COLUMBUS – Pandel Savic, who quarterbacked Ohio State to its first Rose Bowl victory and went on to help golfer Jack Nicklaus build the Memorial Tournament, has died at the age of 92.
Remembering Pandel Savic today. Longtime chairman of #theMemorial and one of the founding members at Muirfield Village Golf Club. You will be dearly missed Pandel! https://t.co/ZxhEXyYnQR pic.twitter.com/dB5PH6Qyu9
— the Memorial (@MemorialGolf) June 12, 2018
Officials at Muirfield Village Golf Club, where Savic was the Memorial Tournament’s general chairman emeritus, announced the news that he died Tuesday in Columbus.
A native of Macedonia, Savic emigrated to the U.S. at the age of nine and settled in Girard, graduating from Girard High School.
He enlisted in the Marines and fought in World War II before enrolling at Ohio State in 1946 and leading the Buckeyes to a win at the Rose Bowl in 1950.
Savic was inducted into the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009, is one of the founding members of Muirfield Village Golf Club and served as general chairman of the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide for more than 30 years.
Memorial services are pending.