtime voice of the 17th hole at Augusta National during CBS’s annual Masters coverage. Oosterhuis retired from broadcasting in 2014 to deal with early-onset of Alzheimer’s. The London native earned seven wins on the European Tour in a two-year span from 1972-74 and was the rookie of the year in 1969. He also competed on six consecutive Ryder Cup teams from 1971-1981, where he boasts an overall record of 14-11-3. He twice defeated Arnold Palmer as part of his record-tying six Sunday singles wins.
Oosterhuis was the Director of Golf at Forsgate Country Club in Jamesburg, New Jersey, and Riviera Country Club outside Los Angeles from 1987-1993 and then tried his hand at broadcasting. He worked as lead analyst for Golf Channel’s European Tour coverage and then joined CBS, where he covered the Masters from 1997-2014.
He is survived by his wife, Ruth Ann, sons Rob and Rich, stepsons Byron and Matt and four grandchildren Peyton, Turner, Sutton and Lachlan.