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AJ McKenzie
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The golfer
IG: aj_mckenzie416
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00:02Bobby Jones traveled to greatness through the very heart of the Golden Age.
00:06From 1923 through 1929, he dazzled the golf world with his extraordinary success.
00:13Then in 1930, he accomplished what no man has before or since.
00:18He was a benevolent god of the fairways, but the eye of history has shifted its focus over the years,
00:24and a double image of Bobby Jones emerges.
00:26One is an Old South autocrat whose world-famous tournament stood at the doorway to racial progress.
00:33The other is a saintly gentleman who left an immaculate print on the face of golf.
00:38Here are both sides of Bobby Jones.
00:46I think he hypnotized us all, because when we were playing against Jones,
00:53most of us played like we were handcuffed.
00:58He was a much better player than I was.
01:00He was a better thinker.
01:04He was a daring man in the golf course.
01:06He would make shots that he shouldn't make, because he thought this is the way to do it.
01:10Bobby Jones could make all the shots that any of these modern golfers could make.
01:15He was simply a master.
01:18Really?
01:19I see.
01:20When I was young, one of my dreams was to be a Jones, to win the both Opens and both
01:28Amateurs.
01:29From the time that I was an amateur, all I did was for Jones, all I did was for major
01:35championships.
01:36That's what I prepared for.
01:38Hickory shafted clubs, no real grooves on it, crummy grips.
01:43I'd love to see these guys go and play with it, and see if they could match Bobby Jones.
01:49He never played for prize money, and that really annoyed some of the pros, because here was this guy that
01:56was not a pro, beating them all the time.
02:00Americans love the idea that somebody could be just a part-time player and be the best player.
02:09He played the game beautifully with style and manners, and that he had courtesy to an opponent.
02:18Everyone held him in such high esteem.
02:21Everybody that I knew was awed by his very presence.
02:25He was godlike.
02:28Okay, can you lecture some fun?
02:46In 1930, at the height of his popularity, Bobby Jones was poised to complete a feat that would make him
02:53stand alone in history.
02:56He had pretty well accomplished a lot of the goals that he had set out to do, and one of
03:01the things that he developed was this whole idea of, maybe it would be possible to win all four national
03:08championships in one year.
03:14In the spring, Jones crossed the Atlantic to compete at St. Andrews in the first of a four-part effort.
03:20He'd never won the British Amateur, and after a momentary lapse between his quarterfinal and semifinal matches, it appeared 1930
03:28would be no different.
03:31He won a morning match, and he had lunch with his wife, and he had a glass of sherry.
03:36Well, that was a mistake, and he knew it, and he felt the effects the first few holes.
03:41Well, now he was in real trouble.
03:43His vision was a little blurry going out, and somehow he gathered himself.
03:49Jones beat George Boyd, one-up, and advanced to the finals, and went on to win what he called the
03:56most important tournament of his life.
03:58Two weeks later, he took the British Open at Royal Liverpool, despite playing below his standards.
04:06He played well enough to win, and much better than most people, but he still was not at his peak,
04:12and yet he still found a way to win.
04:14He had been playing badly, but he was a fatalist, and he believed he won because he was supposed to
04:21win.
04:23Halfway to immortality, Jones came home to a hero's welcome along Lower Broadway, where he would react with typical humility
04:31to the rousing greeting from New York Mayor Jimmy Walker.
04:36I am grateful to you, and to the city of New York, and to the people of the planet, from
04:40the bottom of my heart.
04:41I've never been so impressed by anything in my life as the way you'll turn out today.
04:46You've been so kind, there's really nothing I can say.
05:01With half a slam in his pocket, Jones looked to conquer the U.S. Open at Interlochen outside Minneapolis.
05:07A record 68 in the third round gave him a five-stroke lead.
05:12I find this gathering that ever saw a national offense following Bobby Jones on his last round during my lap
05:17and state.
05:17The crowds really took a lot of energy out of Jones, and he had a hard time dealing with it.
05:24The end was very high-strung.
05:27You've seen newsreels of him playing back then, you know.
05:30He played with not a lot of emotion.
05:35My wife, Atlanta, still isn't over here. Short the line. He don't care. He wants to make every one of
05:39them.
05:40I'm sorry, buddy.
05:44In the brutal heat, Jones showed signs of stress late in the final round.
05:49After he double-bogeyed 17, he was faced with a daunting putt on the last hole.
05:55Forty feet up the slope, you know, the tournament was still in balance.
06:01The issue was still in doubt.
06:12Well, he makes this putt, and people go crazy, and he just kind of rolled up to sleep, and just
06:17kind of walked up and got it out of the hole.
