Eight-time PGA Tour winner Juan “Chi-Chi” Rodriguez dies at 88
Juan “Chi-Chi” Rodriguez, the hugely popular golfer known for his entertaining antics, died Thursday at age 88. Senator Carmelo Javier Rios of Rodriguez’s native Puerto Rico announced the death without giving a reason. Jay Monahan’s Commissioner PGA tours only exceeded the incredible talents of the charity of Chairdriguez and propaganda. \ “He is a bright and colorful personality since the golf course, and he really misses the PGA tour and the people who touched him in his mission that he is back. The PGA Tour extends its deepest condolences to the entire Rodriguez family during this difficult time.
Rodriguez won eight times on the PGA Tour, 22 times on the Champions Tour and was inducted into the PGA World Golf Hall of Fame in 1992. But when it comes to Rodriguez’s story, the wins pale in comparison to his inspiration and spirit. Rodriguez was born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico on October 23, 1935. As a child, he helped his father on sugar cane plantations. Rodriguez learned to play golf using guava sticks as clubs and tin cans as balls, then served in the U.S. Army from 1955 to 1957, playing golf whenever he could. Rodriguez turned professional in 1960 and won his first PGA Tour victory at the Denver Open in 1963. His celebrations, which included waving his putter like a sword and wiping and putting it away, made him a truly unique figure on the tour. In 1998, Rodriguez was hospitalized with chest pains and was told by doctors that he had a heart attack. Rodriguez continued to play on the Champions Tour but devoted more time to the ChiChi Rodriguez Youth Foundation, which he founded in 1979 to “help at-risk youth achieve academic, social and economic success by continually engaging them in education and the acquisition of practical skills that are “essential for life success,” according to its website. He spent most of his later years in his native Puerto Rico.
