Lee Elder obituary

First African-American golfer to play in the Masters who coped with the many obstacles he faced during his career with grace

In 1933 Cliff Roberts, co-founder of the Augusta National club in Georgia, home of the US Masters golf tournament, declared that all the golfers will be white and all the caddies will be black" for as long as he could influence the situation. He was as good as his word for the next four decades, but in the end Lee Elder forced open the doors at the 1975 Masters, where he became the first black person to play in the competition.

Elder, who has died aged 87, had been a significant force in US golf in the late 1960s and early 70s, yet had waited in vain for an invite to the Masters, one of the four majors" of golf. However, his profile reached such heights that Roberts felt he had no choice but to ring up Elder and offer him a place.

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