Jim Colbert, who won eight tournaments on the PGA Tour and was noted for his signature bucket hat, died on Sunday, tour officials announced. He was 85.
No cause of death was given.
Colbert also won 20 times on the PGA Tour’s senior circuit.
Colbert attended Kansas State on a football scholarship but switched to golf after he was injured, Golfweek reported.
As a teenager in 1957, Colbert nearly collapsed from sunstroke while playing in a tournament, Golfweek reported. A doctor insisted that he wear a bucket hat, which he did for 13 years before switching to a baseball cap.
He was the runner-up at the 1964 NCAA Championship.
Colbert returned to the bucket hat after six months on the tour in 1970, noting that fans no longer recognized him.
Jim Colbert, an eight-time PGA TOUR winner who added 20 titles on PGA TOUR Champions, died Sunday at 85.
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) May 11, 2026
Colbert, born in New Jersey, played golf and football in his youth and received a football scholarship to Kansas State University. An injury ended his football career and he… pic.twitter.com/vjLaPOzwgS
“Lee Trevino has his sombrero, Jack Nicklaus has the bear,” Colbert once said. “I have my hat.”
Born March 9, 1941, in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Colbert was a multisport athlete before heading to college.
He won his first PGA Tour title in the 1969 Monsanto Invitational Open, according to The Associated Press. In 1974 Colbert scored a pair of top-five finishes in major tournaments -- he tied for fourth place in the Masters and was tied for fifth in the U.S. Open.
Rest easy, Mr. Colbert. You will be deeply missed. pic.twitter.com/NwMuwJ7NhK
— Colbert Hills (@colberthills) May 12, 2026
Colbert also scored victories at the Greater Milwaukee Open (1972), Greater Jacksonville Open (1973), American Golf Classic (1974) and Walt Disney World National Team Championship (with Dean Refram in 1975), according to the PGA Tour.
His best season on the tour was 1983, when he won the Texas Open and the Colonial National Invitation. He finished a career-best 15th on the PGA TOUR money list, earning $223,810.
A bad back forced Colbert to leave the tour as an active player in 1987, Golfweek reported. He bought his first golf course in 1980 and began a successful golf course management company, Jim Colbert Golf, according to the magazine.
The company would own 23 golf courses, had 700 employees and gross revenue of $50 million, The Associated Press reported.
Colbert was also an analyst for ESPN from 1987 to 1990.
He was named Rookie of the Year on the Senior Tour in 1991 and won the Senior Players Championship tow years later, Golfweek reported. He was the senior circuit’s money leader in 1995 and 1996 and was named Player of the Year for both seasons.
He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1996 and had surgery, the AP reported.
According to the news organization, Colbert was inducted into the Kansas State Athletic Hall of Fame in 1991, the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in 1998 and the Las Vegas Golf Hall of Fame in 2019.
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