06:19I mean, extremely cool.
06:24After Bob won the U.S. Open in 1930 in Interlochen, all of the reporters started to hover around him,
06:31and they were hounded him, saying,
06:33OK, Bob, what are you going to do now? What are you going to do now? How are you going
06:37to top this?
06:38Only one more tournament stood between Jones and Golfing Perfection, the U.S. Amateur, two months away.
06:44Then one afternoon, during the long, stressful wait, Jones narrowly missed serious injury.
06:51He was in downtown Atlanta, and automobile had its brake come loose.
06:57And he hears this voice yell from behind him yell, look out, mister.
07:02And here came this vehicle at him at full tilt.
07:05It's jumping the curb, heading right for him.
07:08And he jumped out of the way as this thing just went right through a plate glass window.
07:12He said it was a leap to make Jesse Owens proud.
07:16Maybe he was ordained that he would play in the amateur.
07:20If he had been hit by the car, there was no way he could play if he survived it.
07:24Just crowds in golf history.
07:27In the 36-hole match against Gene Homans, 18,000 shadowed Bobby's walk to greatness.
07:35Everybody was not only pulling for Jones, but people were pulling against Homans.
07:41A couple of times, I just turned away from people.
07:45They'd say, miss it or something like that.
07:47You know, that to me wasn't the amateur spirit.
07:52But there were a lot of people out there that didn't care much about amateur spirit.
07:57They wanted to see Bobby Jones win the Grand Slam.
08:01In the afternoon round, Jones continued to pull away.
08:05After four holes, he led by nine.
08:12And while the nation leaned forward, the gracious Atlanta attorney clinched act four on the 11th green.
08:20It was over.
08:21Jones had done the impossible.
08:31Naturally, I want to extend my sincere thanks to Bobby and what you've behaved.
08:37This is really a...
08:57To win tournaments of that magnitude within the space of one year is amazing because golfers cannot ever stay on
09:07their game.
09:08For long periods of time.
09:10To come out as an amateur, working at another living, playing against the best the professional golf could offer.
09:17And to whip each one of them on every single occasion.
09:21That's pretty special.
09:49Born in Atlanta in 1902,
09:52Robert Tire Jones Jr.
09:54Was so sickly, he was unable to eat solid food until he was five.
09:58When he was six, his parents got a summer home by the East Lake Golf Course in Atlanta.
10:04East Lake was a resort colony.
10:06And there were cottages out there that families would rent for the summer.
10:10And for the first time, he got to see golf being played.
10:13Remember, this is about the turn of the century.
10:16And golf was new in America at that time.
10:19Jones would sneak across the street and follow the pro around.
10:23Stuart Maiden was an old Scottish pro with a great swing.
10:27And he learned to copy that swing.
10:30Later, people would be out on the golf course.
10:32And they would say, oh, there's Stuart Maiden out there.
10:35In fact, it was little Bob Jones who had copied Maiden's swing exactly.
10:42There was a gathering.
10:43They would go out and play golf on Sunday morning.
10:45And then they would all come back to the Jones house where they'd have a big fried chicken lunch.
10:49And they would have little Bob come up and imitate the swings of everybody that was in the group.
10:55That's strange.
11:01Jones soon began giving glimpses of his greatness.
11:04He shot 80 when he was 11.
11:06Then broke 70 at 14.
11:10He was a prodigy.
11:12There's no doubt about that.
11:13He played a different kind of golf than most of the other people around here were accustomed to seeing at
11:19the time.
11:20By the time 1916 rolled around, Bob Jones was known as the Dixie Whiz Kid.
11:25He had the club championships of Eastlake and Druid Hills.
11:28And for the first time, he was entered into a national amateur championship at Marion.
11:33He was the youngest ever contestant in a national championship in 1916 at the ripe age of 14 years old.
11:41But when Jones lost in the quarterfinals that year,
11:44it became clear that his talent was being challenged not by another golfer,
11:48but by his own temper.
11:51You don't think of Jones as being a fierce competitor.
11:54You think of Matai Cobb being a fierce competitor.
11:55Jones was a fierce competitor.
11:57Very ferocious.
11:58I mean, he wanted to win and he went all out to it.
12:00They're both from the same state.
12:02Grantland Rice, the dean of sports writing back then,
12:05described Jones once as a boy having the face of an angel and the temper of a timber wolf.
12:14He threw clubs, cursed, really chastised himself.
12:17He said, sometimes the game cannot be endured with a club in one's hand.
12:22He hit a shot that squirted off somewhere and went into a bush.
12:28And he was so enraged, he just jumped up and down.
