Rest in peace, Doug Sanders. Doug was a character, a showman, a flashy dresser, a bit of everything. Above all, he was a terrific golfer, competitor and friend. You never counted out Doug. If he got himself in contention, Doug rarely beat himself and was always tough to take down

The only thing his resume lacked was a major championship, but Doug came close on a number of occasions. That was certainly the case at the 1970 Open Championship on the Old Course, where he missed a short putt on the last hole that allowed me into a playoff.

Doug had a lot of victories. Unfortunately, people tend to focus on his four runner-up finishes in majors rather than his 20 PGA TOUR wins. But those runner-up finishes only meant that Doug was a quality player and played at a high level, certainly high enough to win a major.

He deserves to be remembered for much more. For me, I will remember that Doug was a good friend to Barbara and me, and we will miss him.