By Tod Leonard
If there ever is a movie made about the extraordinary life of Lee Elder—and there should be—it needs to open with a scene in front of the Augusta National clubhouse. It is April 10, 1975. Near the famous big oak, the camera pans the prideful, beaming faces of the Black waiters and cooks and caddies. They have gathered to see and cheer the 40-year-old Elder, dressed all in green, as he walks to the locker room after his debut round in the Masters—the first for a Black golfer.

That’s your defining shot of Lee Elder, of what he meant to golf, to sports and to the world as a whole. It is the memory of that scene that endured with Elder for the rest of his life. “I tell you, my heart was pounding so bad,” he recalled in an interview with me in 2015. “I was so appreciative. I cared so much about how they felt. I couldn’t talk to each and every one of them, but I tried to.”

Robert Lee Elder, who died early on Sunday morning in Escondido, Calif., at 87, achieved more than the son of Texas coal truck driver could have dreamed. Beginning his golf life as a caddie, Elder played the game cross-handed until African-American pro Ted Rhodes turned him around and got him moving toward a professional playing career. Elder was among the top golfers in the United Golf Association Tour for Black players, but it wasn’t until 1968 that the then 33-year-old could afford to try PGA Tour qualifying school. Elder earned his card in his first attempt, and he would go on to win four times on the PGA Tour while winning another eight tournaments on the 50-and-older senior circuit. The USGA bestowed its highest honour on Elder, the Bob Jones Award, in 2019.

To be sure, there were other Blacks who paved the way for Elder. Rhodes played in the 1948 U.S. Open at Riviera and later joined Bill Spiller in bringing a lawsuit against the Professional Golfers’ Association for its “Caucasian only” clause. Charlie Sifford was the first official Black member of the PGA Tour in 1961, and Pete Brown was the first to win a tour event at the 1964 Waco Open.

But neither Sifford nor Brown were invited to play in the Masters, and it was Elder’s invitation from then-Augusta National chairman Clifford Roberts, after winning the 1974 Monsanto Open, that created the circumstance in which Elder could break the colour barrier. To do so in a tournament that was so stubbornly discriminatory for so long set Elder apart.

JD Cuban
Lee Elder acknowledges cheers during the honorary starters ceremony at the 2021 Masters.

Nothing in Elder’s career would compare to that historic first appearance in the deep South, where even in the triumph of that time there were threats so menacing that he moved between houses during Masters week. None of that was new. He and his fellow Black players faced ugly discrimination every week.

Read the headlines and the tributes today that mark Elder’s passing and nearly all of them cite him breaking the color barrier at Augusta, and the humble manner in which he did so.

“Lee Elder was a pioneer in so many ways,” Jack Nicklaus wrote on Twitter. “Yes, he was the first black golfer to play in the Masters, but that simply underlined the hard work Lee put in to further the cause of everyone who has a dream to play on the PGA Tour and thinks there were too many barriers before them.”

Elder would not dispute the characterisation of his legacy.

“There was a sense of relief when I qualified [for the Masters],” Elder said in 2015. “And what I mean by relief is that they were so happy because this was the one thing that could be taken away from the tournament when people talked about it—that no Blacks had played in it. There were so many Blacks who wanted to be a part of the Masters, but they didn’t know how to go about it, because no Black had ever played there. I think that made a difference when the barrier fell.”

Twenty-two years later, Elder didn’t plan on being at the 1997 Masters, but he rushed to Georgia on the weekend to see Tiger Woods smash another barrier as the first Black champion at Augusta.

Bettmann
Lee Elder is transported from the 18th green by Dwight Thompson, chairman of the Masters press committee, after his practice round for the 1975 Masters.

Elder’s relationship with Augusta National was complicated. He spoke of dearly loving the tournament and the course, and he made it a point to attend the Masters nearly every year. But for a long time, he privately felt as if he’d been slighted by the club’s members in not being more publicly recognized for his feat in ’75. He would admit his Masters record was mediocre—he missed the cut in three of his six appearances, with a tie for 17th as his best showing—but there were achievements that couldn’t be pencilled onto a scorecard.