12:45In 1921, a 19-year-old Bobby Jones took his short fuse overseas
12:50to play in his first British Open on the hallowed ground of St. Andrews.
12:57He was so excited and played real well for the first two rounds.
13:01But then he ran into a roadblock in his third round.
13:04He shot 46 going out.
13:06And then on the 11th hole, he hit his ball in the bunker,
13:09hit it a couple of times, only sand came out.
13:12Finally, very sheepishly, he withdrew from the championship,
13:15put his ball in his pocket, tore up his scorecard.
13:18And to Jones, it was the most inglorious failure of his golfing life.
13:23He may have grown up right at that moment that he picked up the ball.
13:27He said he was ashamed of himself.
13:30And that could have been what ended public displays of temper.
13:44From the time Bob Jones was 14 years old,
13:47when he played in his first national amateur,
13:50for the next seven years, he never won a major championship,
13:55although he played in 10 major championships.
13:57And it started to gnaw at him.
14:04As the 1923 U.S. Open approached, Jones' confidence was fading.
14:11Up until that time, he'd had chances, and he'd thrown them away.
14:15The fourth round of the 23 Open, he had thrown it away again.
14:20He played very loose golf on the last few holes,
14:23and made six of the last hole,
14:26and opened the way for Crookshank to tie it.
14:29Squandering a five-stroke lead over Bobby Crookshank,
14:33Jones approached the 18-hole playoff the next day
14:35with deep self-resentment.
14:38He absolutely beat himself up the way he finished in regulation play.
14:43You know, he talked about finishing like a yellow dog.
14:47With the outcome of the playoff in doubt,
14:50Jones was faced with a difficult lie.
14:53Jones hit an iron shot to the green on the last hole off a hard pan.
14:59And instead of playing it safe, and it was over some water,
15:02and it was a fairly lengthy shot,
15:05he hit about 10 feet short of the pin,
15:07rolled to about 7 feet behind the pin,
15:09and made the putt.
15:11The pressure was so strong on Bob to win a major championship
15:16that when he finally broke through at Enwood in 1923,
15:19it was like he had gotten a gorilla off his back,
15:22not just a monkey.
15:23It's not the sense of jubilation that you would expect to find
15:27from someone who just won their national championship.
15:30Instead, it's this sort of sense of overwhelming relief
15:33that he had finally gotten through that phase.
15:36I think within us all,
15:37a lot of times we think that we have to play perfect golf
15:40in order to win a major championship.
15:43Possibly that had a lot to do with what he was thinking at the time.
15:46And certainly it unlocked a feeling that possibly he could win
15:52without playing his best.
15:56After the 1923 Open,
15:59Jones had the confidence he needed.
16:02He had the will to win,
16:04which is not the wish to win,
16:05it's the will and the absolute knowledge
16:09that he was the best player in the game.
16:12Now, he was unbeatable.
16:18When Jones played from 1923,
16:21when he won the first U.S. Open,
16:22until the end of the Grand Slam,
16:25he won or finished second
16:28in a little bit better than 80% of the majors that he played in.
16:33When Jones played, it was Jones against the field.
16:36It was this young amateur against all of the pros.
16:40He had such a talent
16:42and a very uncomplicated, gorgeous golf swing.
16:47Bob had absolutely the most beautiful swing
16:51of anybody I have ever seen in golf.
16:54All of his power was in his wrist.
16:58He had such a wonderful technique
17:00that he got amazing distance,
17:03particularly in those days,
17:04since the golf balls wouldn't fly as late as they do today,
17:07and the golf clubs, with all the torque that Hickory had,
17:11wouldn't fly as late as they do today.
17:13He still had remarkable control
17:15for the distance of a person
17:17that could hit it as far as he could hit it.
17:20He could knock the ball quite a ways.
17:22He was a good driver,
17:24a good fairway wood player,
17:26and a wonderful putter.
17:28He loved the mechanics of golf,
17:31the kinds of shots you'd have to play,
17:33whereas some people were just good at this or that
17:36or something like that.
17:37He had the whole ball of legs.
17:39Jones stood to the ball
17:41narrower with his feet
17:43than any other great player that's ever lived,
17:45even with his putter.
17:46Early on, he wasn't a great putter,
17:48and he's one of the few people
17:50that developed into becoming a great putter.
17:53Bob Jones realized that the way to play golf
17:55was to play old man par.
17:58He would play the golf course
17:59instead of his adversary,
18:01and that's when he really started to see results.
18:07In an eight-year span,
18:09Bobby Jones won 13 of the 21 majors he entered.
18:13Equally impressive is the fact
18:15that he won while practicing law full-time.
18:18People do tend to forget that he was an amateur
18:22and played so little.
