Sam Snead, one of golf's greatest players with seven major championship, a record 81 victories on the PGA Tour and an ageless game that produced titles in six decades, died Thursday. He was 89. Snead died at his Hot Springs, Va., home at 3:38 p.m., daughter-in-law Anne Snead said. He had been suffering from a series of strokes that began just after the Masters, although he had been ill even before the tournament. He died holding hands with his son Sam Jr. and his daughter-in-law.

Here's a link to an obit on-line: http://sportsillustrated.c nn.com/golfonline/news/2002/05/23/snead_obit_ap/< /a>

I remember, from when I was a kid, that there was a running joke in the comic strip "Peanuts" that Snead was the sports hero of Charlie Brown, while the other kids in the strip admired the more traditional athletes in baseball and football. But Charlie Brown chose his hero wisely and well. Rest in peace, Mr. Snead.