Chi Chi Rodriguez was born on Puerto Rico in 1935 and, according to his PGA Tour bio, he “gravitated to golf by hitting tin cans with a guava tree stick.”
He would join the U.S. Army at age 19 and later ventured out on his professional golf career. He didn’t win until age 28 but he earned eight PGA Tour victories in all and another 22 on the PGA Tour Champions.
Whenever he teed it up, eyeballs gravitated to him. He was famous for his sword routine on the greens after making big putts.
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Rodriguez died at the age of 88 on Aug. 8, 2024. Check out some photos of Chi Chi through the years.
Chi Chi Rodriguez
Chi Chi Rodriguez at the 2006 Bank of America Championship held at Nashawtuc Country Club in…
Chi Chi Rodriguez at the 2006 Bank of America Championship held at Nashawtuc Country Club in Concord, Massachusetts. (Hunter Martin/Getty Images))
Chi Chi Rodriguez
Chi Chi Rodriguez at the Toshiba Senior Classic at the Mesa Verde Country Club in Costa…
Chi Chi Rodriguez at the Toshiba Senior Classic at the Mesa Verde Country Club in Costa Mesa, California. (J.D. Cuban/Allsport)
Chi Chi Rodriguez
Chi Chi Rodriguez at the 1973 Open Championship at Troon in Scotland. (Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Chi Chi Rodriguez at the 1973 Open Championship at Troon in Scotland. (Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Chi Chi Rodriguez
Chi Chi Rodriguez gabbs his putter after making the putt during the Seniors PGA Tour in…
Chi Chi Rodriguez gabbs his putter after making the putt during the Seniors PGA Tour in Rancho Park, California.
Chi Chi Rodriguez
Chi Chi Rodriguez was a member of the United States Ryder Cup team in 1973 for…
Chi Chi Rodriguez was a member of the United States Ryder Cup team in 1973 for the 20th Ryder Cup Matches at Muirfield in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland. (Don Morley/Getty Images)
Chi Chi Rodriguez
Chi Chi Rodriguez signals “good” after a shot at the U.S. Senior Open at Cherry Hills…
Chi Chi Rodriguez signals “good” after a shot at the U.S. Senior Open at Cherry Hills in Englewood, Colorado. (Gary Newkirk/Allsport)
Chi Chi Rodriguez
Chi Chi Rodriguez at the 1973 Open Championship at Troon in Scotland. (Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Chi Chi Rodriguez at the 1973 Open Championship at Troon in Scotland. (Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Chi Chi Rodriguez
Chi Chi Rodriguez moves down a green during the U.S. Senior Open at the Canterbury Golf…
Chi Chi Rodriguez moves down a green during the U.S. Senior Open at the Canterbury Golf Club in Cleveland, Ohio. (J.D. Cuban/Allsport)
Chi Chi Rodriguez
Chi Chi Rodriguez practices putting at Troon. (Evening Standard/Getty Images)
Chi Chi Rodriguez
Chi Chi Rodriguez does his sword routine after putting a birdie on the ninth green during…
Chi Chi Rodriguez does his sword routine after putting a birdie on the ninth green during the second day of the U.S. Senior Open at Olympia Fields Country Club in Olympia Fields, Illinois. (Kimberly Barth/AFP via Getty Images)
Chi Chi Rodriguez
Chi Chi Rodriguez conducts a clinic for fans during the 2006 Bank of America Championship at…
Chi Chi Rodriguez conducts a clinic for fans during the 2006 Bank of America Championship at Nashawtuc Country Club in Concord, Massachusetts. (Hunter Martin/Getty Images)
Chi Chi Rodriguez
Chi Chi Rodriguez on the fifth tee during the 2006 Regions Charity Classic Charter Communications Pro-Am…
Chi Chi Rodriguez on the fifth tee during the 2006 Regions Charity Classic Charter Communications Pro-Am at Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Ross Bridge in Birmingham Alabama. (A. Messerschmidt/Getty Images)
Chi Chi Rodriguez
Gary Player greets Chi Chi Rodriguez at the 2015 Berenberg Gary Player Invitational Welcome Event at…
Gary Player greets Chi Chi Rodriguez at the 2015 Berenberg Gary Player Invitational Welcome Event at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Bedford Hills, New York. (Michael Cohen/Getty Images)
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Chi Chi Rodriguez
Chi Chi Rodriguez and Jack Nicklaus at the 1994 Diners Club Matches.
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