VIRGINIA WATER, England — John Paramor, the mustachioed European tour guidelines official whose profession spanned six many years, has died after a bout with most cancers. He was 67.
The European tour confirmed the dying of Paramor, who retired in 2020 as chief referee. He had officiated at dozens of main championships through the years and was recognizable on each circuit on the planet.
“One of many all-time greatest guidelines officers,” Tiger Woods stated Friday. “John was round after I first turned professional and had been a staple clearly on the European tour and all of the World Golf Championships.”
In an announcement Friday, the European tour stated it was “in the present day deeply saddened by the passing of John Paramor, one of the crucial revered guidelines officers within the historical past of golf and a vastly common determine throughout the whole tour household.”
The European Tour group is in the present day deeply saddened by the passing of John Paramor.
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) February 17, 2023
The tour deliberate a second of silence Saturday within the third spherical of tournaments in Thailand and South Africa. The PGA Tour was engaged on the same tribute. Paramor was a big presence in all of golf’s greatest occasions.
“I stated in 2020 that ‘legend’ is a phrase used too usually in sport however when it comes to golf, and the administration of the principles of our sport, it completely describes John Paramor,” stated Keith Pelley, the chief govt of the European tour. “Fairly merely, he was a frontrunner in his discipline, the guru of referees, and somebody who commanded absolutely the respect of the gamers and of his friends.”
A few of his most well-known rulings concerned Seve Ballesteros. Paramor as soon as stated he gave Ballesteros a good ruling that may not have utilized to others as a result of the Spaniard was able to a lot creativity. However he additionally might draw the road.
Throughout one in every of his extra well-known incidents, in 1994 on the season-ending Volvo Masters at Valderrama, Ballesteros was beneath a tree and felt he ought to get aid due to a small gap the Spaniard claimed was made by a burrowing animal.
“One, that was questionable. And two, I could not discover any proof to counsel what he was claiming. He needed to show his case,” Paramor recalled years later. “Anyway, there was a small gap inside the huge gap. Once I went to stay my finger within the small gap to see what was down there, Seve put his hand on my shoulder and stated, ‘Watch out, it would chunk.’
“I virtually began to chuckle,” Paramor stated. “He could possibly be intimidating, however I needed to put that to the again of my thoughts.”
Aid was denied.
Paramor joined the European tour as an administrator in April 1976, having beforehand spent a 12 months working as a caddie for Peter Butler.
He went on to turn into the tour’s chief referee in 1989 and have become a central determine in adjustments to the Guidelines of Golf through the years.
“Even earlier than I got here on tour, John was a beloved character,” Rory McIlroy stated. “He was all the time a pleasant face to see out on tour and I all the time beloved my conversations with him. Yeah, it is a unhappy day, however he’ll be very fondly remembered by the entire golf neighborhood.”
