Bobby Jones Biography

(born March 17, 1902, Atlanta, Ga., U.S.—died Dec. 18, 1971, Atlanta) U.S. amateur golfer, the first man to achieve the Grand Slam—winning in a single year the four major tournaments of the time. In 1930 he won the British and U.S. Opens and Amateur championships. From 1923 through 1930 he won 13 championships in those four annual tournaments, a feat unequalled until 1973, when Jack Nicklaus surpassed that total in U.S. and British Opens, PGA (U.S.), and Masters.

A practicing lawyer in Atlanta, Jones never became a professional golfer and rarely played in championship competition after his final Grand Slam victory, the U.S. Amateur tournament in 1930. He won the U.S. Amateur five times (1924, 1925, 1927, 1928, and 1930), the U.S. Open four times (1923, 1926, 1929, and 1930), the British Open three times (1926, 1927, and 1930; he was the first amateur to win), and the British Amateur in 1930. In five Walker Cup tournaments between U.S. and British amateur teams, he won 9 of 10 matches. In 1934 he helped to initiate the annual Masters Tournament at the Augusta (Ga.) National Golf Club. In 1958 he became the first American since Benjamin Franklin (in 1759) to receive the freedom of the burgh of St. Andrews, Fife, Scot., home of the premier golf club of the world.