Bobby Jones

Named for his paternal grandfather, Bobby Jones was born Robert Tyre Jones Jr. on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 1902 in Atlanta, Georgia. The only son of Colonel Robert P. Jones, a prominent Atlanta lawyer, he was such a sickly child that he was unable to eat solid food until he was five years old. When he was six years old, his family moved to a summer home near the East Lake Country Club where young Bobby grew stronger and began playing sports, particularly baseball and golf.

It was at this young age that Jones developed a love for golf, showing unusual natural ability from the beginning. His first golf club was a cut-down cleek, an early version of a one-iron, given to him by a neighbor. Although he started playing at such a young age, Jones never had any formal lessons. Instead, he learned the golf swing by mimicking East Lake's Scottish professional, Stewart Maiden. Following Maiden around the course during 18-hole rounds with club members, Jones developed the natural, fluid swing that would become his trademark.

Encouraged by his father to try competitive golf, Jones immediately displayed skill beyond his years. At age six, he won his first tournament against three other children at East Lake. At nine, he won the Atlanta Athletic Club junior title, defeating a 16-year-old opponent. When he was 13, he won an invitational tournament in Birmingham, Alabama. As a pudgy 14-year-old, Jones won the East Lake Invitational and the Georgia Amateur, defeating his good friend Perry Adair in the 36-hole final. Adair's father had already made plans to take his son to the 1916 U.S. Amateur to be held at the Merion Cricket Club in Ardmore, Pennsylvania. With the Jones family's permission, he took Bobby along too, making him the youngest player ever to qualify for and play in a U.S. Amateur Championship. Although he didn't win, Jones stunned 1906 U.S. Amateur champion Eben Byers and Pennsylvania Amateur champion Frank Dyer before losing in the third round to defending champion Bob Gardner. The "new kid from Dixie" had become an overnight sensation.

Unfortunately, Jones' rapid rise to stardom and the public expectations that came with it would initially prove to be more of a burden than a blessing. The public placed tremendous pressure on Jones to win-a pressure he would have to live with throughout his playing days. But, even though he played with as much skill as any man, the young Jones was still a boy who would first have to conquer himself before turning his efforts on the golfing world. Jones was an inwardly driven perfectionist and placed tremendous pressure on himself, often losing up to fifteen pounds during a tournament as a result of the stress. He also struggled early on with a volatile temper. Legendary sportswriter Grantland Rice once said Jones had the "face of an angel and the temper of a timber wolf." It was this reputation that brought Jones to perhaps his lowest point as a player, during the 1921 British Open at the Old Course in St. Andrews.

Bobby Jones made his first visit to Great Britain in 1921 at the age of 19. He traveled as part of an informal team of Americans who would compete against their British counterparts in what would become the Walker Cup matches the following year. The trip also gave the Americans a chance to participate in the two British major tournaments-the Amateur and Open Championships. After losing in the fourth round of the British Amateur at Royal Liverpool, Jones came to St. Andrews where he initially disliked the Old Course. Despite not playing particularly well, Jones led all amateurs after the first two rounds. But, in the third round he covered the first nine holes in a dismal 46 shots. At the par-four 10th, he took a double bogey six. Then, on the par-three 11th hole, he hit his ball into Strath bunker and eventually picked it up without completing the hole. Jones would withdraw from the tournament and forever view the event as his "most inglorious failure" in golf. The British press was openly critical of Jones' conduct at St. Andrews, yet this seemingly bitter disappointment would ultimately prove to be a significant turning point for a young Bobby Jones on his way to becoming the greatest champion golf had ever seen.

O.B. Keeler, an Atlanta newspaperman and close personal friend, traveled with Jones to tournaments and covered his career from start to finish. He would later describe Jones' career in two parts, "The Seven Lean Years and The Seven Fat Years." From 1916 until 1923 Jones failed to win a major championship, losing in 10 straight before recording his first win. Following his disappointing showing at St. Andrews, while traveling to the 1921 U.S. Open later that year, Jones confided in Keeler, "I wonder if I'll ever win a championship?" Keeler responded, "Bobby, if you ever get it through your head that whenever you step out on the first tee of any competition, you are the best golfer in it, then you'll win this championship and a lot of others."

Over the next two years, Jones continued to mature both personally and as a player, developing the character he would need to win his first championship. In the 1923 U.S. Open at Inwood Country Club in New York, Jones had a three shot lead going into the final 18 holes. However, his lead vanished when he ended his round bogey-bogey-double bogey. Leaving the 18th green, Jones remarked disgustedly, "I didn't finish like a champion�I finished like a yellow dog." When Bobby Cruickshank made birdie on the last hole to tie, Jones found himself needing to win an 18-hole playoff to secure his first championship. The next day, Jones and Cruickshank played the first 17 holes all-square. On the 18th, Jones hit his drive about 200 yards from the green in the right rough. Calmly executing what would prove to be one of the finest shots of his career, Jones drilled a two-iron to within eight feet of the pin. Bobby Jones had finally won his first major championship.

