The New Year begins on a sad note for the golf world. Longtime PGA Tour writer Steve DiMeglio, whose work appeared in USA TODAY and Golfweek for decades, has passed away at his home in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. He was 63. DiMeglio had been diagnosed with rectal cancer in 2022, which had subsequently spread to his liver. Throughout his treatment, which included numerous rounds of chemotherapy, he remained open about his journey, even keeping track of his treatments by referencing the jersey numbers of sports legends. He shared every bit of his progress on his social media platforms, trying to inspire people to sign up for cancer screenings in the hopes of staying in touch with his friends in the golf world.

DiMeglio graduated from Mankato West High School and then went on to pursue higher studies at Minnesota State University. He began his journey as a journalist in 1994 at the Palm Springs Desert Sun. His first significant move was making it to Gannett in 1999, after a year of joining USA Today.  After a couple of years, he became a full-time golf beat writer. In 2016, Gannett took over Golfweek and that was when his bylines started appearing under the banner in 2019. He worked for them till 2023. The famous writer, as mentioned had many close relationships in the golf world. But he was the proudest to have a deep relationship with the golfing legend Tiger Woods. During his battle, Woods checked on him consistently and would send him advance copies of his video games too.

Over the past year, DiMeglio traveled to several tournaments, including the Hero World Challenge in December in the Bahamas, an event hosted by Tiger Woods. He shared on social media how happy he was to catch up with Woods and caddie Joey LaCava during the event. On Wednesday, Woods took to Twitter to pay tribute to his friend. “Unfortunately the golf world lost part of our family today, beloved golf writer Steve DiMeglio. I was always very close to Steve and we texted and talked about how he needed to keep fighting to get better so we could see each other in the Bahamas last month. And we did. I am so grateful for that. This a very sad day for all of golf. We have truly lost a friend,” he wrote.

Even the official X account of the PGA Tour reported the news and wrote, “The PGA TOUR joins the golf world in mourning the loss of our friend, golf journalist Steve DiMeglio. A fixture at TOUR events for nearly two decades and beloved by players, he inspired us all with his unique perspective, humor, and love of the game, even in his recent, arduous battle with cancer. In the words of our friend Steve, “Onward.” This made Justin Rose emotional. He retweeted and wrote, “Very very sad news, RIP my friend….”

Steve DiMeglio touched the hearts of not just the PGA Tour Pros, but the LPGA Tour Pros. And they made sure that they paid their due tributes to the star.

LPGA Tour players join in mourning with Tiger Woods

Over the years, Wie West and DiMeglio often had candid conversations during interviews, where their rapport was clear. He did indeed have a way around with words, and that was how he shared her story to the world as well. From talking about her art gallery, sharing her interest in painting for over two decades to sharing her emotions about having a cameo as herself on one of the episodes of ‘Hawaii Five-0’, he knew exactly what to write. That is why this came as a rather deep loss for her. She shared Tiger Woods’s post on her official Instagram story, and wrote, “No”, with several crying emojis. She also added, “Steve, I’m gonna miss you. Thank you for everything.”

Elsewhere, Dottie Pepper shared a picture of herself with Steve DiMeglio and a solo one of just him, remembering the good old days. Steve DiMeglio had several fun banters with all the pros, but he never disrespected any of them. Probably that was why he was so loved in the community. Pepper wrote, “R.I.P., Steve DiMeglio. Your cancer battle inspired so many. Golf loses a wonderful advocate and journalist. Humanity loses a good soul. Close pals for over 2 decades, we debated plenty of issues, but always with a healthy respect. Even gave me his mom’s lasagna recipe!” 2025 did indeed have a sad start in store for the sport.