Elder, however, was quietly prideful and not of the disposition to stir dissent. In some ways, it also served him to protect his Masters legacy, because in his years after playing, Elder was a popular, paid guest speaker at charity events and golf tournaments because people were enthralled to hear about his experiences at Augusta. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Elder and his wife, Sharon, travelled the country for much of the calendar, visiting longtime friends and making appearances. It was only in recent years that Elder was slowed by a breathing condition that required him to use a portable oxygen tank.

Then came the call from Augusta National Chairman Fred Ridley in late 2020. Following a summer of racial tension and unrest over social injustice, Ridley asked Elder to join Nicklaus and Gary Player as an honorary starter for the 2021 Masters and told him Augusta National would start men’s and women’s golf scholarships at Paine College in Augusta in Elder’s name, as well as endow the women’s golf program. Elder was overcome with gratitude, and on April 8—46 years after breaking Augusta’s color barrier—he was feted on the first tee of the Masters. Frail, joyous and humbled that day, Elder finally felt truly respected and embraced by those who wear the green jackets.

“For me and my family, I think it was one of the most emotional experiences that I have ever witnessed or been involved in,” Elder said.

Ridley wrote on Monday of Elder’s passing and said, “Lee will always be a part of the history of the Masters Tournament. His presence will be sorely missed, but his legacy will continue to be celebrated.”

Lee Elder would appreciate that more than we will ever know.

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By Kent Gray
It was called the “shot heard around the world”, a spoon (4 wood in today’s parlance) that Gene Sarazen holed for a double eagle in 1935 to put the Masters on the map.

Fast-forward to Thursday at Augusta National and 86-year-old Lee Elder didn’t even need to hit a shot in his role as the major’s newest honorary starter to make global headlines. His mere presence at the ceremonial first tee shot, courtesy of becoming the first black man to play at the Masters in 1975, was poignant enough.

RELATED: Lee Elder makes history again at Augusta National as an honorary starter

Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player did stripe drives down Augusta National’s 1st fairway and while not as historically significant as Sarazen’s albatross or Elder’s appearance, there was also a major moment for another golf trailblazer – Golf Saudi.

Golf’s governing body in the Kingdom grabbed the opportunity to announce Player as its latest, and by far most influential, global ambassador.

The nine-time major champion will work with Golf Saudi to “help implement a shared vision for golf and its future development within the Kingdom.” He previously made guest appearances at the 2020 Saudi International, as well as the inaugural Golf Saudi Summit in the same year.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Grand Slam Champion X Golf Saudi

We’re delighted the legendary @garyplayer is now a Golf Saudi Ambassador. The nine-time major winner will help deliver fun and accessible golf activities across Saudi Arabia.

Welcome to the family, Mr Player♞#GolfSaudi pic.twitter.com/ADrqzktnql

— Golf Saudi قـولـف الـسـعـوديـة (@Golf_Saudi) April 8, 2021

“I have long admired the vision of Golf Saudi, but more importantly the work that is being done on the ground to provide access to the sport for all levels,” said Player who won the Masters in 1961, 1974 and 1978.

“I have had many fantastic experiences visiting the Middle East and was lucky enough to visit Saudi Arabia to see first-hand the great work that is under way, in particular the effort and focus to introduce the country’s youthful population to the health benefits the sport can provide.”

Player, whose global portfolio of course designs includes Saadiyat Beach Golf Club in Abu Dhabi, has already been involved in conversations with Golf Saudi about how to further develop the Saudi’s infrastructure as part of the Kingdom’s wider ‘Vision 2030’ socio-economic programme.

Player hosted a clinic for juniors at the 2020 Saudi-International.

“We are privileged to have Gary Player join us as our latest international Golf Saudi ambassador and support our ongoing development,” said Golf Saudi CEO Majed Al-Sorour.

