Peter Oosterhuis of England, who played on six Ryder Cup teams and was a longtime golf commentator for CBS Sports, has disclosed that he has been diagnosed with the early onset Alzheimer’s disease.
The 67-year-old Oosterhuis went public with the news in Golf World’s digital magazine in hopes that he can bring attention to the disease and raise money toward finding a cure.
Oosterhuis says he had been aware of some memory loss affecting his work on CBS and Golf Channel.
“Maybe in the course of my commentary, I wasn’t giving a lot of information like I used to,” said Oosterhuis, who announced in January that he was retiring from broadcasting.
“I would just talk about what’s on the screen. But I didn’t feel like I had those things ready in my mind to call on to make a point like I used to.”
Oosterhuis said a neurologist in Charlotte, N.C., diagnosed that he had Alzheimer’s last July, and for several months, Oosterhuis and wife, Roothie, told no one. His wife says going public at the Pebble Beach fundraiser was important for both of them.
Last month in a fundraiser at Pebble Beach for the Nantz National Alzheimer Center at Houston Methodist Neurological Center, he disclosed to friends that he has the disease.
The Nantz National Alzheimer Center was founded in 2011 by CBS Sports host Jim Nantz, whose father was afflicted with Alzheimer’s for 13 years before he died in 2008.
The 6-foot-5 Oosterhuis won 18 times around the world in his career, including seven titles on the European Tour and the 1981 Canadian Open on the PGA Tour.
Oosterhuis had a 14-11-3 record in the Ryder Cup, even though he never played on a winning team.