18:24I mean, never has there ever been a champion
18:27who has played so little.
18:28He went to three colleges.
18:30He got an engineering degree at Georgia Tech,
18:33a degree in English literature at Harvard,
18:35then went to Emory Law School,
18:37quit before he was due to leave,
18:38and passed the bar.
18:40You could make more money
18:41as an amateur golfer in those days
18:43than you could as a professional,
18:44and you could walk in the door of clubhouses
18:46instead of coming in the side door.
18:48It was thought of, in some senses,
18:51as being a classless activity.
18:53Most of the good amateurs were college men.
18:58They could make more on Wall Street
18:59in law offices, insurance companies.
19:02The pros, they could only make money
19:05by barnstorming from city to city
19:07unless they stayed at a country club
19:09and stayed in the pro shop,
19:11gave lessons and fixed clubs
19:14and did all like that.
19:16Bob Jones literally was a weekend golfer.
19:18He didn't particularly like to practice.
19:21He put the clubs up from October to April
19:23and only played himself into shape
19:25two weeks before the major championships.
19:27The other players couldn't do that.
19:29They were out there practicing all the time,
19:31and they still couldn't keep up with him.
19:33Well, I can remember the players that say,
19:37what's Jones doing?
19:39The players had an inferiority complex.
19:42When I played against him,
19:44I wasn't quite myself.
19:46You're awestruck by somebody,
19:49particularly an amateur,
19:50that can beat all the professionals.
19:52As Jones dominated the golf world,
19:54he gained control of his emotions
19:56and won the respect of millions.
19:59He was so educated,
20:00and he was quite modest at the same time.
20:04Sportsmanship and Bob Jones are synonymous.
20:07There are certain people at times
20:09that have a type of personality
20:12that really people take to,
20:15whether they know him or not.
20:17And Jones was that type of person.
20:19He had the charm.
20:21I mean, everybody liked him.
20:24There's nothing in question about it.
20:27He never did pump his fist in the air.
20:30Bob Jones was always genuinely modest.
20:32He even called penalties on himself twice
20:35that in all likelihood
20:37cost him two national championships.
20:39You know, they praised him.
20:40He kind of snapped back at him,
20:41and he says,
20:42you don't praise a man for not robbing a bank.
20:44Why should you praise me for what I've done here?
20:47Jones was a perfect Southern gentleman,
20:50this perfect Southern hero.
20:51He resembled the great Civil War generals in a way.
20:56Handled himself impeccably.
20:57Civil War generals?
20:58He was getting ready to play
20:59a particularly difficult long iron shot.
21:01And there were these two young girls
21:03that were standing off to the side.
21:05They were in his field division.
21:07They motioned to him
21:07right as he was starting his backswing.
21:09And he hit this terrible shot.
21:11He walked over to the two girls,
21:13and he said,
21:13yes, girls,
21:13he said,
21:14what can I do for you?
21:15And they said,
21:15we were wondering,
21:16Mr. Jones,
21:16if we could have your autograph.
21:18He said,
21:18I will be happy to give you my autograph.
21:20And he did that.
21:21He said,
21:21now in the future,
21:22when a player is trying to take their shot,
21:23you need to be very, very still.
21:25And he went on.
21:26No question that he was a hero,
21:29a great big American hero.
21:32And that's because he was also perceived
21:34as being the all-American boy.
21:36If you have both the ability of Jones
21:40and a pleasant, friendly personality,
21:44you can't help but be a star.
21:47He was the leading light
21:48in what was called
21:49the golden age of sport.
21:51He became to golf
21:52what Grange was to college football,
21:55what Caruso was to the opera,
21:57what Ruth was to baseball,
21:58Deb C to boxing.
21:59He was a star,
22:01a star of the era,
22:03an era of stars.
22:05He was as popular as any of them.
22:08But Jones paid a heavy price
22:10for his popularity.
22:11What his adoring public didn't know
22:14was that the pressure to win
22:15was affecting their hero
22:17like a chronic illness.
22:20Yep.
22:22Eventually that illness...
22:24Less than two months
22:25after Jones won the Grand Slam in 1930,
22:28he made a decision
22:29that would shock the sports world.
22:34Bobby Jones quit playing golf
22:35when he was 28 years old
22:36because there was nobody else
22:37that was close to him.
22:39The guy retires that young
22:41and does not come back and ruin it.
22:43He became legendary.
22:47He'd had 14 years
22:49of competition
22:50at the highest levels.
22:52He had been the best in the game
22:55for seven, eight years.
22:58Nobody could beat him.
22:59Nobody ever beat him
23:01twice in match play.
23:02I think that set him aside
23:04as an icon of all icons.
