It's fair to say Bobby Jones left an indelible mark on the game of golf.
From winning his unique Grand Slam to co-founding Augusta National – and the Masters – his influence will live on forever.
Jones’ greatest golfing achievement is winning all four major tournaments of the time (Open Championship, U.S. Open and the British and U.S. amateurs) in the same year, 1930.
With the change in the makeup of the major scene, it is a feat that will not be equalled.
His legacy extends far beyond being the greatest amateur ever to pick up a club. Not just in a sporting context, but in the eyes of his family as well.
“Obviously the historical significance of what he did is beyond question,” said the grandson who shares his name, Robert T Jones.
“He was the first person to win both the Amateur and Open championships in the same year since John Ball (in 1890). So that's quite a feat in itself.
“Because of the victories in both of those tournaments, they were the precipitating events for him receiving his second ticker-tape parade when he landed back in New York. And to this day, he is the only golfer to have had two ticker-tape parades.
“(Astronaut) John Glenn had two, but he had to go around the world in space to do that.”
“The Open Championship, even back then, was the granddaddy of the open tournaments. ... There was a character and a quality to it and a strategic element to it that really appealed to him.”
Robert T Jones
Jones will be forever associated with Augusta, but his name also will be closely linked with the Open, having won the Claret Jug three times, in 1926, 1927 and most famously in 1930, when his victory at Royal Liverpool – the venue for the 151st Open this July – secured the second leg of his Grand Slam.
Although “Bub,” as he was affectionately known by his family, was too ill to share stories of his stellar career by the time his grandson was born, Robert T Jones knows all about his grandfather’s life on the golf course and how much the championship meant to him.
“The Open Championship, even back then, was the granddaddy of the open tournaments,” Jones said. “Bub developed a very deep and abiding love for golf in the United Kingdom, particularly links golf.
“There was a character and a quality to it and a strategic element to it that really appealed to him.”
For more about the legendary Bobby Jones, click HERE.
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