“Since his first visit in early 2020, we have kept in regular contact with Mr. Player and his interest in introducing golf to the younger members of Saudi Arabia’s population remains undimmed. Following his appointment as an official ambassador, we are looking forward to learning from his expertise and benefiting from his strong track record within the game to help us build a golfing ecosystem, which future generations can be proud of.”

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By Daniel Rapaport
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Lee Elder didn’t hit a shot, but he didn’t have to. For Elder’s impact on the game of golf—and on the Masters—runs far deeper than a drive down the middle.

The first Black man to play in the Masters was honoured at Augusta National on Thursday morning, when he joined Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player for the ceremonial first tee shot to kick off the 2021 Masters Tournament.

Lee Elder is joined this morning by special guests including his family, representatives from Paine College and a group of Black PGA professionals. #themasters pic.twitter.com/C9AJSlypF4

— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 8, 2021

Elder, 86, made history in 1975 when he played in the Masters, a black man competing at a club with an unfortunate history of exclusion.

“And in doing so,” said club chairman Fred Ridley, “he blazed a trail that will inspire the game of golf and future generations of players.”

JD Cuban

The warm Georgia sun peaked through the trees as three legends of the game gathered on the first tee box. Masters champions Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson, as well as Cameron Champ, gathered round to witness the awe-inspiring moment. So did guests from Paine College, a historically black institution just down the road in Augusta where Elder received an honorary degree earlier this week and where there are golf scholarships offered in his name, and multiple Black golf professionals from the PGA of America.

“They undoubtedly were inspired by Lee Elder,” Ridley said, “and his message that the game of golf belongs to everyone. Today, Lee Elder will inspire us and make history once more. Not with the drive, but with his presence, strength and character.”

Elder, who is physically unable to hit a golf shot, then used a driver as a cane to stand up and received rousing applause from the healthy gathering of patrons surrounding the first tee box.

“For me and my family, I think it was one of the most emotional experiences that I have ever witnessed or been involved in,” Elder said. “It is certainly something that I will cherish for the rest of my life.”

Next up was the indefatigable Player, 85, who striped one down the centre. After him came Nicklaus, 81 and the winner of a record six Masters, who followed suit with a tight draw that found the short grass.

And, with that, the 2021 Masters officially began.

JD Cuban

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By Tod Leonard
Lee Elder got some awful news this morning. Hank Aaron died, and it’s hitting Elder hard. Aaron was 86. Elder is 86. They grew close over the years as great sportsmen of their era, bonded by achievement, history and the death threats they endured as Black men who dared to break barriers previously unchallenged in their professions.

Elder has been looking forward to lunch on this January day. The occasion is to talk about his upcoming trip to Augusta National Golf Club, where for the first time he will join Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player as an honorary starter for the Masters. Elder has thought of little else since Augusta National Chairman Fred Ridley called in November with the invitation to further polish Elder’s Masters legacy.

But on this day at the Rancho Bernardo Inn, down the street from where Elder and his wife Sharon rent a home in an upscale San Diego neighbourhood, there’s a ceiling of dark clouds, and a cold wind blows through a deserted patio. Elder is distracted, solemnly preoccupied with his memories of Aaron.

Some of the parallels of the lives of Elder and Aaron are fairly startling. On April 8, 1974, Aaron became baseball’s home-run king by slugging No. 715 at Atlanta’s Fulton County Stadium. Thirteen days later, Elder beat Peter Oosterhuis in a playoff at the Monsanto Open in Pensacola, Fla., setting in motion a fascinating and sometimes harrowing march toward the Masters the following April. Nearly a year to the day of Aaron’s feat, Elder became the first Black man to compete in the Masters.

For that week in 1975 and the five other occasions Elder played in the Masters, he says Aaron arranged for a car to be waiting at the Atlanta airport for his use. Aaron called Elder regularly to see how he was faring and to help him calm his nerves.

“He was a good man, I tell you,” Elder says. “See, a lot of people really feel that I was in the Jackie Robinson era. I knew Jackie, and I followed him quite a bit.

“We played golf together. But it wasn’t like with me and Hank. We could relate more because we came along during the same time in the Civil Rights era.”