23:07I mean, here is a man
23:08who does everything
23:09there is to be done
23:10in his field
23:11and he says,
23:12that's enough.
23:13I'm retiring.
23:15I think he had conquered the worlds
23:16that he wanted to conquer
23:17and I think he realized
23:19that he wanted to be an attorney.
23:20He wanted other things in his life.
23:22The golf was an important part
23:23of his life.
23:24But he said,
23:25I did what I was going to do
23:26and that's it.
23:27What more was there
23:28for him to really do?
23:29And you know,
23:30it's always better in some ways
23:31if you can go out at your peak
23:33when everybody remembers you
23:35in that light
23:37rather than to watch
23:39a slow fade into obscurity.
23:41There just were no more worlds
23:43left to conquer.
23:44Bobby Jones added a new aspect
23:46to his celebrity
23:47when he earned $250,000
23:49from Warner Brothers
23:50for making a series
23:52of instructional films
23:53with Hollywood stars.
23:57Interestingly,
23:58the Hollywood stars
23:59appeared for free.
24:00They clamored to be in there.
24:01I mean,
24:02and he upstaged them all.
24:04Loretta Young,
24:05Joey Brown,
24:06W.C. Fields,
24:07they all appeared
24:08in these short movies.
24:10There's just one thing
24:11that will make it easier
24:13for you to use
24:14your left arm properly.
24:15They were the top stars.
24:16I'd like to see you
24:16drop your hands down.
24:18They weren't
24:18they weren't a
24:19William Powell
24:20or Gene Harlow.
24:23So that your left arm
24:25will hang practically straight.
24:27Those films are still
24:28held up as
24:29the model
24:31for creating
24:31instructional films today.
24:37More than fast money
24:38and more than
24:39a lack of worlds
24:40to conquer,
24:41Jones retired
24:42in deference
24:43to a demon
24:44that lurked
24:44just beneath
24:45his calm,
24:46gentlemanly demeanor.
24:48He quit
24:49because he just
24:49couldn't stand it.
24:50He couldn't take
24:51the pressure anymore.
24:52The pressure
24:53of always being
24:54Bobby Jones
24:55was more than
24:56he wanted to handle,
24:57more than he thought
24:58he needed to handle.
24:59Many people
25:00didn't realize it.
25:01He was so nervous
25:03and pent up
25:04that he would lose
25:05anywhere from
25:068 to 15 pounds
25:07every time
25:08he played
25:09in a major tournament.
25:10His only way
25:11to relax sometimes
25:12was to get in a bathtub,
25:14a long bathtub
25:15of hot water
25:16and throw down
25:18two cocktails.
25:19He discovered
25:20that many of his friends
25:22were betting
25:23essentially their life savings
25:24on him winning
25:25a golf tournament
25:26and that bothered him
25:28substantially more
25:29than any of the strain
25:30of competition
25:31in and of itself.
25:32Sometimes gets sick
25:33to his stomach
25:33just from knowing
25:35he was so expected
25:37to win
25:38and there's nothing
25:39more pressure
25:40in any sport
25:41than when you're
25:42expected to win.
25:44Jones needed
25:44an escape
25:45from the pressures
25:46of being a star.
25:47The haven
25:48he helped create
25:49would add
25:49to his legacy
25:50but also raise
25:52questions about the man.
26:16In the early 1930s
26:18with the help
26:18of some powerful friends
26:20Bobby Jones
26:21transformed
26:22an old tree nursery
26:23in Augusta
26:24into a private course
26:25that became
26:26one of the most revered
26:27in America.
26:30Jones was so popular
26:32he couldn't play
26:33a casual round
26:34of golf.
26:35Word would spread
26:36and suddenly
26:38there's a crowd
26:39and he can't
26:40break a club
26:41like he liked to do.
26:42He was too polite
26:43to swear
26:44with an audience.
26:46He may have liked
26:46to have had a glass
26:47of whiskey
26:48during the round.
26:49He couldn't do that
26:51but between the hedges
26:52there at Augusta National
26:53he was freed.
26:56For Jones and friends
26:57the declared purpose
26:59of the club
26:59was to provide privacy
27:01in a world
27:01that had become
27:02all too public.
27:04But that would change
27:05by 1934
27:07with the debut
27:08of a tournament
27:08soon to be known
27:09as the Masters.
27:11The Masters
27:12was the brainchild
27:13of Cliff Roberts
27:14who thought
27:15the enterprise
27:15would go better
27:16financially
27:17if there was
27:18this once a year
27:19event hosted
27:21by the immortal
27:22Bobby Jones.
