Lu Liang-huan, who put Taiwan on the golfing map when he finished second in The Open Championship in 1971, and later served as a mentor to generations of young Taiwanese golfers, has died at the age of 85.
Lu’s death early on Tuesday, due to unspecified health issues, was confirmed by the Professional Golf Association (PGA) of Taiwan.
Born into a poor family in Taipei, Lu became interested in golf as an elementary-school student after taking a job as a caddie to help his family make ends meet.
Unable to afford golf clubs of his own, Lu later said, he began learning the sport using clubs that he carved out of bamboo and small guavas for balls.
After progressively improving his skills, he was able to buy his first set of golf clubs with prize money from winning three consecutive tournaments at the Tamsui Golf Club.
Lu’s professional breakout came in 1959, when he won the inaugural Hong Kong Open.
In total, he racked up 20 tournament wins over a decades-long career spent mainly on the Asia Golf Circuit and the Japan Golf Tour.
His career highlight came with taking second place in The Open Championship in 1971, one of golf’s four major championships, in which he finished just one stroke behind Lee Trevino of the US.
Aside from his professional achievements, Lu was also an early proponent of sports diplomacy, and in 1979 accepted invitations from the king of Morocco and president of Ivory Coast to golf with them in their countries.
Lu, who in 2010 was inducted into the Asia Pacific Golf Hall of Fame, was known in his later years as a generous mentor to young Taiwanese golfers, PGA of Taiwan commissioner Chen Jung-hsin said.
Chen said in an interview with the Central News Agency that young Taiwanese golfers used to travel frequently to Japan to compete in tournaments.
Lu “would never let them pay [their travel expenses], but insisted on covering the costs himself,” or would help them find a corporate sponsor, Chen said.
In a Facebook post late on Tuesday, Taiwanese golfer and Olympic bronze medalist C.T. Pan remembered Lu as an excellent golfer and a person “with a big heart, and full of charm.”
“Thank you for your contributions to golf in Taiwan. May you rest in peace,” Pan added.
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