Usually gregarious, with an easy smile and deep belly laugh, Elder shakes his head and leans on the cane he grips tightly. “It’s been a sad day,” he says. “You meet someone and become closely associated with them, and then something like this happens. All of a sudden, he dies. It’s pretty hard to digest.”

Mortality is on Elder’s mind these days. He knows he is in the twilight of his life. A decade ago, he had quadruple bypass heart surgery. He is blind in his left eye, the iris a milky white, from having diabetes for 25 years. Three times a day he must stick himself with a needle filled with insulin. “I cry inside every time he has to do that,” says one of Elder’s closest friends, Dave Scott, a longtime San Diego television weatherman who serves as a confidant and caretaker for Lee and Sharon, Elder’s wife of 26 years. Elder’s endearing nickname for Scott: “Mostly Sunny.”

At lunch, Scott, gently clutching Elder’s elbow, helps him up a short set of stairs because the golfer has an arthritic knee that he says is due for a couple of injections before he arrives at Augusta. For now, he will take any help he can get and uses one of those sit-down electric scooters when Scott takes him shopping at Walmart.

Despite the ailments, Elder says, “You know, I wouldn’t want it any other way right now in my life.”

Bettmann
Lee Elder with Arnold Palmer before the 1975 Masters.

When Fred Ridley announced at the pandemic-delayed Masters in November that Elder would be an honorary starter beginning in 2021, the golfer received an outpouring of congratulations from people of all walks, among them Augusta National member and former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, NBA Hall of Famer Julius Erving and actor Chris Tucker.

Nicklaus wrote Elder a letter, the contents of which Elder chooses to keep private, and he was touched. “People say that Jack doesn’t write letters to people that much, but when he does, it comes from the heart,” Elder says. “I’m so happy he thought that much of me. Along the trail, we had some pretty tough battles.”

“It’s been a good run for me in the sense that it’s been so positive,” Elder offers. “When people called, they weren’t calling to say this should have been done a long time ago. The conversation was of peacefulness, calm, and thank goodness this happened before it was too late.”

Too late. Quietly, and with grace, Elder wondered if he would be recognized for his historical significance to the club. Augusta National reveres its champions, but for most other milestones, the calendar turns with nary a golf clap. When the 40th anniversary of Elder’s first Masters appearance arrived in 2015, Augusta mayor Hardie Davis declared Thursday of tournament week “Robert Lee Elder Day,” and Gary Player advocated for a party that took place away from the course.

Tucker was among the speakers who lauded Elder and his accomplishments. The recipient of this love was humbled.

But weeks earlier, Elder told me in an interview, “I do feel like I would have liked some kind of recognition [by Augusta National]. It’s just something that I felt deserving of.”

Elder professes his love for Augusta National as an institution. “It’s wonderful,” he says.

“Every other club in America should look to it for how it treats it members.” He is devoted to the Masters, having attended nearly every tournament since he was a player. But he also says that the only Augusta National chairmen he knew well were Clifford Roberts, co-founder of the club with Bobby Jones, and Ridley, the current chairman.

Augusta National
Elder and caddie during the 1975 Masters

Fates and philosophies change depending on who’s in charge, and in Ridley, Elder found a supporter who was more than a passing acquaintance. In a bit of serendipity, Elder was invited years ago to play Augusta National by member J. Paul Austin, who was then CEO of Coca-Cola. Austin, who died in 1985, also invited then-tour player Deane Beman—the future commissioner of the PGA Tour—and the 1975 U.S. Amateur champion to fill out that foursome. That man was Fred Ridley, who would become president of the United States Golf Association before becoming chairman of ANGC in 2017.

More than four decades later, it was Ridley who placed the call to Elder in early November 2020 to ask if he would consider being an honorary starter.

“He could hardly get the conversation out of his mouth,” Elder recalls, laughing, “before I said, ‘Mr. Chairman, I’d be more than happy to do anything to be associated with Augusta National.’ There were a whole lot of people they could have selected, and I’m sure there are people saying there are people more deserving than Lee Elder. But Fred is a wonderful, wonderful person, and he was the right person to do this.”

