Hunter Green, Son of Pro Golfer Ken Green, Found Dead at Southern Methodist University
Photo: Hunter Green.
No foul play was involved, officials said, and an investigation is under way. His body was found about 12:30 p.m. Friday.
The Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed Tuesday that it was Green, 21, a sophomore.
A cause of death has not been released, but a 911 call made to a local fire department suggests that it may be self-inflicted.
Photo: Golfer Ken Green holds his then-3-month-old son Hunter, Jan. 20, 1989 in Scottsdale, Arizona.
"I think he may have committed suicide," a friend of the decedent told the 911 dispatcher.
"We got a note this morning that sounded a little suspicious, and we came over to his dorm room and found him laying (sic) on the floor. He doesn't appear to be breathing," he said on the call.
It's the second family tragedy in eight months for Danbury, Conn. resident Ken Green, who won five PGA Tour events between 1985 and '89 and played on the 1989 Ryder Cup team.
Green had his lower right leg amputated last summer after a recreational vehicle accident in which his brother and girlfriend were killed.
Green acknowledged his son's death on his personal blog Tuesday.
"Well, today is another sad day," he said. "I'm sorry to say that my youngest son, Hunter, has passed. His journey in life has ended and I can't tell you how difficult understanding this is."
Green earned about $3.7 million and 44 top 10 finishes on the regular tour before a bout with depression nearly derailed his career.
He has talked of children's voices in his head that scuttled his concentration and left him contemplating suicide as he struggled to stay on the tour. Green also weathered a bitter divorce and bouts with alcoholism. He lost his Tour card in 2000 and coped with financial problems between 2005 and 2008, the year he turned 50.
Green joined the Champions Tour for older players that year and played well. He was 54th on the money list with $123,906 in 11 appearances in 2009 before the accident.
In June, Green was traveling in the back of an RV driven by his brother when a tire blew out. The RV went off the road, down an embankment and crashed into a large oak tree.
Fellow pros gathered for an event in September to raise money to pay some of Green's medical and personal expenses, including Fred Funk, Curtis Strange, Mark Calcavecchia and Phil Blackmar. Green said then that he wanted to rejoin the Champions Tour in 2010.
Green was long estranged from his son, but had had recently reconnected with Hunter, the golfer was quoted as saying in recent months.