Bobby Jones (golfer)

Bobby Jones won the Grand Slam in 1930.

Robert Tyre "Bobby" Jones Jr. (March 17, 1902 – December 18, 1971), born in Atlanta, Georgia, was arguably the greatest golfer who ever competed on a national and international level. He was a child prodigy who won his first children's tournament at the age of six and made the third round of the U.S. Amateur Championship at fourteen. As a youth he struggled with his temperament, but he hit his stride in 1923, when he won his first U.S. Open. From that win at Inwood through his 1930 victory in the U.S. Amateur he won 13 Major Championships (as they were counted at that time) out of twenty attempts, ranking him behind only Jack Nicklaus' 20 wins and Tiger Woods' 14 wins. Jones was the first player to win The Double, both the US Open and The Open in the same year (1926). He is still the only player ever to have won the Grand Slam, or all four major championships in the same year. He represented the United States in the Walker Cup five times, winning nine of his ten matches. He also won two other tournaments against professionals: the 1927 Southern Open and the 1930 Southeastern Open.

Jones was successful outside of golf as well. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Harvard University where he was a member of the Owl Club. After only one year in law school at Emory University, he passed the bar exam. When he retired from golf at the age of 28, he concentrated on his Atlanta law practice.

Jones is considered one of the five giants of the 1920s American sports scene, along with baseball's Babe Ruth, boxing's Jack Dempsey, American football's Red Grange, and tennis player Bill Tilden. He was the first recipient of the Amateur Athletic Union's James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States.

Jones was not only a consummately skilled golfer, but he also exemplified the principles of sportsmanship and fair play. In the beginning of his amateur career, he was in the final playoff of the United States Open. During the match, his ball ended up in the rough just off the fairway, and as he was setting up to play his shot his iron caused a slight move of the ball. He immediately got angry with himself, turned to the marshals, and called a foul on himself. The marshals discussed among themselves and questioned some of the gallery if anyone had seen the foul. Their decision was that neither they nor anyone else had witnessed any foul, so the decision was left to Jones. Bobby Jones called the foul on himself. The marshal announced that Bobby Jones commanded an extremely high level of integrity, and that he was to be highly commended for this. Jones replied, "Do you commend a bank robber for not robbing a bank? No you don't. This is how the game of golf should be played at all times." Jones would lose the match by one stroke. The United States Golf Association's sportsmanship award is named the Bob Jones Award.

Jones's grave in Oakland Cemetery

After his retirement from golf, Jones made twelve instructional films, worked with A.G. Spalding & Co. to develop the first set of matched clubs, co-designed the Augusta National course with Alister MacKenzie and was one of the founders of The Masters Tournament, first played at Augusta in 1934. During World War II, Jones permitted the US Army to graze cattle on the grounds at Augusta.

In 1948 Jones developed syringomyelia, a fluid-filled cavity in his spinal cord which caused first pain, then paralysis. He was eventually restricted to a wheelchair. In 1958 he received the Freedom of the City of the "Home of Golf", St Andrews in Scotland, the first American since Benjamin Franklin in 1759 to receive the honor. He died in Atlanta, Georgia in 1971 and is buried in Atlanta's historic Oakland Cemetery. He became a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974.

Major championships

Professional majors:
*U.S. Open: 1923, 1926, 1929, 1930
*The Open: 1926, 1927, 1930Amateur majors:
*U.S. Amateur: 1924, 1925, 1927, 1928, 1930
*British Amateur: 1930

Education

*Emory University School of Law, 1926-1927
*Georgia Institute of Technology, Bachelor of Science, 1922
*Harvard University, Bachelor of Arts, 1924

Films

Jones appeared in a series of short instructional films in 1931 titled How I Play Golf, by Bobby Jones . Various setups are used to provide an opportunity for Jones to convey a lesson about a particular part of the game. The shorts were directed by the prolific George Marshall.

Jones was the subject of the biographical 2004 feature film Bobby Jones: A Stroke of Genius in which he was portrayed by James Caviezel. Jones was also used as a supporting character in The Legend of Bagger Vance in 2000, and the event where he called his own penalty is used for the main character, Rannulph Junuh.

External links

*bobbyjones.com
*World Golf Hall of Fame Profile
*Bobby Jones at Find-A-Grave
*Bobby Jones Profile at Golf Legends
*Georgia Sports Hall of Fame

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