Three-times major champion Billy Casper dead at 83

The tour said on its website that Casper died at his home in Springville, Utah. The cause of his death was not disclosed.

Casper won the 1959 and 1966 U.S. Opens, and also won the 1970 U.S. Masters in a playoff.

Those major wins were among his 51 victories on the PGA Tour between 1956 and 1975, seventh on the all-time list.

Casper, eight-times an American Ryder Cup team member, was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1978.

He might be best remembered for his U.S. Open victory at the Olympic Club in San Francisco in 1966 when he overcame a seven-stroke deficit over the final nine holes of regulation before beating Arnold Palmer in a playoff.

(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina)