Rod Spittle, 63, had a successful amateur career, finishing runner-up at the 1973 Canadian Junior and winning the 1977 and 1978 Canadian Men’s Amateur Championships. During his collegiate career, Spittle helped the Division I The Ohio State Buckeyes win the Big Ten Championship three consecutive years (1976-1978) alongside teammates John Cook and Joey Sindelar.

Spittle’s post collegiate career included a pair of Columbus District Golf Association Amateur Championships (1987 and 1989) and three Columbus District Golf Association Mid-Amateur titles (1994, 1995 and 1997). He went on to claim the Ohio Golf Association Mid Amateur Championship three times (2000, 2001 and 2003).

Spittle turned pro in 2004 and played on the PGA Champions Tour. In 2010, he Monday qualified into the final event of the year, The AT&T Championship, and in a storybook ending, played stellar golf all week and beat Jeff Sluman in a playoff for his first ever title and a full exemption for 2011 as a PGA Champions winner.

In 195 starts over his 13-year PGA Champions career, Spittle missed just five cuts and earned more than $4 million in prize money. He never missed more than one cut in any year, and played nine full seasons without missing a single cut. He had a pair of runner-up finishes; a pair of third place finishes and had 23 top ten’s.

Spittle was inducted into the Ontario Golf Hall of Fame in 2013 and the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 2019.