Golf news: Doug Sanders, 20-time PGA Tour winner, dies
Died: Doug Sanders, a flamboyant 20-time winner on the PGA Tour, on Sunday in Houston, the Associated Press reported, citing confirmation from the Tour. He was 86. No cause of death was disclosed. Sanders, known as the “Peacock of the Fairways” for his colorful attire, won the 1956 Canadian Open as an amateur and turned professional shortly afterward. He would win 19 more times through 1972 but none of them major championships. He posted 13 top-10 results in golf’s four biggest events, including runners-up in the 1959 PGA, 1961 U.S. Open and the 1966 and 1970 British Opens. In that 1970 Open at St. Andrews, Sanders famously stabbed a 3-foot putt to win on the final hole, then lost an 18-hole playoff on the next day to Jack Nicklaus. In 1961, Sanders won five times on the PGA Tour. Sanders, a native Georgian who played college golf at Florida, competed on the winning 1967 U.S. Ryder Cup team in Houston, which would become his longtime home in later years. “They still ask me if I ever think about that putt I missed to win the 1970 Open at St. Andrews,” Sanders said. “I tell them sometimes it doesn't cross my mind for a full five minutes.”
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