Elder sees history made
Web posted 04/13/97
``I made history here, and I came back here to see more history made today,'' said Elder, who in 1975 became the first black man to play in the Masters Tournament. On Sunday, he watched as Tiger Woods became the first to slip on a green jacket.
Elder had not planned on attending this year's Masters, but Woods' nine-stroke third-round lead certainly changed his Sunday. He and his wife Sharon arrived in Augusta from their home in Pompano Beach, Fla., early Sunday afternoon, getting a speeding ticket on I-20 while driving from Atlanta.
He tried to talk his way out of it, but the state trooper wouldn't bite.
``The trooper wasn't a golfer,'' Mrs. Elder said. ``He didn't know. He didn't care.''
Despite the delay, Elder arrived in time to speak to Woods before his 3:08 p.m., tee time, a gesture Woods wouldn't forget. Shortly after donning his green jacket, the young champion talked about Elder and the barrier he broke at the Augusta National Golf Club.
``This morning, I was chipping over here and lo and behold Lee Elder comes down,'' Woods said. ``He wished me good luck. That meant a lot to me. If it wasn't for him, I don't know if I'd ever been able to play here, or play golf, period. That did it all for me. Right then, I knew what I had to do today. I went out there with a purpose, and I did it.''
Elder followed Woods on the front nine, then retired to the clubhouse to watch a few holes on television. He returned to the throng in time to see Woods birdie No. 14, remained with the group, and cried when Woods strolled up the 18th fairway.
``He's been making me cry more and more,'' Elder said.
Elder and Woods are two of the four blacks to play in the Masters, with Jim Thorpe, the only other black on the PGA Tour, and Calvin Peete, who is on the Senior PGA Tour, the others.
Charlie Sifford, who in the 1960s accused Masters chairman Clifford Roberts of bending the rules to keep him out of the event, sure hasn't forgotten Elder's part.
``I'm glad it's over with,'' Sifford said in a statement from his home in Kingwood, Texas. ``I took a lot of knocks when I started talking about the Masters. It's all over with now, Lee Elder played, and now Tiger has won it. I'm proud of them both.''
In the weeks leading up to the '75 Masters, Elder received death threats, much like Hank Aaron had received the previous year while chasing Babe Ruth's all-time home run mark. And when he walked to the first tee to make history, Elder was escorted by armed guards.
On Sunday, Woods received the same treatment.
``Yeah, but in a different way,'' said Elder, referring to the four officers assigned to help keep the adoring and ever-growing number of fans from crowding too close. ``He would not be as accepted in '75 as he is today. The world was not ready to accept a black champion with open arms.''
Though the impact of Woods' victory will be measured on a much grander scale, the effect of his monumental triumph was immediately evident locally.
``I never played golf before but, now, I'm interested in playing,'' said Brienne Holmes, a 16-year-old Richmond Academy sophomore, who worked this week picking up trash at Augusta National. ``It gives me the confidence of not being the only black kid out there on the golf course any more. Usually, black people play basketball and football. No black people were really concerned about golf until Tiger.''
``To me, the 21st Century is gonna be the year of the black person,'' said Walter McNeil, a 16-year-old Lakeside High School student, also a member of the Augusta National litter patrol. ``I'm not trying to be racist or anything but we're excelling in more things now, in sports and other ways. What Tiger did here will make it even better. I think Tiger will end up inspiring little black kids now.''
As Woods was addressing the world on the practice green Sunday following his win, Banks talked with Gentry Bing, a 17-year-old Evans High student who worked in the main concessions stand this week.
She was hoping to get a closer look at the young phenom and, in the process, found herself listening to some unconvetional wisdom from ``Mr. Cub.''
``Have you heard of Whitney Houston,'' Banks asked Bing, before breaking into his rendition of Houston's song ``The Greatest Love of All.''
`` `If I fail, if I succeed, at least I did what I believed. No matter what they think of me, they cant take away my dignity. Because the greatest love of all is happening to me.' You've got to listen to those lyrics, because I'm gonna tell you, Tiger played the course that way. That's what he did out there today.''
At first, Bing giggled. But later she said she understood what Banks was getting at. More importantly, she was inspired by Woods' performance at Augusta.
``To me, this was just a boring sport, but I consider myself a golf fan now,'' Bing said. ``I want to learn how to play it, and I'm gonna find some way to get out on a course and try it now, because of Tiger Woods.''
Never in a million years would Tutt expect to hear such words. It was a much different world when he left Augusta in 1958 when his family moved to the Bronx. It was even more different by the time he returned as a retiree in 1992, after years in management with the corporation that hired him out of the University of Massachusetts.
``I do understand the historical perspective of what Tiger has done as much as anyone,'' Tutt said. ``This transcends the color of skin. I hope that people don't look at him now as a great black golfer as much as they see him as a great golfer. My kids are too old for this to have an impact on them, but I think my grandchildren will hear about what Tiger is doing and they'll be affected by this.''
More than anyone, Woods, himself, believes that is possible.
``I'm in a very unique position where a lot of kids look up to me because I'm around their age group,'' he said. ``They look up to me in a role model sense. And I think if I can influence their lives, then I believe that's what the bug guy in the sky had intended for me.''