His victory at Inwood opened the floodgates. Between 1923 and 1930, Jones dominated the game of golf, winning at least one national championship every year and 13 of 21 major championships he entered. He was so completely dominant during that period that his two primary rivals-Walter Hagen and Gene Sarazen-never won any U.S. or British Open in which Jones played. In 1926, Jones became the only amateur to win both the U.S. and British Open championships in the same year, receiving a ticker tape parade down Broadway in New York City. In 1927, he returned to St. Andrews to defend his Open title and in the process erased the bitter disappointment he had suffered six years earlier. Declaring that the trophy would remain in St. Andrews if he should win, Jones endeared himself to the people of St. Andrews, forming a kindred spirit with the birthplace of golf that would flourish for all time.

In 1930, Jones accomplished the unthinkable by winning the U.S. and British Open and Amateur Championships all in the same year. This tremendous feat, later dubbed the Grand Slam-a term borrowed from the card game bridge-has never been accomplished before or since. Fourteen years later, the Associated Press would call Jones' accomplishment the all-time achievement in sports history.

Most of those who followed the game of golf assumed Jones would turn professional and continue to win championships for years to come. Having already dominated both professionals and amateurs, there seemed to be no limit to the number of tournaments Jones would win. But, just over a month after winning the Grand Slam, Bobby Jones shocked the world by retiring from golf at the age of 28.

Amazingly, Jones amassed his incredible record while playing no more frequently than the average weekend golfer-about 80 rounds per year. He typically spent no more than three months out of the year traveling to, and playing in, tournaments. Consequently, he played almost exclusively in national championships, viewing mere tournaments as a sideline used only as a tune-up for the majors after a long lay-off. Although Jones would never again play in a national championship, he continued to leave his indelible mark on the game through other endeavors.

In retirement, Jones continued to demonstrate his wide range of talents and interests. Having already contributed immeasurably to the game as a player, he proved himself to be equally impressive as a teacher, writer and golf course designer. In 1931, Jones began working on 12 short, educational golf films for Warner Brothers entitled "How I Play Golf." Hollywood stars like W.C. Fields clamored to participate in the project. O.B. Keeler wrote the scripts, which generally consisted of a loose story line with instruction from Jones mixed in somewhere along the way. Entertaining and insightful, the films are still considered classics today.

Jones also assisted A.G. Spalding & Co. in designing the first set of matched golf clubs. As a player, Jones had always worked closely with club makers in the design of his own clubs. He worked with Spalding to create a set of clubs that would have the superior feel of hand-crafted Scottish clubs, but could be mass produced in the U.S. and sold as sets. After rejecting over 200 different clubs, Jones finally arrived at a set that satisfied him. The clubs were made with steel shafts-a design that was quickly replacing the hickory shafts Jones had used. Each club was also given a number instead of the old Scottish names used up until that time, an innovation that quickly became the industry standard and remains in place today. The clubs appeared in 1932 bearing Jones' name and sold steadily for over 40 years.

Perhaps Bobby Jones' greatest legacy to the game of golf was his design of Augusta National. Still considered one of the finest golf courses in the world, Augusta opened in 1933 and is home to the Masters, one of the four major tournaments played today.

In 1942, at the age of 40, Jones was commissioned a captain in the U.S. Army Air Corps, intent on doing his part to support the war effort. He later served as an intelligence officer with the U.S. 9th Air Corps, but his unit was converted to infantry and landed at Normandy on D-Day plus one. After spending two days under intense enemy fire, Jones spent several months in Europe before returning from the war as a Lieutenant Colonel. Later in life, Jones would speak little about his experiences in the war, scoffing at the subject in much the same way he scoffed when people wanted to speak about his exploits in golf.

In 1948, Jones would come face to face with the greatest challenge of his life. Suffering from severe back and neck pain, tests showed he had bone growths on three cervical vertebrae. Eventually, he was diagnosed with syringomyelia, a rare and degenerative disease of the central nervous system. Paralysis first required Jones to use a cane, then leg braces, and finally a wheelchair. At first glance, Jones' fate might appear a cruel irony as the author of one of golf's most graceful and powerful swings lived out his days crippled by a deadly disease. But those who knew him would disagree. While known primarily for his unmatched skill on the golf course, the true measure of Bobby Jones was his character. One story passed down through the years has Jones responding to a question about his disease late in life with the statement, "We all have to play the ball as it lies." And play it he did, enduring tremendous pain with stoic bravery for some 22 years.

On December 18, 1971, golfers on the Old Course at St. Andrews stopped play as the flag on the clubhouse in front of the 18th hole was lowered to half-staff. The legendary Bobby Jones was dead at the age of 69.

Just how great was Bobby Jones? "Down the years people have wondered whether Jones was the greatest of all golfers," British golf writer Pat Ward-Thomas said of Jones. "Comparison is invidious, for no man can do more than win and Jones won more often within a given period than anyone else has ever done. In his time, Jones was supreme, at match and medal play, to a greater extent than Hogan or Nicklaus have been in theirs." For many, Robert Tyre Jones Jr. of Atlanta, Georgia was, quite simply, the greatest of them all.