Cancer Kills Former Pga Champion Marr, Who Later Had TV Career, Was 1965 Player Of The Year

Dave Marr, the 1965 PGA champion and longtime television golf analyst, died Sunday after a long bout with stomach cancer. He was 63.

Anthony Marr said his father died in his sleep about 8 a.m. at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

“He told everyone that he was doing better but this has been a slow descent,” the son said. “He was a fighter and had the heart of a champion. He always thought that even if he was down by five on the back side, he was going to come back and beat it. He tried all sorts of treatments but it never got better.”

Marr sank one of the longest putts in Masters history in 1964, a shot on the 18th hole of the final round that put him in a tie for second. He was a member of the 1965 Ryder Cup team and that same year won the PGA at Laurel Valley in Pennsylvania and was voted PGA Player of the Year.

In 1981, he was elected to the College Golf Hall of Fame and was appointed captain of the Ryder Cup team. That U.S. Ryder Cup squad featured Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Hale Irwin, Johnny Miller, Tom Watson and Ben Crenshaw and defeated Europe 18-1/2 - 9-1/2.

Marr was born in Houston and became an assistant club professional in the 1940s. He began playing the tour regularly in 1960. In his PGA victory in 1965, he withstood a challenge from Nicklaus and Billy Casper, with a 4-iron over the pond on the 15th one of his notable shots. It would be his last triumph on the tour.

Marr began his broadcasting career in 1970 with ABC and stayed 22 years. From 1992 to 1994 he was a golf analyst for the BBC.