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[Heiress-inFL]

Ken Venturi, U.S. Open Golf Champion and Broadcaster had died. The PGA and Golf World has lost a wonderful soul. His story is below:

Ken Venturi, who won the 1964 U.S. Open and later spent 35 years as a television golf analyst, died yesterday. He was 82.

Venturi’s son, Matt, told the Associated Press his father died in a hospital in Rancho Mirage, California. Venturi had been hospitalized the past two months for a spinal infection, pneumonia and then an intestinal infection, AP reported.

His death comes less than two weeks after he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

“The PGA Tour joins the world of golf in mourning the loss of one of its most treasured champions and ambassadors, Ken Venturi,” PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem said on the tour’swebsite. “His tremendous accomplishments on the golf course were certainly Hall of Fame worthy on their own, but in Ken one finds a rare example of a golfer whose second career, in television, rivaled the legendary status of his competitive achievements.”

In 1956, Venturi almost became the only amateur to win the Masters, leading for the first three rounds before shooting a final-round 80 to blow a four-shot lead and finish second, one shot behind Jack Burke Jr. Venturi also was the runner-up toArnold Palmer at the 1960 Masters.

Venturi won his only major championship at the U.S. Open championship at Congressional Golf Club in Bethesda, Maryland.

He trailed by six strokes entering the final day, where the third and fourth rounds would be played. With temperatures approaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius), Venturi shot 66 to move within two shots of Tommy Jacobs.

Battling the heat and dehydration after the third round, Venturi was advised by Dr. John Everett to withdraw, according to the U.S. Open’s website. Venturi declined and Everett followed him around with ice packs throughout the final 18 holes, where he shot 70 to win by four strokes.

Venturi went into broadcasting after his playing career was cut short by wrist injuries that affected the use of his hands. He spent 35 years as the lead golf analyst for CBS Sports before retiring in 2002.

He was enshrined into the Hall of Fame in the lifetime achievement category May 6 in St. Augustine, Florida, along with 1992 Masters champion Fred Couples.

Venturi is survived by his wife of 10 years, Kathleen, and his two sons.