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Ken Green and Greensboro fit perfectly. Here he found adulation, a pot full of money, and later, love.

Wearing his trademark shoes of guacamole green and other “high-velocity” green colors, he was a winner at the 1989 Greater Greensboro Open, his fifth PGA Tour victory since 1985 and his last.

His shoes, golf game, reflections on life, and a temper that sometimes motivated him to launch his golf club into orbit made him a gallery favorite, much like John Daly is today. His gallery nicknamed itself “Green’s Greenies.” He wore baggy pants and didn’t care if his green shoes matched the rest of his attire.

The Connecticut native poked fun at such golf shrines as The Masters Golf Tournament — too snooty for his public course upbringing.

In 1988, Green, needing a caddy, summoned to Greensboro his sister, Shelley, who had never played golf.

Green instructed Shelley on bunker raking and holding the flag stick. He didn’t bother to ask advice on whether to hit a 5 or 6 iron. Still, without much caddy help, Green finished second, losing a playoff to Sandy Lyle after bogeying Forest Oaks Country Club’s 18th green.

Green got revenge for the ’88 loss by winning the $180,000 first-place check the next year here, with a cousin caddying.

After that, demons paralyzed his golf game. Scores soared; cockiness plunged. Expenses topped winnings.

Despite $3.5 million in career winnings, he owed the IRS. He lost his shoe contract. He had to drop to golf’s minor league, now called the Nationwide Tour. Even there, Green’s game stayed in the rough.

He returned in 1998 to play a Nationwide event at Sedgefield Country Club. One hot afternoon, he sat with his caddy under a cherry tree beside the 9th hole. No one noticed as they ate burgers. Ten years ago, thousands gave him a standing ovation after he made the winning putt.

He had one stroke of luck here in 1998. He teamed in a pretournament pro am with construction company owner Norman Hodgin. He later met Hodgin’s daughter, Jean Marie Hodgin.

Green and Jean Marie eventually became close. They remained so until June. Green was driving his RV home to Florida after a tournament when a tire blew in Alabama. The vehicle went down an embankment. Jean Marie, 51, was killed, along with Green’s brother, William.

Doctors amputated Ken Green’s leg from the knee down. Elizabeth Hodgin of Greensboro, Jean Marie Hodgin’s mother, says Green’s recovery is going slowly. “He has infections,” Elizabeth Hodgin says. “He will be in the hospital for awhile.”

The tragedy came as Green was cashing checks again. In July 2008, he had turned 50 and joined the Champions Tour for pros that age and older.

Tournaments are shorter and players can ride a cart or walk. Prize money is less, but enough to keep the silver hairs teeing it up. From January until June, Green had banked $123,906, with half a season to go.

Elizabeth Hodgin says Green vows to play again, with an artificial limb.

The 2009 Wyndham Championship, the new name of the old tournament, begins next month at Sedgefield. It will be the 20th anniversary of Green’s victory.

The event quit inviting him after his 10-year exemption for his ’89 victory expired.

But galleries should remember the man who wore guacamole green and who played a quiet game loudly. And they should honor his companion, a Greensboro woman who grew up near the Sedgefield club.

Contact Jim Schlosser at 601-9879 or beale1@clearwire.net