Make wishtv.com your home page

World Golf Hall of Famer Chi Chi Rodriguez dies at age 88

Juan "Chi Chi" Rodriguez during the 1973 Open Championship at Troon in Scotland in July 1973. (Photo by Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

(CNN) — World Golf Hall of Famer Juan “Chi Chi” Rodriguez has died at the age of 88, the PGA Tour announced on Thursday.

No cause of death was given.

Rodriguez, a native of Puerto Rico, made his PGA Tour debut in 1960. He would go on to win eight times during his 21-year career on the Tour and added 22 senior tour titles.

He was also a member of the victorious 1973 US Ryder Cup team.

Rodriguez was inducted into the PGA World Golf Hall of Fame in 1992.

The PGA Tour called Rodriguez a “showman on the course, a tireless philanthropist off the course.”

“Chi Chi Rodriguez’s passion for charity and outreach was surpassed only by his incredible talent with a golf club in his hand,” PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said in a statement. “A vibrant, colorful personality both on and off the golf course, he will be missed dearly by the PGA Tour and those whose lives he touched in his mission to give back. The PGA Tour sends its deepest condolences to the entire Rodriguez family during this difficult time.”