Ken Venturi, Longtime CBS Sports Golf Analyst, Dies at 82

Longtime CBS Sports golf analyst and 1964 U.S. Open champion Ken Venturi died Friday, The San Francisco Chronicle reports. He was 82.

Venturi had been hospitalized for more than two months and had developed pneumonia and infections in his back and intestines.

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Venturi started out as an accomplished amateur golfer who won the 1964 U.S. Open after overcoming two devastating losses in the Masters and a 1961 car accident. The U.S. Open victory would be his only major championship.

He underwent major surgery on both hands, and retired from the sport because of carpal tunnel syndrome. He joined CBS as the lead golf analyst in 1968. Over the years, he worked with other legendary sportscasters like Vin Scully, Pat Summerall and Jim Nantz. Venturi also played himself in the 1996 Kevin Costner movie Tin Cup.

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Venturi retired in 2002 after 35 years — making him the longest-tenured lead analyst in sports broadcasting history. "The greatest gift in life is to be remembered," he told viewers during his last broadcast. "Thank you for remembering me. God bless you, and God bless America."

Before his most recent hospitalization, Venturi battled prostate cancer in 2000-2001, underwent quintuple heart-bypass surgery in 2006 and encountered heart problems in 2011.

Venturi had just turned 82 on Wednesday and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in the Lifetime Achievement category last week. He was unable to make it to the ceremony in Florida. He is survived by his wife, Kathleen, and his two sons.