Juan “Chi Chi” Rodriguez, a member of the World Gold Hall of Fame, has reportedly died at the age of 88 tonight. His death was announced by the PGA Tour through a post on their website uploaded just after 9 PM on Thursday.
A cause of death has not yet been provided.
Throughout his career, Rodriguez would rack up over 30 victories between the PGA TOUR and PGA TOUR Champions. Enshrined in the hall of fame in 1992, Rodriguez began his life in Puerto Rico.
The PGA reports,
World Golf Hall of Fame member Juan “Chi Chi” Rodriguez was a giver on and off the golf course. Inside the ropes, Rodriguez was a showman. After great shots, fans would marvel at his signature “sword dance” when Rodriguez would wield a golf club and thrust his “sword” back into its imaginary scabbard along his belt. Outside of golf, Rodriguez was known for his tireless philanthropy.
Rodriguez came from humble roots in Puerto Rico to collect 30 career victories between the PGA TOUR and PGA TOUR Champions. He took as much pride in his Chi Chi Rodriguez Youth Foundation in Clearwater, Florida, that helped at-risk youth achieve academic, social and economic success.
“A man never stands taller than when he stoops to help a child,” he said in his World Golf Hall of Fame biography when he was enshrined in 1992.
PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan said about the death of Juan “Chi Chi” Rodriguez, “Chi Chi Rodriguez’s passion for charity and outreach was surpassed only by his incredible talent with a golf club in his hand. 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.”
The post from the PGA Tour continues,
Rodriguez’s pathway into servitude was shaped by a childhood less fortunate than others. His father worked tirelessly cutting sugar cane with a machete in Rodriguez’s hometown of Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, yet never made more than $18 in a given week. By the time he was 7, Rodriguez joined his father in hard labor, earning money as a water carrier on a plantation. It came just three years after the youngest and frailest of six children nearly died from rickets and tropical sprue.
It was then that the young Rodriguez realized athletic abilities would bestow upon him rare opportunities not afforded to most others. After wandering onto a golf course, Rodriguez discovered caddies were earning more money than he was – so he decided to become one himself.He took a branch from a guava tree and fashioned it into a makeshift golf club. Using hammered tin cans as balls, Rodriguez was able to teach himself the sport, modeling his game after what he saw golfers do. In 1960, after a two-year stint in the Army to make more money – “It was more than I could make caddying at Dorado Beach,” he joked in the PGA TOUR media guide – he finally decided to turn professional.
Rest in peace, legend!
