Hunter Green, the son of professional golfer Ken Green, was found
dead in his dorm room at Southern Methodist University last week,
authorities said.
SMU officials said the body of a student was found about
12:30 p.m. Friday. The Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office
confirmed Tuesday that the student was Green, 21, a sophomore.
Campus officials said no foul play was involved and an
investigation is under way.
It's the second family tragedy in eight months for Ken Green,
who won five PGA Tour events between 1985-89 and played on the 1989
Ryder Cup team. Green had his lower right leg amputated last summer
after a recreational vehicle accident in which his brother and
girlfriend were killed.
Green acknowledged his son's death on his personal blog
Tuesday.
"Well, today is another sad day," he said. "I'm sorry to say
that my youngest son, Hunter, has passed. His journey in life has
ended and I can't tell you how difficult understanding this is."
Green earned about $3.7 million and 44 top 10 finishes on the
regular tour before a bout with depression nearly derailed his
career. He has talked of critical children's voices in his head
that scuttled his concentration and left him contemplating suicide
as he struggled to stay on the tour.
He lost his Tour card in 2000 and coped with financial
problems between 2005 and 2008, the year he turned 50.
Green joined the Champions Tour for older players that year
and played well. He was 54th on the money list with $123,906 in 11
appearances in 2009 before the accident.
In June, Green was traveling in the back of an RV driven by
his brother when a tire blew out. The RV went off the road, down an
embankment and crashed into a large oak tree.
Fellow pros gathered for an event in September to raise money
to pay some of his medical and personal expenses, including Fred
Funk, Curtis Strange, Mark Calcavecchia and Phil Blackmar. Green
said then that he wanted to rejoin the Champions Tour in 2010.
