{"id":435407,"date":"2025-06-22T16:26:06","date_gmt":"2025-06-22T16:26:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/?p=435407"},"modified":"2025-06-22T20:32:47","modified_gmt":"2025-06-22T20:32:47","slug":"pga-tours-longest-serving-partner-frederick-smith-passes-away-at-80","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/pga-tours-longest-serving-partner-frederick-smith-passes-away-at-80\/","title":{"rendered":"PGA Tour\u2019s Longest-Serving Partner Frederick Smith Dies at 80"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Frederick Smith, founder of FedEx and one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/pga-leadership-shake\u2011up-and-the-future-of-the-golf-cold-war\/\" target=\"_self\">PGA Tour\u2019s<\/a> most loyal partners, has died at the age of 80. Smith passed away on Saturday after suffering a heart attack. FedEx has maintained a long-standing partnership with the PGA Tour, most notably through its title sponsorship of the FedExCup.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">\u201cThe PGA TOUR is saddened to learn of the passing of Frederick W. Smith the visionary of FedEx who led every day with tremendous character and values,\u201d said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan.<a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/XQ1yORTA7u\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/XQ1yORTA7u<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PGATOUR\/status\/1936775828030820625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 22, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>How Visionary Leader Smith Started FedEx with a Bold Idea<\/h2>\n<p>Smith started FedEx in the early 1970s with a bold idea. As a college student at Yale, he wrote a paper that imagined a system to deliver packages overnight. Most people saw it as unrealistic, but Smith believed in his vision. In 1973, he launched FedEx and, over the decades, turned it into one of the world\u2019s largest and most reliable delivery companies. Today, FedEx ships millions of packages each day and connects over 220 countries.<\/p>\n<p>Smith served as FedEx\u2019s CEO and later as Executive Chairman for several years. He stepped down in 2022 and handed the role to Raj Subramaniam, who called Smith the company\u2019s \u201cheart and soul.\u201d Under Smith\u2019s leadership, FedEx didn\u2019t just grow in size \u2014 it changed how the world moves goods. He introduced faster, more efficient shipping, pushed for better trade agreements, and worked closely with world leaders to support global commerce.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_435408\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-435408\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-435408\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/06\/USATSI_24501992_168416623_lowres-300x236.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"236\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/06\/USATSI_24501992_168416623_lowres-300x236.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/06\/USATSI_24501992_168416623_lowres-1024x807.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/06\/USATSI_24501992_168416623_lowres-768x605.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/06\/USATSI_24501992_168416623_lowres-1536x1210.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/06\/USATSI_24501992_168416623_lowres.jpg 1904w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-435408\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sept. 25, 1976; Memphis, TN, USA; Frederick W. Smith, president of Federal Express; Mandatory credit: Memphis Commercial Appeal-USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>His influence reached beyond business. Smith served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. He earned two Purple Hearts and a Silver Star for bravery. He once said that his time in the military shaped how he ran his company. His leadership style reflected a deep respect for discipline, action, and loyalty.<\/p>\n<h2>PGA Tour Mourn Smith&#8217;s Passing<\/h2>\n<p>Smith also had a long and meaningful relationship with the PGA Tour after FedEx became the title sponsor of the Memphis-area PGA Tour tournament in 1986. His company became the Tour\u2019s longest-running sponsor, providing major financial support and helping the Tour grow its reach. Players, fans, and Tour leaders respected Smith\u2019s commitment to the game.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe PGA TOUR is saddened to learn of the passing of Frederick W. Smith the visionary of FedEx who led every day with tremendous character and values,\u201d outgoing PGA TOUR Commissioner <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/jay-monahan-pga-tour\/\" target=\"_self\">Jay Monahan said in a statement<\/a>. \u201cFedEx has been a tremendous partner for nearly 40 years, and its influence on our sport through tournament sponsorship and its involvement from day one of the FedExCup has been monumental. Fred and his company made significant contributions to the growth and popularity of PGA TOUR golf, and the TOUR continues to benefit from his and FedEx\u2019s influence, which will be felt for generations to come. We mourn the loss of a legendary business leader and philanthropist and offer our condolences to his family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credit: \u00a9 USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Frederick Smith, founder of FedEx and one of the PGA Tour\u2019s most loyal partners, has died at the age of 80. Smith passed away on Saturday after suffering a heart attack. FedEx has maintained a long-standing partnership with the PGA Tour, most notably through its title sponsorship of the FedExCup. \u201cThe PGA TOUR is saddened [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5425,"featured_media":435409,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[246,19],"tags":[8124],"class_list":["post-435407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-golf-news","category-pga","tag-federick-smith"],"modified_by":"Ajayi Segun","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5425"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435407"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435407\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":435426,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435407\/revisions\/435426"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/435409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}