There were conversations among his business friends in Augusta, Elder says, that he should have replaced Arnold Palmer as an honorary starter after Palmer’s death before the 2017 Masters. But Elder says he believes Augusta National members were moved to action when Golf Digest editor-in-chief Jerry Tarde made the case for Elder’s inclusion in a column in July. “That was the steppingstone,” Elder says.

When Elder walks onto Augusta National’s first tee the morning of April 8, 2021, he will be greeted by Ridley, and he will shake hands with and tip his cap to two men in Nicklaus, now 81, and Player, 85, who have led very different lives from his own. Palmer, Nicklaus and Player formed the “Big Three,” and they all built empires on their brands. Elder never had the same stature or public relations platform, and he had to deal with some financial setbacks early in his career. In 17 full seasons on the PGA Tour and with four wins, Elder earned $1,020,514, or less than a current tour player receives for a single victory.

Elder never wallowed in his misfortune. Before his first Masters appearance, which came 11 months after his win in Pensacola, Elder was a popular “get” on the banquet circuit.

It widened his waistline and didn’t do much for his golf—he made only $26,810 on tour in 1975—but he found his groove with a homespun, relatable way of telling inspirational stories, and he realised he could make as much money in front of a microphone as grinding over four-footers.

Not quite done with playing, Elder tore up the senior circuit for a period in the mid-1980s, winning seven times in two years. He got his eighth win in 1988, and by 1990 he was finished with professional golf. In the 31 years since, Lee and Sharon Elder have travelled the world, often without having a home of their own for years at a time.

They booked as many appearances at pro-ams and celebrity events as the demand allowed and often stayed in hotels or homes of friends and organizers. The pandemic has grounded them in California since March 2020. “I tell people I don’t have a lot of money, but I have a lot of love,” Elder says, laughing.

J.D. Cuban
“I just love him like a dad,” Dave Scott says of Elder.

The Elders have done it their way, and many in golf might look askance at how they have hustled to make ends meet and have a better life. Their existence is so different from that of many of his playing peers, Elder says, that he is more comfortable hanging out with Scott than, say, Gary Player, who has been one of his closest friends and most ardent supporters. “Gary’s in a little bit different category,” Elder says. “We’ve been invited to come visit him, but I’m the type of person who wants to be around people who are real. I’m not saying he has phony people around him, but I don’t think that’s an area that would be suitable for Sharon and me.”

The Elders met Scott, who has worked for 29 years at one television station with the envious task of being a San Diego weather forecaster, at the inaugural charity golf event organized by late NFL great Junior Seau. With a Scottish father who introduced him to golf early, Scott became a top-level junior player, and in college he was enthralled by the notion of a Black man playing in the Masters.

Scott, 64, recognised early in his life that he had an affinity for people of colour, becoming aware of their challenges and the prejudices they faced while he lived for a time in Hawaii as a kid. He took up jazz trombone as a youngster and later was the only white member of a band that played clubs in downtown San Diego. Scott married, had three children with and later divorced Luana Harris, the sister of Pro Football Hall of Famer Franco Harris.

Scott says the connection he had with Elder was instant. “I just love him like a dad,” he says. “To me, Lee is an honour in my life.”

For years, Scott played a couple of rounds a week with Elder, many of them at La Costa. “Did you get the Fritos?” Elder would ask when Scott arrived.

“He loves Fritos as much as he loves golf,” Scott says, rolling his eyes. Lunch after golf is almost always the same—tuna sandwich and clam chowder.

Now, the two get out to play about once a month at the Rancho Bernardo Inn, and Elder might hit only a few balls.

“But he loves how peaceful it is out there,” Scott says.

Scott was among the first people Elder told about getting the invitation to be an honorary starter at the Masters. “You’re not going to believe this, Mostly Sunny!” he said over the phone. Scott could sense Elder’s joy and his relief.

