Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player lead flood of tributes to Billy Casper

Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player have led the tributes to Billy Casper following the death of the PGA Tour legend on Saturday at the age of 83.

Casper won three major championships and 69 professional titles worldwide despite playing in an era dominated by golf's 'Big Three'.

Renowned as one of the greatest putters in the game, Casper won two US Open titles including a famous win in 1966, when he beat Palmer in an 18-hole play-off having trailed by seven shots with just nine holes to play in the final round.

The PGA Tour announced that Casper suffered a heart attack at his home in Utah on Saturday following a battle with pneumonia, and Nicklaus was among the first to pay his respects.

The 75-year-old Nicklaus, who won a record 18 major golf titles in his career, said on his Facebook page: "I have said many times that during my career, when I looked up at a leaderboard, I wasn't just looking to see where a (Arnold) Palmer or a (Gary) Player or a (Lee) Trevino was.

Billy was probably under-rated by those who didn't play against him. Those who did compete against him, knew how special he was

"I was also checking to see where Billy Casper was. Billy had tremendous confidence. He just believed in himself. You knew when you played against Billy Casper, Billy would not beat himself.

Under-rated

"You want to talk about someone who could perform under pressure, if you wanted someone to get up and-down for you, Billy Casper was your man. I think it is fair to say that Billy was probably under-rated by those who didn't play against him. Those who did compete against him, knew how special he was."

Palmer added: "Billy was one of the true gentlemen of the game and a great competitor. He was a better player than most people gave him credit for being and is going to be sorely missed in the golf world. My deepest sympathies go out to Shirley and the family."

Player said: "I played a lot with Billy, and I always thought Billy had a wonderful short game. The way he managed the golf course - he had tremendous course management, which not a lot of people talk about.

"They talk about elongating, but that's not what wins golf tournaments; it's a great short game, the kinds of games we see with Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. They are not good drivers of the ball and yet, they've been No 1 and No 2. Billy had a great short game, managed the course well and he was always a thorough gentleman."

Six-time major winner Lee Trevino added: "I met Billy when I first went out on Tour and found him be an absolute delight as a gentleman, along with his wife, Shirley. And I knew all his kids. But most of all, I looked at his game.

"At the time I came out on the PGA Tour, they had the Big Three, Gary (Player), Arnold (Palmer) and Jack (Nicklaus). I actually thought in that era, Billy Casper may have been the best player.

It makes me very happy to tell people that I was one of his friends, that I was a friend of Billy Casper’s

"I could talk for days about Billy Casper. He’s probably done as much or more for not only his religion but for charity than anybody. Plus, he won, what, 50-something tournaments? He won major championships. It makes me very happy to tell people that I was one of his friends, that I was a friend of Billy Casper’s."

Quality guy

Hale Irwin, who won three US Open titles, said: "Billy has just been a quality guy, and he helped a lot of people for a long time. He really went unrecognised for some great golf.

"You look at Jack Nicklaus’ years, you look at Arnold Palmer’s years and then you pull out the record book and see what Billy did in those same years and it often exceeded theirs. Billy was really not recognised as one of the truly great players.

"In my first encounter with Billy, I was in a play-off with him in 1970 at the LA Open at Rancho Park. He beat me on the first hole. That helped him at that point top $1m in career earnings. Ever since then, Billy has been a good friend, and he was one of my first team-mates in my first Ryder Cup. Gene Littler I played with in the morning, and Billy I played with in the afternoon."

Other golfing legends took to Twitter to pay their tributes, with Tom Watson writing: "RIP Bill. Will miss you at the Masters Champions dinner. Condolences to you Shirley and your family."

And Sir Nick Faldo wrote: "RIP Billy Casper. We played 1977 Kenya Open! Can still see his legendary draw land 15 ft right and spin sideways to 5 feet!"