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Tim Rosaforte, the gentleman journalist who made his name as the consummate golf insider for NBC Sports and the Golf Channel, died Tuesday of complications from Alzheimer’s Disease in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. He was 66. A family friend confirmed the news. “Tim Rosaforte was a great man who loved the sport of golf,” Graeme McDowell tweeted as the news broke. “He will be dearly missed.” Zach Johnson and Kevin Na were among the players who also gave tribute on social media. “The PGA TOUR family lost a friend today in Tim Rosaforte, one of the great golf journalists of his generation,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan. “Tim was an amazing storyteller and spent much of his energy on showcasing what sets golf apart from other sports – the people and the personalities.” Rosaforte went out of his way to take an interest in younger, less known colleagues, praising an article or insight that caught his attention. He covered more than 125 majors and 17 Ryder Cups, and was a past president of the Golf Writers Association of America. He often emceed the GWAA writing awards dinner, and won all four non-daily GWAA awards himself. He retired after being diagnosed in 2019. It was, by any measure, quite a career. He won the PGA of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism, and also was awarded a rare lifetime PGA membership – a first for a golf journalist. He also won the Memorial Tournament’s lifetime achievement award, and The Honda Classic named its media center after him after his retirement. He also wrote three books. After growing up in Mount Kisco, New York, Rosaforte went to the University of Rhode Island, where he got his journalism degree and played linebacker for the football team. He got his professional start in newspapers, first at the Tampa Times in 1977, then the Sun-Sentinel and the Palm Beach Post. He later moved into magazines, including Sports Illustrated, Golf World, and Golf Digest, but it was in television that he found his niche, providing insights in real time at golf’s biggest events. If a player had strained something warming up, forgotten his putter back in the hotel room, or suffered a bout of food poisoning the night before, Rosaforte often knew about it first and relayed the info to viewers at home. Somehow, he did this without being nosey. “Rosey” to friends, he was well-respected amongst players and fellow journalists, alike. “A true professional, Tim always treated our organization and our athletes fairly,” Monahan said. “Writing and speaking with an opinion but without an agenda. He never stopped working the phones, ensuring that he not only got the story first, he got the story right. Those phone calls – and Tim’s gentle spirit – will be missed tremendously by all of us lucky enough to be part of the greater golf community. “Our condolences to Tim’s wife, Genevieve, daughters Genna and Molly and their families.”

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AUGUSTA, Ga. – Living in the home of the Masters, Seth Straughn has seen professional golfers from afar when they are in town to compete at Augusta National. He’d never met one until Tuesday afternoon, however. And it happened at a most unexpected location, Lake Olmstead Park’s disc golf course. While most Masters participants were grinding on the driving range and scouting out potential hole locations, DeChambeau was decompressing by playing a different form of golf. With this week also serving as Spring Break for Augusta’s schools, Straughn went to Lake Olmstead with his youngest son, Parker, and one of Parker’s friends. There was a large group ahead of them, and by the sixth tee the threesome behind the Straughns had caught up to them. “We were chatting and I noticed that one of them looked familiar and he was wearing Puma,” Seth Straughn said. “I said, ‘Hey, what’s your name?’ He said, ‘Bryson.’ That’s when it clicked.” Seth Straughn, an 8 handicap in traditional golf, quickly realized that he was sharing the tee with the reigning U.S. Open champion and one of the favorites in this week’s Masters. DeChambeau told Seth that he was playing disc golf for just the second time in his life. It was a new activity he’d taken up to take his mind off of his day job. The two groups joined up at 2:30 p.m., and DeChambeau and his two friends spent the next 90 minutes playing with Straughn and the two boys. “My first thought was, ‘Stay calm,’ Seth Straughn said. “It was surreal because you expect these guys on TV to appear larger than life but that was not the case. He was so nice to take pictures with us, but as time passed by it was just like chatting with anyone else. He was really cool. “He seemed like a guy just trying to relax and have some fun. As a dad, the fact that he enjoyed the company of the boys and had a good time with Parker meant a lot. I’ll be a fan of his forever now.” He was impressed that DeChambeau’s group stuck with them even after they skipped ahead of the large group in front of them. It would have been a perfect opportunity for DeChambeau’s group to split off on their own. “He was cutting up quite a bit with the boys,” Seth Straughn said. “I was able to give Bryson some pointers, which felt weird giving him tips on playing better golf, even though it’s a different kind of golf.” As a beginner, DeChambeau struggled to replicate his long tee shots on the disc golf course, but Seth said DeChambeau improved as the round went on. After the round, they went to an empty tee and worked on DeChambeau’s tee shots. “I got to see a bit of his competitive spirit come out,” Straughn said. “After we finished, we worked on his driving off the tee. We emptied my entire bag. He definitely started picking up on it.”

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