Former U.S. Open champion Moody dies
PONTE VEDRA, FLORIDA (TICKER) —Orville Moody, the winner of the 1969 U.S. Open, has died. He was 74.
The PGA Tour said Friday that Moody died in Texas. A cause of death was not disclosed.
A part Choctaw Indian nicknamed “Sarge” because of his U.S. Army career, Moody claimed his lone PGA title in 250 events at the U.S. Open. He won that event after going through local and sectional qualifying.
“We are all going to miss ‘Sarge,’ who was a patriot first and professional golfer second,” PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said. “He embodied a bit of golf’s everyman whom we all could indentify with, having risen from his Oklahoma roots as part Native American and serving his country in a 14-year Army career.”
Moody used a long putter to revive his career when he joined the Senior Tour at the age of 50 in 1984. He won 11 times on the elder circuit, including the 1989 U.S. Senior Open.