During the cable-television broadcast of the Masters’ opening shots on Thursday, millions of people for the first time will see Lee Elder swing a golf club—not anything like he did in his prime, but it doesn’t matter. In following Jock Hutchison, Fred McLeod, Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, Byron Nelson, Palmer, Nicklaus and Player, Elder joins an elite and distinguished class of players that Augusta National implores us, in its polite Southern manner, to respect and remember. It is validation like no other in golf.

Two years ago, Scott travelled to Pebble Beach when Elder received the Bob Jones Award, the highest honour the USGA bestows. At that point, they both figured that would be the pinnacle, and Elder was wholly satisfied with that.

But then the Augusta opportunity arrived, and it somehow feels bigger, as if Elder is being reintroduced not just to the golf world, but the whole world.

“This is more amazing because it’s the Masters, it’s Augusta National and what the club has overcome with its own issues,” Scott says. “To see Lee finally get this honor, to know he’s alive and will walk up on that tee . . . people of colour all around the world are going to celebrate this. And I hope I’m there so he can look up at me and say, ‘I made it, Mostly Sunny.’ ”

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By Joel Beall
Lee Elder’s legacy at the Masters was already established with his historic appearance as the first Black golfer to compete in the tournament in 1975. But that legacy will take on a new life next April when the 86-year-old steps to the first tee once more at Augusta National, this time as one of the tournament’s Honorary Starters.

Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley announced Monday that Elder will join Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player in the annual ceremony for the 2021 Masters.

“The opportunity to earn an invitation to the Masters and stand at that first tee was my dream, and to have it come true in 1975 remains one of the greatest highlights of my career and life,” Elder said. “So to be invited back to the first tee one more time to join Jack and Gary for next year’s Masters means the world to me.”

Additionally, Ridley announced that the club will fund the creation of a women’s golf program at Paine College, a Historically Black College and University located in Augusta, as well as establish the Lee Elder Scholarships at Paine College in his honour. Two scholarships will be awarded annually, one each to a student athlete who competes on the men’s and women’s golf team.

It was 45 years ago last April that Elder broke the race barrier in the Masters, having qualified for the tournament by winning the PGA Tour’s Monsanto Open. His appearance at Augusta National brought animosity and cruelty, Elder receiving death threats for his achievement. He rented two houses during the Masters so that his would-be antagonizers would not know where he was. In the face of this inhumanity, Elder shot 74 and 78, missing the cut. He would play in the tournament five other times, his best finish a T-17 in 1979.

The Masters was not the only tournament that Elder proved a pioneer. He became the first Black player in the Ryder Cup, making the American team in 1979. “As I look back over the accomplishments I’ve had in my life,” Elder told Golf Digest in July, “the one thing that I’m proudest of is playing in the Ryder Cup and representing my country.” He also competed in the 1971 South African PGA Championship, the first integrated event in the midst of South Africa’s apartheid policies.

Elder finished his career with four PGA Tour victories and eight wins on the PGA Tour Champions. His accolades were not confined to the golf course. He developed a scholarship for low-income young men and women seeking money for college, served on the board for Goodwill and was a fundraiser for the United Negro College Fund.

Elder’s appearance at the Masters in 1975 was the first of six starts in the tournament, his best finish coming with a T-17 in 1979. Augusta National

“Mr. Elder’s participation in the Honorary Starters Ceremony next April will recognize his courageous life and commemorate all he has done in his career to help eliminate barriers and inspire Black men and women in the game of golf and beyond,” Ridley said in a press release. “We hope that by having him serve as an Honorary Starter for the 2021 Masters that he can be joined at the first tee by family, friends and patrons for a moment that will be treasured worldwide.”

Following the announcement, Tiger Woods offered his congratulations to Elder. “We all belong,” Woods said. “Such wonderful news to hear from Augusta National in celebration of Lee Elder.”

Golf Digest editor-in-chief Jerry Tarde advocated for Elder’s inclusion as a Masters Honorary starter this summer. “He would never say it himself. He’s too indomitable and gracious,” Tarde wrote, “but we’ve taken too long to get to this moment. Lee Elder is a good man who deserves one last accolade.”

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