Ryder Cup star Peter Oosterhuis dies aged 75

Peter Oosterhuis has died at the age of 75.

Perhaps better known to a generation of golf fans – particularly in the US – as a broadcaster, notably as CBS’s voice of the 17th at Augusta during the Masters, “Oosty” enjoyed a stellar career on both sides of the Atlantic before he swapped his irons for a microphone.

Oosterhuis was born in south-west London in 1948 and, after a successful spell as an amateur, turned pro shortly after his 20th birthday. He won seven times on the European Tour in the 1970s, including what is now the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, as well as the national opens of France and Italy.

Having tried his luck on the PGA Tour for much of his career, he eventually added a Canadian Open to his CV in 1981, after seeing off Jack Nicklaus, Andy North and Bruce Lietzke at Glen Abbey.

Oosterhuis also represented Great Britain & Ireland and later Team Europe in six Ryder Cups, winning six of his singles matches – a record he shares with Arnold Palmer, Nick Faldo, Colin Montgomerie, Lee Trevino, Sam Snead, Billy Casper, and Ian Poulter. Indeed, Palmer – twice – and Trevino were both downed by the Englishman in the match’s final-day showdown.

While he never won a major championship, Oosterhuis was a two-time runner-up at The Open – to Gary Player at Royal Lytham in 1974, before falling one short of Tom Watson in at Royal Troon in 1982.

He had three more top-ten finishes at golf’s oldest major, as well as two at the US Open and a tie for third at the Masters. His best finish in eight PGA Championship starts was a tie for 22nd.

When he turned his attentions to punditry, he worked for Sky Sports, the BBC and Golf Channel before moving to the US to join CBS.

He retired in 2014 after revealing he had been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s.

Oosterhuis died on May 2, 2024, the day before his 76th birthday, at his home in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Alex Perry is the Associate Editor of bunkered. A journalist for more than 20 years, he has been a golf industry stalwart for the majority of his career and, in a five-year spell at ESPN, covered every sporting event you can think of. He completed his own Grand Slam at the 2023 Masters, having fallen in love with the sport at his hometown club of Okehampton and on the links of nearby Bude & North Cornwall.

Associate Editor