Bob Rosburg — A Special Remembrance
 Bob Rosburg, one of golf's most beloved figures, passed away May 14, following injuries sustained from a fall outside a restaurant in Indio, Calif. He was 82.
Rosburg, who was quite a fine player in his day, is best remembered for his skills and popularity as an on-course reporter of televised golf events.
In 1974 Rosburg pioneered the role of on-course reporter when he was hired by Roone Arlidge of ABC Sports as the first commentator to remain with the players and report entirely from the course.
According to ABC producer Sal Johnson, Rosburg, who became known as Rossie in his three decades with ABC Sports, got the job because "he knew the players, so they didn't feel it was intrusive when he looked over their lies and assessed the circumstances for viewers."
Walking the course, with Dave Marr and Jim McKay commentating from the tower, Rosburg showed a distinct penchant for reporting that a player was in trouble or had a terrible lie... Often when Marr or McKay would ask "How's it look Rossie?" The answer was, "He's in jail" or more famously, "He's got no chance."
In the following article, written late in 1982, author James W. Finegan briefly examines Rossie's 20 year PGA career to suggest, with affectionate good humor, that his many near misses as a player may have been the source of the unique brand of pessimism that came to characterize his on-air commentary. (It is important to note that this "pessimism" was not only accepted and appreciated by his colleagues, but according to all reports, was considered anextremely endearing quality—especially when, as was often the case, the player who "had no chance" would pull off the perfect shot to prove Rossie wrong.)
As far as we know, the description of the ABC commentating at the 1982 PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa. is historically accurate... the imagined commentary at the US Open at Pebble Beach, however, is simply hilarious.
We believe that, after 27 years, this is the perfect time for the article's premiere publication. It is a proper tribute to the inimitable Bob Rosburg.
If there is a heaven, I'm sure Rossie, Marr and McKay are happy to be hanging out together again.
Bob Rosburg managed to parlay a baseball grip, a hockey swing, and wizard putting into a good living on the tour for the biggest part of 20 years. He won the Vardon Trophy in 1958 and the PGA Championship in 1959, when he edged Jerry Barber and Doug Sanders by a stroke at the Minneapolis Golf Club. But a close scrutiny of the record books reveals that he came close more often than he won.
His record in the U.S. Open, for instance, is studded with strong showings that somehow fell short: fifth in 1955 at Olympic (astonishingly, Jack Fleck trimmed Ben Hogan in the playoff); fifth again in 1958 at Southern Hills; (Tommy Bolt's scorcher): second at Winged Foot in 1959, just a stroke behind Billy Casper; ten years later, tied for runner-up with Deane Beman and AI Geiberger at Champions. the three of them a stroke behind Orville Moody; two strokes off the pace at Merion in 1971 when Trevino and Nicklaus finished at the top with 280.
No wonder, then, that it's not all sunshine and lollipops when ABC's Dave Marr and Jim McKay called their colleague down on the fairway to provide the inside story on the leaders' quest for the Open or the PGA. Most of us feel that the pros make it look easy; but Rosburg. God bless him, makes it look hard.
You may recall the early moments of the PGA final round telecast from Southern Hills back in August, when Raymond Floyd, protecting a five stroke lead, yanked his pitch shot on the 5th into a bunker left of the green. Rosburg: "Oh, that's not good, not good at all. It could be buried in the side of the bunker, and if it is he's on his way to a bogey at least, maybe a double-bogey.... where that pin is cut he's got no green to work with....yes, his ball came in on a line and buried in the side of the bunker. Raymond's ball did exactly what I was afraid it was going to do. He cannot stand, he has no stance whatsoever."
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