Tiger tormentor dies at 72

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Four-time PGA Tour winner Ed Fiori, who famously denied a 20-year-old Tiger Woods a first pro title with a victory at the 1996 Quad Cities Classic, died Sunday at the age of 72, the PGA Tour said in a tribute on its website.

Fiori, who had battled cancer, won his first PGA Tour title at the 1979 Southern Open. He added wins at the 1981 Western Open and the 1982 Bob Hope Desert Classic before his most memorable victory at the Quad Cities Open — now known as the John Deere Classic — in Illinois.

Woods, 20 and playing in his third tournament as a professional, had a one-shot lead over 43-year-old Fiori going into the final round.

Fiori, who had nine missed cuts in his first 10 events that season, later recalled that playing with the young star, who already drew intense scrutiny and massive galleries, "kind of raised my intensity a little bit."

"It brought my game up with it," he said.

After an opening bogey, Fiori made five birdies in a four-under round and claimed the title as Woods faltered with a two-over par round that included a quadruple bogey, a double bogey and two more bogeys and dropped him into a tie for fifth.

Woods would go on to cement his status as a superstar, piling up 15 major titles to date in a career currently in limbo as he recovers from a ruptured Achilles tendon.

Fiori would go on to play on the senior tour until back trouble — including spinal fusion surgery in 2005 — forced him to retire.

"Ed Fiori was a true gentleman in our sport and is a player who would often be referred to as a pro's pro," PGA Tour Champions president Miller Brady said.

"In three of his four wins on the PGA Tour, he dueled down the stretch with future World Golf Hall of Fame members, most notably Tiger Woods in 1996.”

"That grit and resolution in the face of immeasurable odds is incredibly admirable in every aspect of life, and I know he battled cancer with that same determination until the end."