Bobby Jones

Who was Bobby Jones?

Robert Tyre "Bobby" Jones Jr. was an American amateur golfer, and a lawyer by profession. Jones founded and helped design the Augusta National Golf Club, and co-founded the Masters Tournament.

Jones was the most successful amateur golfer ever to compete on a national and international level. During his peak as a golfer from 1923 to 1930, he dominated top-level amateur competition, and competed very successfully against the world's best professional golfers. Jones often beat stars such as Walter Hagen and Gene Sarazen, the era's top pros. Jones earned his living mainly as a lawyer, and competed in golf only as an amateur, primarily on a part-time basis, and chose to retire from competition at age 28, though he earned significant money from golf after that, as an instructor and equipment designer.

Explaining his decision to retire, Jones said, "It is something like a cage. First you are expected to get into it and then you are expected to stay there. But of course, nobody can stay there." Jones is most famous for his unique "Grand Slam," consisting of his victory in all four major golf tournaments of his era in a single calendar year. In all Jones played in 31 majors, winning 13 and placing among the top ten finishers 27 times.