Rod Funseth | |
---|---|
Personal information | |
Full name | James Rodney Funseth |
Born | Spokane, Washington | April 3, 1933
Died | September 9, 1985 (aged 52) Napa, California |
Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
Weight | 170 lb (77 kg; 12 st) |
Sporting nationality | United States |
Spouse | Sandi (Hawkins) Funseth
[1] (m. 1965–1985, his death) |
Children | 1 son, 1 daughter |
Career | |
College |
University of Idaho (briefly attended) [2] [3] |
Turned professional | 1956 |
Former tour(s) |
PGA Tour (1962–79) Senior PGA Tour (1983–84) |
Professional wins | 9 |
Number of wins by tour | |
PGA Tour | 3 |
PGA Tour Champions | 1 |
Other | 5 |
Best results in major championships | |
Masters Tournament | T2: 1978 |
PGA Championship | T8: 1965 |
U.S. Open | T10: 1977 |
The Open Championship | DNP |
James Rodney Funseth (April 3, 1933 – September 9, 1985) was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and the Senior PGA Tour (now PGA Tour Champions). [4] [5]
Amiable and low-key but less than confident, [6] Funseth was one of longest hitters and fastest players of his era, [2] [5] but better known for a pessimistic attitude toward his game, [7] [8] He claimed that his "I'll never be able to make that shot" mental attitude of lowered expectations helped motivate him to play better. He was especially self-deprecating on his lack of putting prowess. [9] [10]
Born and raised in Spokane, Washington, [11] Funseth's father was a men's clothing store operator and salesman, born in Sweden. [2] [12] Rod competed with his older brother Carl for city junior titles [13] and graduated from North Central High School in 1951. [14] Funseth briefly attended the University of Idaho in Moscow [3] [15] to study civil engineering, but did not graduate. [16] He was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. [17]
Funseth returned to Spokane after a semester and worked in various jobs in Washington while competing as an amateur. [18] One of these brief jobs was as a civilian draftsman at the Bremerton Navy Yard, west of Seattle. [2] He won the British Columbia Amateur in 1956 and turned pro that fall, first in Palm Springs, California. [19] In 1959, Funseth became an assistant pro under Masters champion Claude Harmon back east at Winged Foot, [20] north of New York City and later at Thunderbird in Palm Springs. [21] Funseth entered a handful of tour events in 1962, and received sponsorship of $800 per month from Spokane's Athletic Round Table (ART) in 1963 to allow him to play full-time. He played out of Esmeralda, a municipal course in east Spokane built in the mid-1950s. It was initially funded by ART (land and clubhouse) and was named for the group's mascot, a grinning cartoon mare. [21] [22] Funseth had the smiling horse insignia on his tour bag for several years, which invited frequent inquisitions. [23] Keeping meticulous records of all his earnings, he reimbursed the ART to the last dollar. [24] [25]
Funseth played full-time on the PGA Tour from 1963 through 1979 and won three tour events. The first was the Phoenix Open Invitational in 1965 at the Arizona Country Club, which came a week after losing a final round lead at the Bob Hope Classic in Palm Springs. [26] Funseth's second win came eight years later at the Glen Campbell- Los Angeles Open, the season-opener in 1973 at Riviera. [27] His final PGA Tour win came at age 45 in 1978 at the Sammy Davis Jr.- Greater Hartford Open, [11] which paid for his horse barn. [28] [29]
His best finish in a major championship was just months earlier, a tie for second at the Masters, one stroke behind Gary Player. [30] Funseth was in the last pairing on Sunday and had a three-under 69, but Player carded a record-tying 64 (−8) for his third green jacket. [31] [32] Funseth birdied the par-5 15th hole, but parred the last three, with a putt left on the lip at the 16th and another narrowly missing on the final hole to force a playoff. [33]
Funseth was known on tour as an avid fisherman, [3] [15] a passion shared by Johnny Miller, [34] his next-door neighbor in Napa, [1] and Jack Nicklaus. [23] The three played in an exhibition golf match in Spokane in 1975, [35] a rarity for Nicklaus at the time. [36]
Funseth became eligible to play on the Senior PGA Tour after reaching age 50 in April 1983. He had a great deal of immediate success, winning the unofficial Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf (team event with Roberto De Vicenzo) in early May, [37] and a nine-stroke victory at his tour debut at the Hall of Fame Tournament three weeks later in North Carolina at Pinehurst No. 2. [6] [38] Funseth also finished second to Billy Casper in a sudden-death playoff at the U.S. Senior Open in July. [39]
His career on the over-50 tour was cut short by terminal cancer, attributed to exposure to asbestos at the navy yard in Bremerton in his late teens. [11] [40] Told by physicians in January 1984 that he had four months to live, Funseth continued to play well on tour, [41] and returned to defend his team title at the Liberty Mutual Legends in late April. [42] He competed in 17 events in 1984, with three runner-up finishes and nine in the top-10, despite losing weight and strength. Funseth won a match play event in October in Maine, besting Bob Toski 2-up in the final for a winner's share of $30,000. Although a non-tour event, it included most of the top senior players of the day. [43] [44]
Funseth's condition declined in 1985 as his body weight was reduced to 100 lb (45 kg) by September and his breathing assisted with oxygen. [25] He died at age 52 at his home in Napa, California, beside the 12th hole of the Silverado Country Club, [4] next door to friend Johnny Miller. [1] In 1999, he was inducted posthumously into the State of Washington Sports Hall of Fame. [45]
Funseth was survived by his wife Sandi ( née Hawkins), a former competitive water skier from Redwood City, [1] and their two children, Lisa and Mark, in their late teens. [7] [11] He met Sandi during the rainy Crosby event at Pebble Beach in January 1965, when she was a spectator in a long leg cast (from a snow skiing accident) and had been offered shelter in a tournament tent; [2] they were married later that year.
No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Feb 14, 1965 | Phoenix Open Invitational | 71-68-68-67=274 | −14 | 3 strokes | Bert Yancey |
2 | Jan 7, 1973 | Glen Campbell-Los Angeles Open | 73-69-65-69=276 | −8 | 2 strokes |
Don Bies,
David Graham, Tom Weiskopf |
3 | Jul 30, 1978 | Sammy Davis Jr.-Greater Hartford Open | 65-67-68-64=264 | −20 | 6 strokes |
Dale Douglass,
Lee Elder, Billy Kratzert |
PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)
No. | Year | Tournament | Opponents | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1971 | Greater Greensboro Open | Buddy Allin, Dave Eichelberger | Allin won with birdie on first extra hole |
No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runner-up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | May 22, 1983 | Hall of Fame Tournament | 66-67-65=198 | −18 | 9 strokes | Charlie Sifford |
Senior PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)
No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1983 | U.S. Senior Open | Billy Casper | Lost to birdie on first extra hole after 18-hole playoff; Casper: +4 (75), Funseth: +4 (75) |