The golf community received a heartbreaking news in December 2024. Beloved news reporter and famous golf expert; Jeff Babineau sadly passed away at the age of 62. He was a legend in the sport and his time as the Editor at GolfWeek saw him work on the most enthralling stories on golf.
Many players had paid their respects to Babineau and also left their eulogies on their social media accounts. One of them was Billy Horschel who had said, “Jeff was one of the great guys in the media. Even though I didn’t have a close relationship with him as some other players and people in the golf world, I respected Jeff for his work and I’ve never heard a player say an ill word about Jeff. He was a great professional. Prayers to his family! ”. This shows how big of an impact Babineau had on the golfers.
More recently, the Champions Tour players also paid tribute to the legendary reporter during the 2025 Chubbs Classic. As shared by Jeremy Friedman, “At last week’s @ChubbClassic, we paid tribute to legendary golf writer Jeff Babineau in a variety of ways at one of his favorite events to cover. On Saturday, we presented an autograph photo frame to his wife, Jane, signed by the players in the field. Thank you Babs.” The tweet also featured photos of the ceremony held for Babineau. It included a framed picture of him signed by all the players participating in the event.
Bernhard Langer was also one of the individuals who had signed the frame. Babineau had extensively covered Langer’s career many times. His Global Golf Post piece about the German golfer reaching a milestone of Champions Tour wins received a lot of love in February 2023. And to see Langer come back and pay respect to Babineau after his passing is truly an emotional moment.
At last week’s @ChubbClassic, we paid tribute to legendary golf writer Jeff Babineau in a variety of ways at one of his favorite events to cover. On Saturday, we presented an autograph photo frame to his wife, Jane, signed by the players in the field. Thank you Babs. pic.twitter.com/5RH6rEFkPW
— Jeremy Friedman (@jfriedmanpr) February 19, 2025
Of course, the reporter had touched the lives of many other golfers in the past. So it doesn’t come as a surprise that some of them had also joined Langer to sign the frame. Let’s see who they were.
Who else paid tribute to Jeff Babineau apart from Bernhard Langer?
Navigating through the frame, we can see that over 35 players had signed it. One of them was Bernhard Langer. His Champions Tour rival, Ernie Els also added his signature. Like Horschel, Els had also shared his prayers when Babineau passed away. He tweeted, “This is such sad news. We all loved Babs. He was one of the nicest guys I’ve ever worked with in the media and a truly great journalist. Sending my sincere condolences and prayers to his family”. Seems like Els also shared a friendship with the reporter.
Other signatures that we could spot were of the 2025 Chubbs Classic champion, Justin Leonard, Rocco Mediate, Billy Andrade, and Fred Couples. All of them had shared a professional relationship with Jeff Babineau at some point in their careers.
What do you think of the Champions Tour’s tribute to Jeff Babineau, as well as his influence in the golf world? Share your views in the comments section.
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