by Jeff Hall & Jeremy Harness

After passing out at the PGA Masters last year golf great Billy Casper’s son Bob knew that it was the start for his father to get the medical help he needed and later a rehab program for his heart condition. Through all their hard efforts to get Casper back to health again Casper passed away on Saturday at the age of 83 at his home in Utah. Casper in his golf hey day was overshadowed by the “Big three” Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player. Casper was rehabbing from heart problems and pneumonia and recovered by Thanksgiving. Bob said he started feeling bad this past week, Casper was married for 62 years to his wife Shirley who was at his side when he passed.

Casper’s career in golf would have put him in the headlines in today’s game he was among legends in the game and his numbers proved it winning 51 PGA Tours putting Casper at number seven on the all time winning list behind such greats as Sam Snead (82), Tiger Woods (79), Jack Nicklaus (73), Ben Hogan (64), Arnold Palmer (62), Byron Nelson (52), and Casper at 51.

Casper had three major wins to his career and he had a great comeback in his career in 1966 he won the U.S.Open. Casper was down seven holes at the Olympic Club and came back to win it after tying Palmer and won it in a 18 hole playoff. His other two majors that he won was at Winged Foot in 1959 and at the 1970 Masters. Casper went into the Golf Hall of Fame eight years later in 1978.

Casper didn’t get much credit for his hard work, accomplishments, and his place on the all time winningest list but today Nicklaus said that Casper deserves that recognition, “Billy was one of the greatest family men be it inside the game of golf or out. I have had the fortunate blessing to meet. He had such a wonderful balance to his life. Golf was never the most important thing in Billy’s life–family was. There was always much more to Billy Casper than golf. But as a golfer, Billy was a fantastic player and I don’t think he gets enough credit for being one. I have said many times during my career, when I looked up at the leaderboard, I wasn’t just looking to see where a Palmer, or a Player, or a Trevino was. I was also checking to see where Billy Casper was” Nicklaus wrote on Facebook.

Jeff Hall and Jeremy Harness are covering the AT&T Pebble Beach PGA Tournament for http://www.sportsradioservice.com