Two days after the death of Calvin Peete, the 1985 Players champion, another pioneering African-American golfer has passed away.
Pete Brown, the first black golfer to win a PGA Tour event, died Friday at Doctors Hospital in Augusta, Ga., at the age of 80. Brown won the 1964 Waco Turner Open and the 1970 Andy Williams-San Diego Open, the highlights to a 17-year career on the PGA Tour.
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A family friend told the Augusta Chronicle that Brown had suffered from strokes and congestive heart failure in recent years.
"Pete had a lot of medical challenges," Ramona Harriet told the Chronicle. "He was a strong man. He was a fighter. He beat all the odds. He was strong not just on the golf course but off it."
Brown, a native of Port Gibson, Mississippi, learned the game by being a caddie, turned professional and was a four-time winner of the national open for black players at a time when they were barred from being PGA of America members and playing on the Tour.
Brown became a PGA Tour member in 1963, two years after World Golf Hall of Fame members Charlie Sifford broke that barrier.
In Brown's first victory, he made an up-and-down par at beat Jacksonville native Dan Sikes by one shot. Six years later, he rallied from seven shots behind in the final round to beat Tony Jacklin in a playoff at Torrey Pines.
Brown is survived by his wife of 58 years, Margaret, and six daughters. Funeral arrangements are pending.
Peete, who won more PGA Tour events than any black golfer until Tiger Woods, passed away in Atlanta at the age of 71 on Wednesday. Last February, Sifford died at the age of 92.
Garry Smits: (904) 359-4362