27:23He was the playing
27:24host
27:24and he played
27:26in 12 Masters
27:28never finished
27:29better than 13th.
27:30He thought Masters
27:31was an overstatement.
27:34He didn't want
27:34to be called
27:35the Masters.
27:36The Augusta Invitational
27:37was good enough
27:37for him
27:38and he invited
27:39all the great players
27:40of the time
27:41to be there.
27:42It became
27:43his own shrine.
27:44It really did.
27:46Not many of us
27:47can build
27:47your own shrine
27:48and have it
27:49virtually eternal.
27:51I mean every year
27:52that the Masters
27:52is played
27:53everybody thinks
27:54of Bob Jones.
27:56The Masters
27:56is Bob Jones
27:59and it reflects
28:01his thoughts
28:02about the game
28:03very simply
28:04he put the game
28:05on a pedestal.
28:07Without Bobby Jones
28:08the Masters
28:09would never have
28:09become the Masters
28:10it has become.
28:12Even as the Masters
28:14reflected the graciousness
28:15of another time
28:16it also became
28:17a lightning rod
28:18for a long tradition
28:19of exclusion
28:20to a significant
28:21segment of America.
28:23The Masters
28:24was symbolic
28:25of resistance
28:27to African American
28:29participation
28:29on the professional level
28:31in golf.
28:33Golf's history
28:34in terms of race
28:35is not very commendable.
28:37Augusta National
28:37has made
28:39sort of the icon
28:40for that whole
28:42large unpleasant issue
28:45and some of it's
28:47fair and some of it's
28:48not.
28:50The Masters committee
28:52adhered to a list
28:53of qualifications
28:54one of those qualifications
28:56allowed Jones
28:57and the committee
28:58to invite any
28:59foreign players
29:00they chose
29:00regardless of credentials.
29:02But when African American
29:03tournament winners
29:04Pete Brown
29:05and Charlie Sifford
29:06didn't meet the standards
29:08they weren't invited.
29:10Bobby Jones
29:11was a man
29:12who was a prejudiced man
29:14a man
29:15would never
29:16accept a black man
29:18to play golf
29:19in that golf tournament
29:20on his golf course
29:21as long as he's living.
29:23Everyone admired him
29:24for being a great golfer
29:25but he wanted a golf tournament
29:26that
29:28was lily white.
29:30He certainly
29:31could have done
29:32a lot more
29:33that would have made
29:33things a lot easier
29:34especially for the
29:35black players
29:36but I think that
29:37he was the type of person
29:38that just never
29:39thought about
29:40a black man
29:41being good enough
29:42to play at Augusta.
29:43I guess he could have
29:44yes, gotten
29:45something moving
29:47but I don't think
29:48at that time
29:49he felt that
29:50that was
29:51within his province
29:53I don't think
29:53he really
29:54it was not a concern
29:55of his
29:55his idea was
29:57you earned your way
29:58to the Masters.
29:59In 1961
30:00in response to
30:01an accusation
30:02that the Masters
30:04excluded blacks
30:05from the tournament
30:06Jones wrote a letter
30:07in which he said
30:07that I can assure you
30:09that there's no mention
30:10of race or color
30:12in the Masters qualifications
30:13and that no such rule
30:15is contemplated
30:16at any time
30:16in the future.
30:17There was more
30:18than Bob Jones
30:19to contend with
30:20Cliff Roberts
30:22ran the club
30:22Cliff Roberts
30:24made the rules
30:25Cliff Roberts
30:27ran the tournament
30:28Roberts
30:29was the much
30:30stronger personality
30:32Roberts was much
30:33more the organizer
30:34much more the
30:35dictator
30:36much more the
30:39mechanic
30:40my feeling is
30:41that Cliff and Bob
30:43indeed wanted
30:44a minority
30:45to qualify
30:47under our rules
30:48but
30:48they were determined
30:50that they wouldn't
30:52that they had to
30:52meet the same
30:53qualifications
30:54that
30:55any other player
30:56did.
