AUGUSTA, Ga. – As the sun set over Georgia’s high pines on Thursday morning, Lee Elder joined Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player as honorary headliners on the first shirt of the Augusta National Golf Club for the 85th edition of the Masters.
Elder, 86, was driven to the No. 1 T-shirt in a cart. With a walking stick and an oxygen tank to help him breathe, Elder didn’t get to a ceremonial shot like the former champions.
It didn’t matter.
“I definitely want to thank you so much for this great opportunity,” Elder said during a press conference shortly after. “For me and my family, I think it was one of the most emotional experiences I’ve ever seen or participated in. It’s definitely something I’ll love for the rest of my life because I’ve loved coming to Augusta National and playing here the times I’ve played here with many of my friends who are members here. ”
At the Masters, which suffered a pandemic in November, the president of the Augusta National Golf Club, Fred Ridley, announced that Elder, the first black man to play in the Masters (in 1975), would be invited to join. to Nicklaus and Player as honorary holder. The club also endowed two scholarships to Paine College, a nearby HBCU, on behalf of Elder.
“Lee Elder is the first black man to compete in the Masters and in doing so paved a path that will inspire the game of golf and future generations of players,” Ridley said Thursday morning as he presented Elder with a gallery of a few hundred patrons.
Former Masters champions Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson and Cameron Champ, a black golfer competing this week in his second Masters, came very close. So did several black club professionals who had been invited to the ceremony.
“They were definitely inspired by Lee Elder and his message that the game of golf is for everyone,” Ridley said. “Today, Lee Elder will inspire us and make history once again, not with impetus, but with his presence, strength and character.
“Lee, it’s my privilege to say, ‘You have the honors.’
Elder, who grew up in Dallas, didn’t play an 18-hole round until he was 16 years old. He worked in professional stores and locker rooms and fell on golf courses that were segregated during the 1950s. After serving in the Army, he joined the United Golf Association, a tour for black players, winning 18 of 22 tests during a stretch.
In 1968, after saving the $ 6,500 needed to join the PGA Tour, Elder won his tourist card by finishing ninth at Q School. During his rookie season, he lost to Nicklaus in a playoff game in the American Golf Classic, falling into the fifth sudden death hole at the Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio.
“I think that motivated my career,” Elder said. “I know then I started to bloom pretty well, and I think what happened is that it really changed my game because I knew that if I could play five extra holes with the great Jack Nicklaus, I knew it had come and I could play the tour “.
Elder also has a close connection with Player, a three-time South African Masters champion. In 1971, Player invited Elder to play in the South African PGA Championship in Johannesburg. Elder agreed to go, but only if the South African government promised that he would not be subjected to apartheid.
“It’s pretty sad to think that in those days, with the segregation policy that South Africa had, I had to go to my president and get permission for Lee Elder to come and play in our PGA,” Player said.
Elder won the 1971 Nigerian Open while visiting Africa.
“You can imagine at that point in history how it was encouraging for a young black man to see this champion playing and of course, with Tiger Woods, it was absolutely fantastic for people of any color in the world.” Said the player.
Elder qualified for the Masters by winning the 1974 Pensacola Open for his first victory on the PGA Tour. Due to death threats, the trophy ceremony took place inside the clubhouse, rather than on the 18th green. His invitation to Masters came 41 years after playing the first tournament in 1934, the same year he was born.
“I was a little surprised when it was announced that a black player hadn’t played because Lee had played well enough, and he had Teddy Rhodes in front of him and Charlie Sifford in front of him and teammates who could have played as guests at the Masters,” Nicklaus said. “I thought it’s been a long time since they finally invited him.”
When Elder arrived in Augusta for the 1975 Masters, he rented two houses for security reasons. He and his friends were denied a meal at a restaurant because of their race, so the president of Paine College arranged for school cafeteria workers to cook for the rest of the week.
“The strongest memory I can remember was how nervous I was going to the first tee,” Elder said. “But what I remember so much about my first visit here was the fact that every shirt and every green I walked in gave me a standing ovation. I think when you get something like that, it helps to settle [you] down. I’ll tell you, I was so nervous when we started playing that it took me a few holes to calm down. “
Elder missed the cut by 4 times. Nicklaus won his fifth green jacket by beating Johnny Miller and Tom Weiskopf by 1.
Elder played in the Masters six times from 1975 to 1981, making the cut three times. His best result was a tie for 17th place in 1979.
“I definitely hope the things I’ve done have inspired a lot of young black players and they continue to do that,” Elder said.
He returned Thursday in August National’s No. 1 jersey, inspiring them once again.