WILLIAM MEHLHORN, 90, RETIRED GOLF PRO: - April 6, 1989
William "Wild Bill" Mehlhorn, 90, who played in the first Masters golf tournament in 1934 and won 47 tournaments in his career, died Tuesday night.
Mr. Mehlhorn, who once said he would play golf until he died, had helped coach both the men's and women's golf teams at Florida International University for the past 15 years. Last week, he was admitted to Larkin General Hospital with respiratory problems.
"He just gave some golf lessons a week ago," said Ken Juhn, the women's golf coach at FIU. "He was always available for the kids. He came to the golf course every day."
Mr. Mehlhorn, who lived in southwestern Dade, played in the first Masters tournament in 1934 in Augusta, Ga., and was a member of the first Ryder Cup Team from the United States, which competed against the English team in 1927.
Mr. Mehlhorn started as a caddy in 1908. As a pro golfer in the 1920s, which he called the "Golden Era of Sports," Mr. Mehlhorn finished in the top five in the U.S Open five times. In 1926, he held a 72-hole scoring record of 271, which stood for 17 years, said Bobby Shave, the men's golf coach at FIU.
Mr. Mehlhorn won 47 of 207 tournaments he played in, including the Western Open, the Hawaiian Open and the New Orleans Open, where a journalist coined the nickname "Wild Bill" to describe him. It stuck.
"He helped a great number of players, giants in the game," Shave said. "He knew movement and he taught naturalness of movement, and golf is not taught that way. It's taught in six positions and tension."
Shave, a professional golfer himself, brought Mr. Mehlhorn to FIU in 1973. After his official retirement in 1930, Mr. Mehlhorn had taught independently and occasionally played in tournaments. In 1984, with Shave's help, he published the book Golf Secrets Exposed, a history of golf and a manual of how to play the game from his point of view.
"I taped him for 15 hours for the book," Shave said. "He had a photographic mind, had an unbelievable memory and was an original thinker."
Mr. Mehlhorn was the first to number his clubs when they were still called mashies, mid mashies, spade mashies and cleeks. He also shortened the blade. Both innovations were imitated by club manufacturers in Europe, Shave said.
"I think his impact is still to be felt because the things he has taught through the book will live on," Shave said.
Mr. Mehlhorn donated his body to the University of Miami and friends at FIU are planning a memorial service for him at the campus. He is survived by daughters Pat Wise of Cummings, Ga., and Janet Rocas of Canajoharie, N.Y.
William "Wild Bill" Mehlhorn, 90, who played in the first Masters golf tournament in 1934 and won 47 tournaments in his career, died Tuesday night.
Mr. Mehlhorn, who once said he would play golf until he died, had helped coach both the men's and women's golf teams at Florida International University for the past 15 years. Last week, he was admitted to Larkin General Hospital with respiratory problems.
"He just gave some golf lessons a week ago," said Ken Juhn, the women's golf coach at FIU. "He was always available for the kids. He came to the golf course every day."
Mr. Mehlhorn, who lived in southwestern Dade, played in the first Masters tournament in 1934 in Augusta, Ga., and was a member of the first Ryder Cup Team from the United States, which competed against the English team in 1927.
Mr. Mehlhorn started as a caddy in 1908. As a pro golfer in the 1920s, which he called the "Golden Era of Sports," Mr. Mehlhorn finished in the top five in the U.S Open five times. In 1926, he held a 72-hole scoring record of 271, which stood for 17 years, said Bobby Shave, the men's golf coach at FIU.
Mr. Mehlhorn won 47 of 207 tournaments he played in, including the Western Open, the Hawaiian Open and the New Orleans Open, where a journalist coined the nickname "Wild Bill" to describe him. It stuck.
"He helped a great number of players, giants in the game," Shave said. "He knew movement and he taught naturalness of movement, and golf is not taught that way. It's taught in six positions and tension."
Shave, a professional golfer himself, brought Mr. Mehlhorn to FIU in 1973. After his official retirement in 1930, Mr. Mehlhorn had taught independently and occasionally played in tournaments. In 1984, with Shave's help, he published the book Golf Secrets Exposed, a history of golf and a manual of how to play the game from his point of view.
"I taped him for 15 hours for the book," Shave said. "He had a photographic mind, had an unbelievable memory and was an original thinker."
Mr. Mehlhorn was the first to number his clubs when they were still called mashies, mid mashies, spade mashies and cleeks. He also shortened the blade. Both innovations were imitated by club manufacturers in Europe, Shave said.
"I think his impact is still to be felt because the things he has taught through the book will live on," Shave said.
Mr. Mehlhorn donated his body to the University of Miami and friends at FIU are planning a memorial service for him at the campus. He is survived by daughters Pat Wise of Cummings, Ga., and Janet Rocas of Canajoharie, N.Y.
