Charlie Sifford, first black player on PGA Tour, dies at 92
He was not on the list.
Charlie Sifford, who only wanted a chance to play and broke
the color barrier in golf as the first black PGA Tour member, died Tuesday
night, the PGA of America said.
Sifford, who recently had suffered a stroke, was 92. Details
of his death and funeral arrangements were not immediately available.
''His love of golf, despite many barriers in his path,
strengthened him as he became a beacon for diversity in our game,'' said PGA of
America President Derek Sprague. ''By his courage, Dr. Sifford inspired others
to follow their dreams. Golf was fortunate to have had this exceptional
American in our midst.''
A proud man who endured racial taunts and threats, Sifford
set modest goals and achieved more than he imagined.
Sifford challenged the Caucasian-only clause and the PGA
rescinded it in 1961. He won the Greater Hartford Open in 1967 and the Los
Angeles Open in 1969. He also won the 1975 Senior PGA Championship, five years
before the Champions Tour was created.
His career was fully recognized in 2004 when he became the
first black inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Last November, President
Barack Obama presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Jack Nicklaus
and Arnold Palmer are the only other golfers who received that honor.
''Charlie won tournaments, but more important, he broke a
barrier,'' Nicklaus once said. ''I think what Charlie Sifford has brought to
his game has been monumental.''
The one goal that eluded him was a chance to play in the
Masters, which did not invite its first black player until Lee Elder in 1975.
Sifford remained bitter, though the pain was eased when Tiger Woods won the
first of his four green jackets in 1997.
Woods often has said he would not have played golf if not
for Sifford and other black pioneers.
''It's not an exaggeration to say that without Charlie, and
the other pioneers who fought to play, I may not be playing golf,'' Woods said
in an email to The Associated Press late last year. ''My pop likely wouldn't
have picked up the sport, and maybe I wouldn't have either.''
The road was never easy.
Sifford was born on June 22, 1922 in Charlotte, North
Carolina. He worked as a caddie and dominated the all-black United Golfers
Association, winning five straight national titles. He longed to play against
the best players, only to run into the same barriers that Teddy Rhodes and Bill
Spiller faced - the Caucasian-only clause.
In his autobiography, ''Just Let Me Play,'' Sifford told of
meeting Jackie Robinson in California about the time Robinson was trying to
break the color barrier in baseball.
''He asked me if I was a quitter,'' Sifford wrote. ''I told
him no. He said, 'If you're not a quitter, you're probably going to experience
some things that will make you want to quit.'''
During the 1952 Phoenix Open, one of the few events that
blacks could play, Sifford found human feces in the cup when he got to the
first green. He received death threats over the phone at the 1961 Greater
Greensboro Open and heard racial slurs as he walked the fairways. He finished
fourth, and didn't quit.
He was beloved my some of golf's biggest stars, including
Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer.
During his induction ceremony, Sifford told of his first
meeting with Palmer. They were playing in the 1955 Canadian Open and Sifford
opened with a 63 to lead Palmer by one shot. He recalled Palmer standing in
front of the scoreboard saying, ''Charlie Sifford? How the hell did he shoot
63?''
''I'm standing right behind him,'' Sifford said. ''I said,
'The same damn way you shot 64.' That's how we met.''
Sifford also received an honorary doctorate degree from the
University of St. Andrews in Scotland for his career as a pioneer.
He often attended the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone,
not far from his home in Ohio. During an interview with the AP in 2000, Sifford
said he was proud of the role in played in making the PGA Tour accessible to
blacks.
''If I hadn't acted like a professional when they sent me
out, if I did something crazy, there would never be any blacks playing,'' he
said. ''I toughed it out. I'm proud of it. All those people were against me,
and I'm looking down on them now.''
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