[19] In 1959, Funseth became an assistant pro under Masters champion Claude Harmon back east at Winged Foot,[20] north of New York City and later at Thunderbird in Palm Springs.

[21] Funseth entered a handful of tour events in 1962, and received sponsorship of $800 per month from Spokane's Athletic Round Table (ART) in 1963 to allow him to play full-time.

The first was the Phoenix Open Invitational in 1965 at the Arizona Country Club, which came a week after losing a final round lead at the Bob Hope Classic in Palm Springs.

He had a great deal of immediate success, winning the unofficial Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf (team event with Roberto De Vicenzo) in early May,[37] and a nine-stroke victory at his tour debut at the Hall of Fame Tournament three weeks later in North Carolina at Pinehurst No.

[39] His career on the over-50 tour was cut short by terminal cancer, attributed to exposure to asbestos at the navy yard in Bremerton in his late teens.

[11][40] Told by physicians in January 1984 that he had four months to live, Funseth continued to play well on tour,[41] and returned to defend his team title at the Liberty Mutual Legends in late April.

[45] Funseth was survived by his wife Sandi (née Hawkins), a former competitive water skier from Redwood City,[1] and their two children, Lisa and Mark, in their late teens.

[7][11] He met Sandi during the rainy Crosby event at Pebble Beach in January 1965, when she was a spectator in a long leg cast (from a snow skiing accident) and had been offered shelter in a tournament tent;[2] they were married later that year.