Miles Bennett
Sadly, many golf legends have died, some at a young age. Payne Stewart, a popular golfer with spectators, died in a plane crash in 1999. Tommy Morris Jr., also known as Young Tom, died on Christmas Day in 1875 at the age of 24. More recently, Grayson Murray, a 30-year-old, two-time PGA Tour winner, died by suicide in 2024. In 2024, Hall of Fame golfer Juan Chi Chi Rodriguez died at 88. Jim Dent, a pioneering Black golfer, passed away at 85 in 2025. These are just a few examples of golf legends whose lives were cut short or who died at an older age.
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What You'll Learn
Payne Stewart died in a plane crash
On October 25, 1999, American professional golfer Payne Stewart died in a plane crash. Stewart was travelling from his home in Orlando, Florida, to Texas for the year-ending tournament, The Tour Championship, held at Champions Golf Club in Houston. The Learjet plane crashed in South Dakota, just outside Mina in Edmunds County, on relatively flat ground.
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators concluded that the aircraft failed to pressurize and that all on board were incapacitated by hypoxia—a lack of oxygen in the brain and body—as the aircraft passed to the west of Gainesville, Florida. The aircraft then continued flying on autopilot until it ran out of fuel and crashed. The plane had a total flight time of 3 hours and 54 minutes, hitting the ground at an extreme angle and nearly supersonic speed.
The site of the crash was on a cattle farm owned by Hoffman, who recalled how a neighbour had informed him that a plane had crashed on his land. Hoffman and his brother then drove to the site, where they saw a huge line of onlookers. The owner of the crash site, after consulting the wives of Stewart and several other victims, created a memorial on about 1 acre (4,000 m2) of the site. At its centre is a rock pulled from the site, inscribed with the names of the victims and a Bible passage.
Payne Stewart was a popular golfer with spectators, known for his distinctive clothing. He won 11 PGA Tour events, including three major championships, the last of which came just a few months before his death. He gained his first major title at the 1989 PGA Championship, followed by the 1991 U.S. Open and his third major title at the 1999 U.S. Open.
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Grayson Murray died by suicide at 30
Grayson Murray, a 30-year-old professional golfer and two-time PGA Tour winner, died by suicide, his family announced on Saturday, May 25, 2024.
"We have spent the last 24 hours trying to come to terms with the fact that our son is gone," his parents, Eric and Terry Murray, said in a statement shared by the PGA Tour. "It's surreal that we not only have to admit it to ourselves, but that we also have to acknowledge it to the world. He was loved and he will be missed. He is resting peacefully now," they added.
Murray withdrew from the second round of the 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, a day before his death. He had previously spoken about his struggles with mental health and excessive alcohol use.
Murray won his first PGA Tour title at the 2017 Barbasol Championship when he was 23 years old. He won his second title at the Sony Open in Hawaii earlier this year, where he also announced that he had been sober for eight months and was engaged to be married.
The PGA Tour Commissioner, Jay Monahan, said, "I am at a loss for words. The PGA Tour is a family, and when you lose a member of your family, you are never the same. We mourn Grayson and pray for comfort for his loved ones." Grief counselors were made available at all venues in the wake of Murray's passing.
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Chi Chi Rodriguez died at 88
Juan "Chi Chi" Rodriguez, a Hall of Fame golfer, died at the age of 88 on Thursday, August 8, 2024. Rodriguez was born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, and started working with his father in a sugar cane plantation at the age of seven. He then took up caddying at the age of eight, which exposed him to golf. He taught himself the game by swinging at rolled-up tin cans with a guava tree branch.
Rodriguez joined the PGA Tour in 1960, winning eight times during his 21-year career. His first win came in 1963 at the Denver Open. He added two more wins the following year at the Lucky International Open and the Western Open. He went on to win the Tallahassee Open in 1979 and had a total of eight PGA Tour victories. He was also a member of the victorious 1973 U.S. Ryder Cup team.
Rodriguez was inducted into the PGA World Golf Hall of Fame in 1992 and was the recipient of the USGA's Bob Jones Award in 1989. He was known for his charitable work, founding the Chi Chi Rodriguez Youth Foundation in 1979, which focused on bringing at-risk children to a local public course for golf instruction, part-time work, and life skills training.
Rodriguez's death was announced by Carmelo Javier Ríos, a senator in his native Puerto Rico. The cause of death was not provided. Tributes poured in from the golfing community, with PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan highlighting Rodriguez's passion for charity and his incredible talent with a golf club.
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Young Tom Morris died aged 24
Young Tom Morris, a legendary golfer, died at the young age of 24 on Christmas Day, 1875. Morris was born on April 20, 1851, in St Andrews, Fife, and made history in the world of golf at a young age.
Morris was the son of Old Tom Morris, one of golf's greatest legends. He learned golf from a young age over the Prestwick Golf Club links, which had been laid out by his father. At just 13 years old, he beat his father, the Open Champion at the time, in a friendly game at St Andrews. The following year, in 1864, he travelled with his father to a tournament at Perth, where he was not allowed to compete but played a match with a local youth champion and won decisively.
Morris went on to become a professional golfer himself and achieved immense success. He won The Open Championship four times consecutively in 1868, 1869, 1870, and 1872, making him the youngest winner of a golf major championship at just 17 years old. This record still stands today. During his 1869 victory, he achieved the tournament's first-ever hole-in-one.
Tragically, Morris's life took a devastating turn when his pregnant wife, Margaret Drinnen, and their newborn baby died during labour in September 1875. Morris was heartbroken, and his own health began to deteriorate. The official cause of his death a few months later was reported as a pulmonary hemorrhage causing apnea, possibly brought on by a lengthy challenge match played in terrible weather. Some also attributed his death to a broken heart following the loss of his wife and child.
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Jim Dent, a pioneering Black golfer, died aged 85
James Lacey Dent, the pioneering Black golfer, has died aged 85. Dent, who was nicknamed "Big Boy", had a long and illustrious career, playing professionally for more than 40 years on the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions.
Born in Augusta, Georgia, in 1939, Dent honed his skills as a teenager by caddying at a local golf course. He began his career in Atlantic City, New Jersey, working as a busboy and waiter while practising golf at night. In 1966, he turned professional, playing on a minor-league golf circuit and in events hosted by the United Golfers Association, a tour for top Black golfers at the time.
In 1969, Dent won the National Negro Open, as well as the $100,000 Queen Mary event. He qualified for the PGA Tour in 1970, making 450 career starts and maintaining a 16-year streak of appearing in at least 22 tournaments per season. Although he didn't win an official PGA Tour event, he had 25 top-10 finishes and played in several major championships. In the 1970s, he was one of the longest hitters on the PGA Tour, with an estimated drive of 315 to 340 yards.
Dent's achievements were recognised with numerous inductions into sports halls of fame, including the Caddie Hall of Fame, the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, the African American Golfers Hall of Fame, and the Paine College Sports Hall of Fame. In 2020, the city of Augusta honoured Dent by renaming the road leading to Augusta Municipal Golf Course as "Jim Dent Way".
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, Payne Stewart, an American professional golfer, died in a plane crash in 1999.
Yes, Grayson Murray, a 2-time PGA Tour winner, died by suicide in 2024.
Yes, Juan 'Chi Chi' Rodriguez, a Hall of Fame golfer, died at the age of 88 in 2024.
Yes, Tommy Morris Jr., also known as "Young Tom," died at the age of 24 on Christmas Day in 1875.
