| Bobby Jones | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Bobby_Jones_c1921.jpg) Jones, c. 1921 | |||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Full name | Robert Tyre Jones Jr. | ||||||||
| Born | March 17, 1902 Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died | December 18, 1971 (aged 69) Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) | ||||||||
| Weight | 165 lb (75 kg; 11.8 st) | ||||||||
| Sporting nationality |  United States | ||||||||
| Spouse |
Mary Rice Malone (m. 1924) | ||||||||
| Children | 3 | ||||||||
| Career | |||||||||
| College | Georgia Tech Harvard University Emory University | ||||||||
| Turned professional | 1930 | ||||||||
| Professional wins | 9[1] | ||||||||
| Number of wins by tour | |||||||||
| PGA Tour | 9 | ||||||||
| Best results in major championships (wins: 13) | |||||||||
| Masters Tournament | T13: 1934 | ||||||||
| PGA Championship | DNP | ||||||||
| U.S. Open | Won: 1923, 1926, 1929, 1930 | ||||||||
| The Open Championship | Won: 1926, 1927, 1930 | ||||||||
| U.S. Amateur | Won: 1924, 1925, 1927, 1928, 1930 | ||||||||
| British Amateur | Won: 1930 | ||||||||
| Achievements and awards | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Bobby Jones | |
|---|---|
| Allegiance | United States |
| Service | &sq=&lang=&file=File:US_Army_Air_Corps_Hap_Arnold_Wings.svg){kind=small} U.S. Army Air Corps |
| Years of service | 1942–1944 [4] |
| Rank | &sq=&lang=&file=File:US-O5_insignia.svg){kind=small} Lieutenant colonel |
| Unit | Intelligence; 84th Fighter Wing, Ninth Air Force [4] |
| Battles / wars | World War II, European theater |
| Awards | American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal |
Robert Tyre Jones Jr. (March 17, 1902 – December 18, 1971) was an American amateur golfer who was one of the most influential figures in the history of the sport; he was also a lawyer by profession. Jones founded and helped design the Augusta National Golf Club, and co-founded the Masters Tournament. The innovations that he introduced at the Masters have been copied by virtually every professional golf tournament in the world.
Jones was the most successful amateur golfer ever to compete at a national and international level. During his peak from 1923 to 1930, he dominated top-level amateur competition, and competed very successfully against the world's best professional golfers.[5] Jones often beat stars such as Walter Hagen and Gene Sarazen, the era's top pros. Jones earned his living mainly as a lawyer, and competed in golf only as an amateur, primarily on a part-time basis, and chose to retire from competition at age 28, though he earned significant money from golf after that, as an instructor and equipment designer.
Explaining his decision to retire, Jones said, "It [championship golf] is something like a cage. First you are expected to get into it and then you are expected to stay there. But of course, nobody can stay there."[6] Jones is most famous for his unique "Grand Slam," consisting of his victory in all four major golf tournaments of his era (the open and amateur championships in both the U.S. and the U.K.) in a single calendar year (1930). In all Jones played in 31 majors, winning 13 and placing among the top ten finishers 27 times.
After retiring from competitive golf in 1930, Jones founded and helped design the Augusta National Golf Club soon afterwards in 1933. He also co-founded the Masters Tournament, which has been annually staged by the club since 1934 (except for 1943–45, when it was canceled due to World War II). The Masters evolved into one of golf's four major championships. Jones came out of retirement in 1934 to play in the Masters on an exhibition basis through 1948. Jones played his last round of golf at East Lake Golf Club, his home course in Atlanta, on August 18, 1948. A picture commemorating the event now sits in the clubhouse at East Lake. Citing health reasons, he quit golf permanently thereafter. Jones suffered from a rare neurological condition called syringomyelia, which eventually robbed him of the ability to walk.[7] He died of cardiovascular disease in 1971.[8]
Bobby Jones was often confused with the prolific golf course designer Robert Trent Jones, with whom he worked from time to time. "People always used to get them confused, so when they met, they decided each be called something different," Robert Trent Jones Jr. said. To help avoid confusion, the golfer was called "Bobby," and the golf course designer was called "Trent."[9]
- ^ Jones was an amateur in his nine wins in professional tournaments.
- ^ a b "Bobby Jones". Georgia Tech. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
- ^ "Georgia Tech Athletics Hall of Fame". ramblinwreck.com. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
- ^ a b "Sports Heroes Who Served: Golfer Landed in Normandy During WWII".
- ^ Hardin, Robin (2004). "Crowning the King: Grantland Rice and Bobby Jones". Georgia Historical Quarterly. 88 (4): 511–529. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
- ^ Apfelbaum, Jim, ed. (2007). The Gigantic Book of Golf Quotations. Skyhorse Publishing. ISBN 978-1-60239-014-0.
- ^ "About Bobby Jones". bobbyjonescsf.org.
- ^ Price, Charles (March 23, 2020). "The last days of Bobby Jones". Golf Digest.
- ^ Mayo, Michael (June 16, 2000). "Course Designer Jones Dies". Sun-Sentinel. Archived from the original on May 4, 2014. Retrieved May 4, 2014.