Tim Rosaforte, 66, veteran golf writer and Golf Channel sportscaster, died Tuesday (January 11) in Palm Beach Garden, Florida. He had Alzheimer's.
Rosaforte joined Golf Channel in 2007 as the network's go-to insider, breaking stories like Dustin Johnson's fall before the Masters, or putting the death of Arnold Palmer in context, while admittedly numbed by the death of the Golf Channel co-founder.
According to Golf Channel, Rosaforte covered 125 major championships, 17 Ryder Cup competitions (between U.S. and European teams), and all the Masters tournaments between 1983 and 2020. He retired in 2019 after having been diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
Golf Channel host Rich Lerner said Tuesday night on air that Rosaforte "worked his ass off" but still "carved out time for people....People trusted him, which is why they shared their stories with him."
Lerner said that while the business was a little bit about performance, Rosaforte simply wanted to present the facts "exactly as they were presented to him."
Craig Dolch, a fellow sportscaster and writer, said he played most of his golf with Rosaforte and that he was always on the phone, or at times two phones, working a story.
"Terrible news to hear today," said U.S. Open Champion Bryson DeChambeau. "Tim was an amazing reporter and a respected journalist. Had a lot of great conversations throughout the few years I was on tour. Sending my thoughts and prayers to his family today."
Rosaforte was the recipient of the PGA of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism and was an honorary PGA member.
"The PGA tour lost a friend today," said PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan. "A true professional, Tim always treated our organization and our athletes fairly, writing and speaking with an opinion but without an agenda. He never stopped working the phones ensuring that he not only got the story first, he got the story right." ■
