Eleven days after being inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame Ken Venturi passed away on Friday afternoon at the age of 82. Venturi won the 1964 U.S. Open despite suffering from dehydration that prompted doctors to tell him to quit. After retiring from professional golf Venturi was a broadcaster for CBS Sports for 35 years.
Venturi spent the last two months hospitalized for a spinal infection, pneumonia, and an intestinal infection before finally succumbing to his illness, according to the Associated Press.
Venturi was too sick to attend his induction to the World Golf Hall of Fame and his sons, Matt and Tim, accepted the award for him.
"When dad did receive the election into the Hall of Fame, he had a twinkle in his eye, and that twinkle is there every day," Tim Venturi said.
Jack Nicklaus spoke to the Associated Press about Venturi's life.
"We all knew what a wonderful player Ken Venturi was, and how he fashioned a second successful career as an announcer," Nicklaus said. "But far more important than how good he was at playing the game or covering it, Ken was my friend. Ken was fortunate in that the game of golf gave him so much, but without question, Ken gave back far more to the game he loved than he ever gained from it. Over the years, Ken developed a circle of friends that is enormous and whose collective heart is heavy today."
Possibly the most remarkable thing about Venturi's life is that he spent 35 years as a broadcaster; when he was a child he had such a horrible stammer that teachers told him he would never be able to speak plainly, according to the Associated Press. It was his stammering problem that led to him picking up golf in the first place.
"When I was 13 years old, the teacher told my mother, 'I'm sorry, Mrs. Venturi, but your son will never be able to speak. He's an incurable stammerer,'" Venturi said in 2011. "My mother asked me what I planned to do. I said, 'I'm taking up the loneliest sport I know.'"
Jim Nantz spent years alongside Venturi calling golf for CBS Sports and spoke glowingly about his former broadcast partner to the Associated Press.
"He was a deeply principled man with a dynamic presence. He just exuded class," Nantz said. "Through his competitive days and unequaled broadcasting career, Kenny became a human bridge connecting everyone from Sarazen, Nelson and Hogan to the greatest players of today's generation. Kenny faced many adversities in his life and always found a way to win."
