Carmelo Javier Rios Santiago, a member of the PGA Tour and the Puerto Rican Senate, reported the passing of Chi Chi Rodriguez.
In a statement, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan paid homage to Chi Chi Rodriguez, stating that his extraordinary skill with a golf club was the only thing that could top his dedication to charitable work and community engagement.
He said, “The PGA Tour and those whose lives he touched in his mission to give back will miss him dearly. He was a vibrant, colourful personality both on and off the golf course.” The Rodriguez family is receiving the greatest condolences from the PGA Tour during this trying time.
Juan Antonio Rodriguez was Chi Chi Rodriguez’s birth name. He was the second oldest of six children when he was born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. He reportedly learned how to play golf by using a guava tree stick to strike tin cans.
Chi Chi Rodriguez was in the US army from 1955 to 1957 before turning pro in golf in 1960. Chi Chi became a full-time member of the PGA Tour in 1961. “Two years later, he won the Denver Open Invitational, the first of his eight PGA Tour victories,” according to Golf Digest. By any measure, he was incredibly tall, especially for a man his size. He also possessed a superb short game.
Away from golf, Chi Chi Rodriguez set up the Chi Chi Rodriguez Youth Foundation in 1979 to help disadvantaged youth.
“Rodriguez lived in his later years at the El Legado golf resort he built in Guayama, P.R.,” the New York Times said. May 2010, when he and his wife, Iwalani, were tied up by masked midnight burglars who stole $500,000 worth of cash and valuables from them. Donnette Markham, his daughter, his brothers Julio and Jesus, and his sisters Juanita, Carmen, and Maria survive him. Hawaii-native wife of his passed away in 2021.
The reason behind Chi Chi Rodriguez’s passing was unknown at the time of writing.
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