30:57to me there's no
30:58question that if
30:59Jones wanted
31:00Teddy Rhodes
31:01Charlie Sifford
31:02name your good
31:03black golfer
31:05if he had wanted
31:05one of those guys
31:06in the tournament
31:07he would have
31:07made it so
31:08he was mostly
31:09in a wheelchair
31:10by that time
31:11and even though
31:12his mind was alert
31:13he did not possess
31:14the energy
31:15and the stamina
31:16that he did
31:17when he was younger
31:18and stronger
31:18to expect him
31:20to have the kind
31:21of energy
31:22to pursue
31:22certain issues
31:23would be unrealistic
31:27but even late
31:28in life
31:29Jones as president
31:30of Augusta National
31:31was still at the
31:32center of power
31:33in the 1968 Masters
31:35it appeared
31:36Bob Golby
31:37and Roberto Di Vicenzo
31:38would meet
31:39in a playoff
31:39but when it was
31:41discovered
31:41Di Vicenzo
31:42signed an incorrect
31:43scorecard
31:44tournament officials
31:45were in a quandary
31:47my grandfather
31:48at that time
31:48was confined
31:49to his chair
31:50in the back room
31:51watching the tournament
31:52on TV
31:53and all of a sudden
31:54I just remember
31:55the cabin door
31:56opening this parade
31:57of green jacketed
31:58men coming in
31:59to seek his counsel
32:01on how to handle this
32:02and my grandfather
32:02said
32:03Golby has to be
32:04the winner
32:08even at his
32:09most infirm
32:10people still look
32:11to him for that
32:11kind of wisdom
32:12and that kind
32:13of presence
32:13in 1972
32:15a year after
32:16Jones died
32:17a critical change
32:18was made
32:19to the Masters
32:19list of qualifications
32:21a PGA Tour victory
32:23automatically gained
32:24an invitation
32:24to Augusta
32:25three years later
32:27Lee Elder
32:28was the first black
32:29to tee off
32:29at the Masters
32:30we can sit here
32:31and we can talk
32:33about what we should
32:34and should not do
32:35and you have to have
32:37the right man
32:38and at the right time
32:40that have a willingness
32:41to take these steps
32:42and to do these things
32:43and to say that
32:44hey
32:45this is a game
32:46for all the people
32:47we are going to
32:47open up to everyone
32:48Bobby Jones
32:49was a product
32:50of his age
32:50he was born
32:51in 1902
32:52so he came out
32:54of a fabric
32:57that was
32:59rife
33:01with racism
33:03in speaking
33:04with a number
33:05of people
33:06who were
33:07caddies for him
33:08almost all
33:10of them
33:10never said
33:12that Jones
33:13displayed
33:14any overt racism
33:15Bob Jones
33:16was able to
33:18be in the company
33:19of kings
33:20and caddies
33:21and treat them
33:23the same
33:23he looked at
33:25a man's character
33:26and his heart
33:27he was a very
33:28very conservative
33:29man
33:30he was very
33:31hept to what was
33:32going on in
33:33American politics
33:33and government
33:34he simply chose
33:36not to deal
33:37with the race issues
33:38but you'd be
33:39hard put
33:40to identify
33:42Caucasian
33:43southerners
33:43particularly
33:44prominent ones
33:45from the 20s
33:46and 30s
33:46who saw it
33:47any other way
33:48don't forget
33:49he grew up
33:49in Atlanta
33:50so this was
33:51all part
33:51of his world
33:52and he didn't
33:53think of it
33:53as anything
33:54different
33:54or maybe
33:55that anything
33:56should be
33:56different
33:57sure you can
33:57hold him
33:58responsible
33:58but yet
33:59in that era
34:00how responsible
34:01was it
34:02really
34:12when we return
34:14the full measure
34:15of Bobby Jones
34:16will be taken
34:17does the man
34:18the golfer
34:19and public figure
34:20deserve to remain
34:22on a pedestal
34:22erected in another
34:23era
34:34after serving
34:35as an officer
34:36in the Army Air Corps
34:37during World War II
34:38Jones returned
34:40to his law practice
34:40in Atlanta
34:41and his aristocratic
34:42golfing environments
34:44at Augusta
34:45within a few years
34:46he was forced
34:47to stop playing
34:48the game
34:48that defined him
34:49as an American hero
34:50that last round
34:52we played in 1948
34:53he shot two
34:55on the paw
34:55with two holes to go
34:57he hit a duck hook
34:58over in the woods
34:59and just kind of
35:00shuffled off the tee
35:01as I remember
35:02first time I ever
35:03saw the man
35:04hit a bad drive
35:05all the times
35:06I played with him
35:07and so they had
35:08a big arc
35:08in Atlanta Constitution
35:10next morning
35:10by Bob Jones
35:11going in the hospital
35:12for some exploratory
35:14operations
35:15because he'd been
35:15having some numbness
35:16in his legs
35:17and arms
35:19Jones was diagnosed
35:21with a rare spinal disease
35:23called syringomyelia
35:27Bob Jones was in dire pain
