Tiger Woods Makes Masters History

51 Pages·2014·14.27 MB·English

by  Doug Williams

T I G E R W O O D S
Greatest Events in
SPORTS HISTORY W
IL
L
I
A
M
SportsZone S
MAKES MASTERS
Fans watch new sporting events every day. But only a few are truly
unforgettable. Readers can relive some of the most amazing
and important moments in sports with Greatest Events in Sports
History. The books in this exciting series bring the stories to life with
a compelling narrative, classic photographs, and news excerpts that
T
provide detail and context, putting the readers on the scene as history I
G
unfolds. This series will help make sure some of the most memorable E HISTORY
R
and important moments in sports history are not forgotten. W
O
O
D
S

M
§ Historic Photos § Glossary A by Doug Williams
K
FEATURES: § In the News Sidebars § Additional Resources E
S
M
§ Timeline § Index
A
S
T
E
R
S
H
I
S
T
BOOKS IN THIS SERIES: O
R
Y
Jackie Robinson Breaks the Color Barrier
Joe Namath’s Super Bowl Guarantee
Magic vs. Bird in the NCAA Final
The Miracle on Ice
Tiger Woods Makes Masters History
US Women Win the World Cup
ABDO PUBLISHING IS A DIVISION OF ABDO
WWW.ABDOPUBLISHING.COM
Greatest Events in
SPORTS HISTORY
ABD_EVEN_WOOD_COV.indd 1 7/31/14 4:34 PM

T I G E R W O O D S
MAKES MASTERS
HISTORY
by Doug Williams
Greatest Events in
SPORTS HISTORY
SportsZone
An Imprint of Abdo Publishing
www.abdopublishing.com
ABD_EVEN_WOOD_FPGS.indd 1 10/15/14 2:44 PM
www.abdopublishing.com
Published by Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO, PO Box 398166, Minneapolis, Minnesota
55439. Copyright © 2015 by Abdo Consulting Group, Inc. International copyrights reserved
in all countries. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written
permission from the publisher. SportsZone™ is a trademark and logo of Abdo Publishing.
Printed in the United States of America, North Mankato, Minnesota
092014
012015
Cover Photo: Dave Martin/AP Images
Interior Photos: Dave Martin/AP Images, 1, 18, 28, 30, 33, 36; David J. Phillip/AP Images, 4;
Bettmann/Corbis, 6; AP Images, 9; Chris O’Meara/AP Images, 10; Bob Galbraith/AP Images,
13; Amy Sancetta/AP Images, 15, 27, 40; Charles Dharapak/AP Images, 16; Bill Waugh/AP
Images, 21, 35, 38; Curtis Compton/AP Images, 23, 25, 43
Editor: Chrös McDougall
Series Designer: Craig Hinton
Library of Congress Control Number: 2014944198
Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Williams, Doug.
Tiger Woods makes Masters history / Doug Williams.
p. cm. -- (Greatest events in sports history)
ISBN 978-1-62403-598-2 (lib. bdg.)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Golf--United States--History--Juvenile literature. 2. Golfers--United States--Juvenile
literature. 3. Masters Golf Tournament--Juvenile literature. I. Title.
796.352--dc23
2014944198
ABD_EVEN_WOOD_FPGS.indd 2 10/15/14 10:08 AM
C O N T E N T S
ONE
Breaking Barriers • 5
TWO
The Big Stage • 11
THREE
A Rough Start • 19
FOUR
“There Is No Chance” • 25
FIVE
Champion • 31
SIX
A New Era • 39
Timeline 44
Glossary 45
For More Information 46
Index 48
About the Author 48
ABD_EVEN_WOOD_FPGS.indd 3 10/15/14 10:08 AM
ABD_EVEN_WOOD_FPGS.indd 4 10/15/14 10:08 AM
1
Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia is one of the most
CHAPTER
famous golf courses in the world.
Breaking
Barriers
L ong before Tiger Woods made history there, Bobby Jones
walked the ground in Augusta, Georgia, and had a vision.
He looked out over the old nursery site and saw what would
become the most beautiful golf course in the world. “It seemed
that this land had been lying here for years just waiting for
someone to lay a golf course upon it,” he later wrote.
Jones was the greatest golfer of his era. He had been
looking for a course to host a tournament for the world’s best
players. Jones and his partner, Clifford Roberts, bought the
land in Augusta in 1931. Three years later, the first Masters
Tournament was held at the Augusta National Golf Club.
5
ABD_EVEN_WOOD_FPGS.indd 5 10/15/14 10:08 AM
Black caddies look at white golfer Gene Sarazen’s golf club at the 1935 Masters.
Augusta National and the Masters would soon become
legendary in the golf community. The course was known for its
high quality. The greens were always fast, and the course was
always beautiful and challenging. Meanwhile, the Masters became
a spring tradition. Each year, golf’s first major championship helped
welcome the season. The world’s greatest golfers arrived for the
tournament each April. Some of the sport’s most famous moments
6
ABD_EVEN_WOOD_FPGS.indd 6 10/15/14 10:08 AM
News
IN THE
Black golfer Charlie Sifford couldn’t 1961, this seriously interfered
join the PGA Tour until 1961 and never with his life, liberty, and pursuit
received a Masters invitation. One of happiness, to say nothing of
newspaper columnist wrote often his occupation—because golf
about that injustice. was a “members only” club
till then.
Charlie Sifford is a golfer, an
American, a gentleman. He is Source: Jim Murray. “Integration Misses Cut
at Masters.” St. Petersburg (Florida) Times via
not, however, a Caucasian. Until Los Angeles Times, April 7, 1969. Print. C3.
occurred there. But the course and the tournament also had a
darker history.
Georgia and other parts of the United States were racially
segregated when Augusta National opened. Blacks were barred
from many facilities. For decades, Augusta National had no black
members. The Masters never invited a black player, either.
Public support for segregation began to change during
the 1940s. One major milestone occurred in 1947, when Jackie
Robinson debuted for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He became the first
black player since the 1800s to play in Major League Baseball. Yet
the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Tour didn’t drop its
7
ABD_EVEN_WOOD_FPGS.indd 7 10/15/14 10:08 AM
THE REAL PIONEER
Lee Elder became the first black golfer to play at the Masters in 1975. However,
Elder credited Charlie Sifford as the true pioneer. “Without Charlie Sifford, there
would have been no one to fight the system for the blacks that followed,” Elder
said. He added, “Charlie was tough and hard.”
“Caucasian-only” rule until 1961. The Masters, meanwhile, still did
not change. As an invitational event, the Masters could set its own
rules. Roberts, the longtime Masters chairman, was determined
to keep blacks out. “As long as I’m alive, golfers will be white and
caddies will be black,” he said.
That policy kept out Charlie Sifford. Sifford was 39 in 1961 when
the PGA Tour dropped its whites-only rule. He became the first
black player to qualify to be a regular on the PGA Tour. He even
won two tournaments in the 1960s. Yet Sifford never was invited to
the Masters.
Public pressure weighed on the Masters, though. The
tournament finally changed its qualification standards in 1972.
Every PGA Tour winner would qualify. Two years later, black golfer
Lee Elder won a PGA Tour event. That earned him a spot in the
1975 Masters.
“Some people told me, ‘Man, how can you play in the Masters
after all this? Why don’t you refuse?’” Elder said. “But I feel I can do
8
ABD_EVEN_WOOD_FPGS.indd 8 10/15/14 10:08 AM