Rod Funseth

Funseth was born and raised in Spokane, Washington.^[11] Funseth's father was a men's clothing store operator and salesman, born in Sweden.^[2][12] Rod competed with his older brother Carl for city junior titles^[13] and graduated from North Central High School in 1951.^[14] Funseth briefly attended the University of Idaho in Moscow^[3][15] to study civil engineering, but did not graduate.^[16] He was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.^[17]

Funseth returned to Spokane after a semester and worked in various jobs in Washington while competing as an amateur.^[18] One of these brief jobs was as a civilian draftsman at the Bremerton Navy Yard, west of Seattle.^[2] He won the British Columbia Amateur in 1956.

In the fall of 1956, he turned pro.^[19] In 1959, Funseth became an assistant pro under Masters champion Claude Harmon back east at Winged Foot,^[20] north of New York City and later at Thunderbird in Palm Springs.^[21] Funseth entered a handful of tour events in 1962, and received sponsorship of $800 per month from Spokane's Athletic Round Table (ART) in 1963 to allow him to play full-time. He played out of Esmeralda, a municipal course in east Spokane built in the mid-1950s. It was initially funded by ART (land and clubhouse) and was named for the group's mascot, a grinning cartoon mare.^[21][22] Funseth had the smiling horse insignia on his tour bag for several years, which invited frequent inquisitions.^[23] Keeping meticulous records of all his earnings, he reimbursed the ART to the last dollar.^[24][25]

Funseth was married to Sandi (née Hawkins), a former competitive water skier from Redwood City.^[1] They had two children: Lisa and Mark.^[7][11] He met Sandi during the rainy Crosby event at Pebble Beach in January 1965, when she was a spectator in a long leg cast (from a snow skiing accident) and had been offered shelter in a tournament tent;^[2] they were married later that year.

Funseth's career on the over-50 tour was cut short by terminal cancer, attributed to exposure to asbestos at the navy yard in Bremerton in his late teens.^[11][40] Told by physicians in January 1984 that he had four months to live, Funseth continued to play well on tour,^[41] and returned to defend his team title at the Liberty Mutual Legends in late April.^[42] He competed in 17 events in 1984, with three runner-up finishes and nine in the top-10, despite losing weight and strength. Funseth won a match play event in October in Maine, besting Bob Toski 2-up in the final for a winner's share of $30,000. Although a non-tour event, it included most of the top senior players of the day.^[43][44]

Funseth's condition declined in 1985 as his body weight was reduced to 100 lb (45 kg) by September and his breathing assisted with oxygen.^[25] He died at age 52 at his home in Napa, California, beside the 12th hole of the Silverado Country Club,^[4] next door to friend Johnny Miller.^[1]

In 1999, Funseth was inducted posthumously into the State of Washington Sports Hall of Fame.^[45]

• 1956 British Columbia Amateur