R.I.P. Lee Elder
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The Associated Press story on the passing of Lee Elder led this way:
Lee Elder, who broke down racial barriers as the first Black golfer to play in the Masters and paved the way for Tiger Woods and others to follow, has died at the age of 87.
No immediate details were available about the cause of death but Elder had been experiencing respiratory difficulties. Arthur Johnson, a Jacksonville resident and a friend of Elder’s for more than 50 years, said Elder died Sunday during a visit with his wife Sharon to his step-daughter Dory’s home in San Diego.
“I talked to him on Thanksgiving and he sounded really strong, in good spirits,” Johnson said. “This is really difficult. He was like a big brother to me. … we were the best of friends.”
Richard Goldstein files the New York Times obituary and leads with the Masters.
But those performances did not persuade the Masters to bend its new rule and accord Elder a spot. Elder broke through after capturing the 1974 Monsanto Open at the Pensacola Country Club in Florida, where six years earlier he and other African American PGA Tour members playing there had been refused entrance to the clubhouse. They had to dress in a parking lot.
That victory finally brought the 1975 Masters invitation. In the run-up to the tournament Elder received death threats. He rented two houses near the Augusta National course and moved between them as a security measure.
GolfDigest.com’s Tod Leonard on how Elder will always be linked to the Masters for better or worse, from the battle to earn an invitation to last year’s stirring tribute by Chairman Fred Ridley.
Golf.com’s Michael Bamberger also looked at the meaning of Elder’s two Masters appearances and what they meant for the game. This was nice:
But the ultimate gift, stemming from Ridley’s invitation and Mr. Elder’s acceptance of it, was to us, to millions of us across the world, to get acquainted or reacquainted with Elder’s remarkable life and example.
If professional golf has a Jackie Robinson, it is Charlie Sifford, for whom Elin and Tiger named their son. If the game has a Henry Aaron, it is Lee Elder.
No, Mr. Elder did not dominate professional golf as Henry Aaron did professional baseball. Not even close. But Henry and Lee, sons of the Jim Crow South in the years before and during World War II, both pursued their sports with quiet professionalism and little flash.
Bill Fields in The Albatross on the influence Elder had on Tiger Woods.
The young man had been walking fast, en route to Butler Cabin at Augusta National Golf Club to be given a green jacket, the first man of color to slip into that unique shade. The older man, 22 years prior, had been the first African American to play in the Masters. He got a speeding ticket on his way to watch Tiger make history. The fine was worth it. Tiger Woods and Lee Elder hugged amid the tumult along a corridor of cheering spectators, the excitement of a new day in a golf that was a long time coming.
For all the fantastic golf Woods played over those 72 holes, that moment with Elder when the tournament was over stands out as a marker of history and potential for change.
Trail opened, trail climbed.
For those of us who didn’t see him in his prime when he won four PGA Tour events, Elder was a staple of the Senior Tour for several years where he won eight times during its heyday and took home $1.4 million in earnings.
And here is the best of Twitter regarding Elder’s passing. I’ll add more when some notables chime in who so far have not:
