Elder broke through the Augusta racial barrier at the 1975 edition of the famous competition.
He was honored at the 2021 Masters, joining Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player as an honorary holder in the first ceremonial tee shot to start the tournament.
“I was shaking so much that I didn’t even know if I would be able to throw the ball,” he said.
“How I did it I don’t know, only with the help of the Almighty I got there and was able to put my ball on the tee.”
A pioneer
Elder broke into gambling in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s, a notoriously unstable time for race relations.
In doing so, he became one of the most recognizable faces in golf, but that brought with it problems.
In one tournament, he had been forced to change in the parking lot after being denied access to the clubhouse; during another, his ball was thrown into a hedge by a spectator.
Even in the year leading up to his extraordinary appearance as Master, Elder received intimidation and threats, many of which warned him not to travel to Georgia – some made it clear to him what would happen if he did.
“It was scary. You try to eliminate the possibility of something happening,” he said.
“This was one of the reasons we rented two houses during the week of the Masters. The rationale behind it was that we didn’t want people to know where I was staying.”
Elder had qualified for the Masters by winning a tournament in Pensacola, Florida.
But such was the negative reaction to the first of his four PGA Tour titles, that he considered whether accepting the Masters invitation was the right thing to do.
“I thought I wouldn’t go,” Elder says. “It was in my mind and I think the reason I thought about it was because it had been so difficult to qualify for the Masters.
He said it took him about a week to make up his own mind. “I knew it was something I wanted since I got on the tour.
“I think the reason there was so much talk about no black playing at Augusta, and after all this, I wouldn’t have qualified and I wouldn’t have gone.”
Although he continued to lose the cut, he returned five more times, reaching 19th place in 1977 and 17th in 1979.
Elder would become the first black man to represent the United States Ryder Cup team when he played in the 17-11 victory over Europe in 1979.
Renee Powell, the second black woman to compete on the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour and friend of Elder, posted on Facebook that she was “very saddened” by the news.
“We actually merged our tours into perspective after both winning the United Golfers Association (UGA) National in the same year. For the uninitiated, the UGA was an amateur body of African American golfers that included divisions for women, men, boys and girls and a professional division. They ran a series of tournaments during the era of apartheid in the United States
“Over the years, Lee and I have been JC Penney team championship partners at Doral. This year, I was proud to be near the first Augusta National tee when Lee was awarded honorary titular status together. to Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player to open the Master. “
In addition to his mind-boggling appearance, Elder was honored by the Masters in 2020 with the announcement of scholarships to his name in local colleges.
Fred Ridley, president of the Augusta National Golf Club, revealed the Lee Elder Scholarships at Paine College, a historically black college and university (HBCU) based in Augusta. Two scholarships will be awarded each year, one each to an athlete student who competes on the men’s and women’s golf team.
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