‘Lost a Gentleman’: PGA Tour in Mourning as Golf Industry Legend Breathes His Last

Mark McCumber, the 1988 PLAYERS winner, admitted that his family took advantage of Place’s pleasant nature. “My wife, my brothers, my kids were always calling the media center to ask Tom how I was playing,” McCumber said. “He’d tell them, ‘Mark just parred the first hole … call me back in a few minutes about the next hole.’ He never made them feel as if they were bothering him. He was a very kind man. The Tour has lost a gentleman, a true curator of the game.”

Jeff Adams, who worked in media relations for the LPGA and PGA Tour, said, “We looked up to Tom as a mentor. He was very approachable and was a huge help when I was at the LPGA, which carried over to the PGA Tour. He understood and appreciated the media’s job and respected their needs.”

Tom Place had a rather down-to-earth attitude, and that got him to create connections wherever he worked. His relationship expanded beyond the PGA Tour.

Place’s former employees praise him

Transcripts of interviews with Tour players were often derived from Tom Place’s detailed handwritten notes, which he distributed promptly within minutes of a press conference concluding. Through his efforts, the stories were told, and Place played a pivotal role in helping the media bring them to life.

“He was always willing to help the media, get an answer for any question, and most of the time he did it all by himself,” said former Florida Times-Union sports editor Fred Seely.

He even added how Tom Place had everything stored in his head, and no machine could beat the power of his memory. Being so involved with everyone, Tom Place knew what his colleagues needed and what problems they faced. He was practically a team player. Even the former sports director of News4Jax, Sam Kouvaris, praised how Tom Place was an absolute professional, with just the right amount of empathy. “Tom did everything he could on whatever stories we were working on to get us the information and the tools we needed to get it done,” he said.

Kouvaris even called him special, setting the standard for the people who knew him on the Tour. He was someone who helped in making everyone’s job a cakewalk. He even reminisced about the time when he helped him meet all the legendary players. During his first Masters Tournament in 1979, when Tom Place personally guided him through the media center and introduced him to the legendary sportswriters he had admired for years.

Tom Place was indeed a rather kind person, and there is no denying that. May the departed soul rest in peace.