35:30throughout his later years
35:33it was painful for him
35:35even to sign his name
35:36but his secretary
35:38took a pen
35:40and taped it
35:41to a ball
35:42so that Bob
35:44could scroll out
35:45his signature
35:46because he insisted
35:48that no one else
35:49sign his name
35:50he was going to
35:51sign his name
36:00eventually I
36:01asked him one day
36:02about his
36:04illness
36:04and I said
36:05is there a name for it
36:06he said oh yes
36:06and I said
36:07well is there a cure for it
36:09he said yes
36:10and I said
36:11well for ever's sakes
36:12what do you do
36:13or what is it
36:14he said he said death
36:18obvious answer
36:19he just never
36:21believed how much
36:23he suffered
36:24how he just
36:26wasted away
36:27and he just
36:28faced
36:29he's out
36:30with such grace
36:31and such
36:32courage
36:33he just
36:33touches me
36:36it touched others too
36:39in 1958
36:41Jones returned
36:42to St. Andrew
36:43Scotland
36:43where he had won
36:44a Walker Cup
36:45a British Open
36:46and a British Amateur
36:48he was the first
36:49American since
36:50Benjamin Franklin
36:51to receive the
36:52Freedom of the City Award
36:54I could take out
36:55of my life
36:56everything
36:59except
37:01my experiences
37:04in St. Andrew
37:06and I still
37:08have a rich
37:08poor life
37:19he was the most
37:21unassuming
37:23human being
37:24if you didn't know
37:26his record
37:27you'd never hear it
37:28from him
37:28I mean I never
37:29heard the man say
37:30one boasting word
37:31in his life
37:31now I
37:33officially
37:35have the right
37:37to feel
37:38as much
37:39at home here
37:40as I have
37:41presumed to feel
37:42unaffected
37:43among the good
37:44thank you guys
37:59Robert Tyre Jones Jr.
38:01died on December 18th
38:031971
38:04at the age of 69
38:06more than a generation
38:07later
38:08his magnetism
38:09still draws visitors
38:11to his Atlanta grave
38:12some
38:13leave golf balls
38:14in his honor
38:15if the legacy
38:16of Bobby Jones
38:17is tarnished
38:18by social transgression
38:19his grip
38:20on the emotions
38:21remains strong
38:22he was so modest
38:25so thoughtful
38:26so friendly
38:27he just
38:29developed
38:29with the crowd
38:32identity
38:32and friendship
38:34transcended
38:35most anything
38:35you can imagine
38:39he left
38:40a style
38:40of playing
38:41the game
38:41squarely
38:42and fairly
38:43he was gracious
38:44and that
38:45was one of his
38:46one of his
38:47greatest attributes
38:48ahead
38:49his accomplishments
38:50in so many fields
38:51were just so much
38:52greater than anyone else
38:53that there's a tendency
38:55not to want him
38:55to have any flaws
38:57I think that his role
38:59was certainly
38:59to treat
39:01all fellow man
39:03especially
39:03the people
39:04that were involved
39:05in golf
39:05the same way
39:06which he did not do
39:07and if he had taken
39:08a different step
39:09the game of golf
39:11would have grown
39:11so much more rapidly
39:12for Afro-Americans
39:15I think he can be
39:16a great player
39:17without being
39:17a social revolutionary
39:18and that's probably
39:22where he stood
39:24there were not many people
39:26in the world
39:27with the talent
39:28that he had
39:29or the discipline
39:30that he had
39:31he was generous
39:33he was thoughtful
39:35but he was also
39:36very tough
39:38you didn't have
39:39to question
39:39what he said
39:40you understood
39:44the best the life
39:45he'll give
39:45in a great fashion
39:47and the worst
39:47the life he'll give
39:48in a great fashion
39:51he had an aura
39:53about him
39:53that
39:55that commanded
39:57instant respect
40:01and
40:02I would say
40:03a whole lot of love
40:06I contend
40:07that Jones
40:08starting with
40:08the Grand Slam
40:09and all that he accomplished
40:10really set the stage
40:12for golf's popularity
40:13today
40:16golf
40:17should always be
40:18indebted
40:18that he played
40:19the game
40:20and he left us
40:22with
40:22so much
40:30each spring
40:31when the first
40:32magnolia-scented breezes
40:33blow across the pine forest
40:35outside Augusta, Georgia
40:36the Masters Tournament
40:38anoints another year
40:39of golf
40:39but which goes
40:41to Bobby Jones
40:42walks the fairways
40:43at Amen Corner
40:44is it the saintly old gentleman
40:46or the old south autocrat
40:48well it has to be
40:49that saintly old fella
40:51because Tiger Woods
40:52killed any suggestion
40:53of the other one
40:54in 1997
40:55when an 18 under par
40:57score of 270
40:58broke the tournament record
41:00for ESPN Classic
41:01Sports Century
41:02I'm Chris Fallon
41:30and I'mco
41:30with the
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