Fuzzy Zollertwo-time major champion and one of golf's most gregarious personalities whose career was ruined by a racially insensitive joke about Tiger Woodsdied, according to a longtime colleague. He was 74.
The cause of death was not immediately known. Brian Naugle, tournament director of the Insperity Invitational in Houston, said Zeller's daughter called him Thursday with the news.
Zeller was the last player to win the Masters on his first try, a three-man playoff in 1979. He famously waved a white towel at Winged Foot Stadium in 1984 when he thought: Greg Norman beat him only to beat Norman in an 18-hole playoff the next day.
But it was the 1997 Masters that changed his popularity.
Woods was on his way to a turning point in golf with the most convincing victory in Augusta National history. Zeller had finished his round and had a drink in hand under an oak tree outside the clubhouse when he was stopped by CNN and asked what he thought of the 21-year-old Woods en route to the most dominant victory in Augusta National history.
“This little boy drives well and performs well. He does everything he can to win. So, you know what you guys do when he comes here? You pat him on the back, congratulate him, enjoy it, and tell him not to serve fried chicken next year. Do you understand?” Zeller said.
He smiled, snapped his fingers, and as he walked away, he turned and said, “Or greens, or whatever the hell they serve.”
This moment haunted him for the rest of his career.
Zeller apologized. Woods was traveling and took two weeks to comment as the controversy unfolded. Zeller later said that he received death threats for years after this point.
In an article for Golf Digest in 2008, he said it was “the worst thing I've been through in my entire life.”
“If people wanted me to feel the same pain I projected onto others, I'm here to tell you they got it,” Zeller wrote. “I cried many times. I have apologized countless times for words said in jest that simply do not reflect who I am. I have hundreds of friends, including people of color, who will attest to this.
“However, I have come to terms with the fact that this incident will never go away.”
It overshadowed a career filled with two notable major titles, eight other PGA Tour titles and a Senior PGA Championship among his two PGA Tour Championship titles.
The way he did it was more than just a victory. Zeller played quickly and yet maintained a calm demeanor in his approach to the game, often whistling between shots.
He made his Masters debut in 1979 and made a three-way playoff when Ed Snead birdied the final three holes. Zeller defeated Sneed and Tom Watson with a birdie on the second playoff hole that sends the club high into the air.
“I’ve never been to heaven, and as I look back on my life, I probably won’t have the opportunity to go there,” Zeller once said. “I think winning the Masters is the closest I can get.”
Zeller dueled Norman at Winged Foot in 1984, playing in the back of the group and watching Norman hit shot after shot. So when he saw Norman make a 40-foot putt on the 18th, he assumed it was a birdie and began waving the white towel in a moment of sportsmanship.
Only later did he realize it was par, and Zeller made par to force a playoff spot. Zeller beat him by eight shots in an 18-hole playoff, 67-75. Zeller's only regret was giving the towel to the kid after he finished playing time.
“If you happen to see a rough white towel hanging nearby, bring it to me, okay?” he once said.
He was born Frank Urban Zoller Jr. in New Albany, Indiana. Zeller said his father was known only as “Fuzzy” and he was given the same name. He played in college in Florida and then joined a powerful golf team in Houston before turning pro.
His wife Diane died in 2021. Zeller has three children, including daughter Gretchen, with whom he previously played in the PNC Championship. In 1985, Zeller was awarded the Bob Jones Award by the USGA, the organization's highest honor for outstanding athletic achievement.
