HOUSTON — Houston golf legend Jackie Burke died Friday morning at the age of 100.
The winner of the 1956 Masters and PGA Championship was just 10 days shy of his 101st birthday.
Robin Burke, his wife of 37 years, said he was surrounded by family and friends the past few days.
”He loved life. He loved golf. He loved people. He was Jack until the very end. It’ll never be the same without him," she told KHOU 11 Sport's Matt Musil, a longtime friend of Burke's.
As the co-founder of Champions Golf Club, Burke mentored many professional and amateur golfers through the years, including Ben Crenshaw, Steve Elkington and Hal Sutton. That's also where he met Robin and they became "Houston's First Couple of Golf."
”I think he has had the most influence on Houston golf of anyone. Personally, he helped shape my life as a golfer and as a person," Sutton told Musil. "He lived a long and productive life for which all golfers benefitted.”
"I’ll always appreciate how giving of his time he was to anyone who wanted to learn and work at the game of golf," Phil Mickelson posted on X.
Burke was born in Fort Worth but his family moved to Houston when he was a child.
He took up golf at a young age because his father, Jack Burke Sr., was the teaching pro at River Oaks Country Club in Houston. By the age of 7, he'd already developed into a pretty good player, according to the U.S. Golf Association.
Burke graduated from St. Thomas High School. He spent four years in the Marines before he became a professional golfer and joined the PGA Tour. By the time he retired at the age of 33, he had 16 PGA Tour victories and was 7-1 in five Ryder Cup starts, usga.org reported.
In 1973, Burke was the captain of the Ryder Cup team that included Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Arnold Palmer and Billy Casper.
Burke was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2000 and continued to play golf in his 90s.
"The man many knew as "Jackie" is an icon in the sport, winning multiple major championships and playing an integral part in growing the game not just here in Houston at Champions Golf Club, but also across the country," the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority said in a statement. "His infectious personality will be remembered by everyone who met him."
Burke's widow said the family is still working on the details for Jackie’s celebration of life.
