Lee Elder lives dream through Tiger Woods'
win
By Ron Green Jr.
Knight-Ridder Newspapers
(KRT)
AUGUSTA, Ga. - Lee Elder, the first black ever to play in the
Masters, waited a lifetime for Sunday afternoon.
"Everyone hoped and prayed a day like this would come,"
Elder said, standing under the giant oak tree that shades the
back side of the Augusta National clubhouse.
Until he broke the color barrier at Augusta in 1975, no black
had ever played in the Masters because none had ever qualified.
Elder won the 1974 Monsanto Open to earn his invitation to the
Masters.
Twenty-two years later, Elder made the trip Sunday from Pompano
Beach, Fla., to see Tiger Woods win the Masters.
"The No. 1 reason I'm here is to see history made,"
Elder said.
He was the guest of Masters chairman Jack Stephens, who invited
him here to share in the history of the day.
The impact of Woods' victory, Elder said, compares to what
Jackie Robinson did 50 years ago when he integrated major league
baseball.
"I would compare this to Jackie," Elder said. "To
me, a black winning a major golf championship is just as high
as that. I think Tiger will get as much publicity for winning
this as Jackie did when he first broke in.
"A lot of clubs still don't have blacks playing in them.
This has big significance because it will certainly open a lot
more doors."
As Elder waited for Woods to hit his first tee shot Sunday,
he thought about the other black players who came to Augusta and
some who didn't.
"I tried, Charlie (Sifford) tried, Jim Thorpe tried,"
Elder said. "But I think we were a little before our time.
It's all open now."
When Elder came to Augusta National for the first time amid
enormous media attention, he was greeted at the front door by
tournament chairman Clifford Roberts.
Elder said he was treated warmly by everyone associated with
the tournament and noticed that many of the black workers at the
club paid special attention to him.
He said he did not receive any death threats at his first Masters
but received a handful of threatening letters that he has saved.
Aware of the circumstances surrounding his appearance at Augusta
and because of the letters, Elder said he was careful about what
he did and where he went.
"Anytime you get something of that nature, you have to
sit back and say, 'Gee,' " he said. "That's the reason
I made myself a little more scarce around here the first time.
"I was almost assured nothing would happen inside here,
but when I got outside, it was a little up in the air. I'd go
straight home or, if I went out, I'd go with a group."
Elder still uses the letters to tell young people about life.
"When I talk to some of the kids, I explain the situation
to them or I try to. I keep the letters as a reminder that anything
can happen. I don't like to feel that way."
On Sunday, though, as Woods headed down the first fairway toward
history, Elder felt uplifted.
"This will make my heart feel so much better," he
said.
(c) 1997, The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.).
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