WILLIAM MEHLHORN, 90, RETIRED GOLF PRO: - April 6, 1989
William "Wild Bill" Mehlhorn, 90, who played in the first Masters golf tournament in 1934 and won 47 tournaments in his career, died Tuesday night.
Mr. Mehlhorn, who once said he would play golf until he died, had helped coach both the men's and women's golf teams at Florida International University for the past 15 years. Last week, he was admitted to Larkin General Hospital with respiratory problems.
"He just gave some golf lessons a week ago," said Ken Juhn, the women's golf coach at FIU. "He was always available for the kids. He came to the golf course every day."
Mr. Mehlhorn, who lived in southwestern Dade, played in the first Masters tournament in 1934 in Augusta, Ga., and was a member of the first Ryder Cup Team from the United States, which competed against the English team in 1927.
Mr. Mehlhorn started as a caddy in 1908. As a pro golfer in the 1920s, which he called the "Golden Era of Sports," Mr. Mehlhorn finished in the top five in the U.S Open five times. In 1926, he held a 72-hole scoring record of 271, which stood for 17 years, said Bobby Shave, the men's golf coach at FIU.
Mr. Mehlhorn won 47 of 207 tournaments he played in, including the Western Open, the Hawaiian Open and the New Orleans Open, where a journalist coined the nickname "Wild Bill" to describe him. It stuck.
"He helped a great number of players, giants in the game," Shave said. "He knew movement and he taught naturalness of movement, and golf is not taught that way. It's taught in six positions and tension."
Shave, a professional golfer himself, brought Mr. Mehlhorn to FIU in 1973. After his official retirement in 1930, Mr. Mehlhorn had taught independently and occasionally played in tournaments. In 1984, with Shave's help, he published the book Golf Secrets Exposed, a history of golf and a manual of how to play the game from his point of view.
"I taped him for 15 hours for the book," Shave said. "He had a photographic mind, had an unbelievable memory and was an original thinker."
Mr. Mehlhorn was the first to number his clubs when they were still called mashies, mid mashies, spade mashies and cleeks. He also shortened the blade. Both innovations were imitated by club manufacturers in Europe, Shave said.
"I think his impact is still to be felt because the things he has taught through the book will live on," Shave said.
Mr. Mehlhorn donated his body to the University of Miami and friends at FIU are planning a memorial service for him at the campus. He is survived by daughters Pat Wise of Cummings, Ga., and Janet Rocas of Canajoharie, N.Y.
William "Wild Bill" Mehlhorn, 90, who played in the first Masters golf tournament in 1934 and won 47 tournaments in his career, died Tuesday night.
Mr. Mehlhorn, who once said he would play golf until he died, had helped coach both the men's and women's golf teams at Florida International University for the past 15 years. Last week, he was admitted to Larkin General Hospital with respiratory problems.
"He just gave some golf lessons a week ago," said Ken Juhn, the women's golf coach at FIU. "He was always available for the kids. He came to the golf course every day."
Mr. Mehlhorn, who lived in southwestern Dade, played in the first Masters tournament in 1934 in Augusta, Ga., and was a member of the first Ryder Cup Team from the United States, which competed against the English team in 1927.
Mr. Mehlhorn started as a caddy in 1908. As a pro golfer in the 1920s, which he called the "Golden Era of Sports," Mr. Mehlhorn finished in the top five in the U.S Open five times. In 1926, he held a 72-hole scoring record of 271, which stood for 17 years, said Bobby Shave, the men's golf coach at FIU.
Mr. Mehlhorn won 47 of 207 tournaments he played in, including the Western Open, the Hawaiian Open and the New Orleans Open, where a journalist coined the nickname "Wild Bill" to describe him. It stuck.
"He helped a great number of players, giants in the game," Shave said. "He knew movement and he taught naturalness of movement, and golf is not taught that way. It's taught in six positions and tension."
Shave, a professional golfer himself, brought Mr. Mehlhorn to FIU in 1973. After his official retirement in 1930, Mr. Mehlhorn had taught independently and occasionally played in tournaments. In 1984, with Shave's help, he published the book Golf Secrets Exposed, a history of golf and a manual of how to play the game from his point of view.
"I taped him for 15 hours for the book," Shave said. "He had a photographic mind, had an unbelievable memory and was an original thinker."
Mr. Mehlhorn was the first to number his clubs when they were still called mashies, mid mashies, spade mashies and cleeks. He also shortened the blade. Both innovations were imitated by club manufacturers in Europe, Shave said.
"I think his impact is still to be felt because the things he has taught through the book will live on," Shave said.
Mr. Mehlhorn donated his body to the University of Miami and friends at FIU are planning a memorial service for him at the campus. He is survived by daughters Pat Wise of Cummings, Ga., and Janet Rocas of Canajoharie, N.Y.
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