{"id":955005,"date":"2026-05-12T14:45:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T14:45:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/955005\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T14:45:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T14:45:18","slug":"jim-colbert-golfing-legend-dies-aged-85-as-pga-tour-pays-tribute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/955005\/","title":{"rendered":"Jim Colbert: Golfing legend dies aged 85 as PGA tour pays tribute"},"content":{"rendered":"

Golf legend Jim Colbert has passed away at the age of 85.<\/p>\n

The American, who became one of the most recognisable figures in professional golf, claimed eight victories on the PGA Tour throughout his career.<\/p>\n

His success continued well into his later years, with Colbert securing an impressive 20 triumphs on the Senior Tour.<\/p>\n

The PGA Champions Tour paid tribute to the late 85-year-old.<\/p>\n

\"Jim<\/p>\n

Jim Colbert has died at the age of 85<\/p>\n

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GETTY<\/p>\n

It said: “Colbert made 1,091 combined starts across the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions. <\/p>\n

“Even though golf wasn’t in his original career plans, he made it his life’s work. Rest in peace, Jim Colbert.”<\/p>\n

The PGA Tour did not give a cause of death in its statement.<\/p>\n

Arguably, no golfer was more identifiable than Colbert, who spent his entire career virtually sporting a distinctive bucket hat.<\/p>\n

\"Jim<\/p>\n

Colbert became iconic for his distinctive bucket hat<\/p>\n

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GETTY<\/p>\n

The headwear became his trademark after a frightening incident in 1957, when the then-teenager nearly collapsed from sunstroke during a tournament.<\/p>\n

Medical professionals insisted he wear protective headgear whenever he played.<\/p>\n

Though he experimented briefly with a baseball cap in 1970, Colbert soon returned to his signature look.<\/p>\n

He was well aware of what the hat meant to his image, once saying: “Lee Trevino has the sombrero. Jack Nicklaus has the bear. I have my hat.”<\/p>\n

\"Jim<\/p>\n

The golfing legend won eight PGA Tour titles<\/p>\n

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GETTY<\/p>\n

The accessory became as synonymous with Colbert as any of his tournament victories.<\/p>\n

Colbert’s path to golfing greatness began unexpectedly, as he initially attended Kansas State University on a football scholarship.<\/p>\n

An injury forced him to change sports and take up golf instead, a decision that would prove transformative.<\/p>\n

By 1964, his game entered a new level, with him finishing second at the NCAA Championship.<\/p>\n

\"Jim<\/p>\n

Colbert’s maiden tour victory arrived at the 1969 Monsanto Invitational Open<\/p>\n

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GETTY<\/p>\n

Two years later, he turned professional and joined the PGA Tour.<\/p>\n

His maiden tour victory arrived at the 1969 Monsanto Invitational Open, with further wins following in 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975 and 1980.<\/p>\n

At major championships, his finest performances came in 1974, when he tied for fourth at the Masters and tied for fifth at the US Open.<\/p>\n

His peak season arrived in 1983, when he defeated Fuzzy Zoeller in a play-off at the Colonial National Invitation before claiming the Texas Open by five strokes.<\/p>\n

Colbert’s career was interrupted in 1996 when he received a prostate cancer diagnosis, requiring surgery to remove his prostate.<\/p>\n

Remarkably, he returned to competitive golf two years later and demonstrated his resilience by winning the Transamerica tournament.<\/p>\n

After buying his first course in 1980, Jim Colbert Golf eventually expanded to encompass 23 courses, employing 700 staff and generating gross revenue of $50million (\u00a336.9m).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Golf legend Jim Colbert has passed away at the age of 85. The American, who became one of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":955006,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4106],"tags":[2826,12,512,93,79,16,15,978,727,214317],"class_list":{"0":"post-955005","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-golf","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-sgg","11":"tag-sport","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-us","16":"tag-us-news","17":"tag-us-sport"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116562148101359250","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/955005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=955005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/955005\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/955006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=955005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=955005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=955005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}