LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Bobby Jones: Masters Tournament
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Shortly after his triumphant return from Britain, Jones headed to the Interlachen Country Club in Minneapolis for the U.S. Open. In the 100-degree-plus weather, Jones shot a one under par 71 in the first round to stay one behind the leaders. He finished the second round at 73–even for the tournament and two strokes off the lead. Jones played an outstanding third round, shooting 68, to give him a five-stroke lead leading into the fourth round. Jones was erratic during the fourth round, making three double-bogies and three birdies on the way to a 75, three over par. He then waited more than an hour while Macdonald Smith, his closest pursuer, finished two strokes back, giving Jones his fourth U.S. Open Championship.
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Jones was a child prodigy who won his first children's tournament at the age of six and made the third round of the U.S. Amateur Championship at 14. Jones graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1922. Jones added an A.B. in English from Harvard in 1924. He then attended Emory University's School of Law.
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In this, Jones's first major tournament, he was defeated in the quarterfinal round at Merion Cricket Club near Philadelphia. Yet Jones had made an impression on many who attended the match. His second major tournament (1919 U. S. Amateur) was lost during the final round. He competed each year after 1919 until he retired in 1930, winning in 1924-1928 and 1930. Out of 51 individual matches he only lost 8.
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Jones did play in the Masters every year it was held until 1948, when he was 46 years old. By then, his health had declined to the stage where this was no longer possible. But with his health difficulties, and being past his prime and not competing elsewhere to stay in tournament form, he never truly contended to win the Masters, although his scores were usually respectable. These were largely ceremonial performances, since his main duty was as host of the event. His extraordinary popularity, efforts with the course design, and tournament organization boosted the profile of the Masters significantly. The tournament, jointly run by Jones and Clifford Roberts, made many important innovations which became the norm elsewhere, such as gallery ropes to control the flow of the large crowds, many scoreboards around the course, the use of red / green numbers on those scoreboards to denote under / over par scores, an international field of top players, high-caliber television coverage, and week-long admission passes for patrons, which became extremely hard to obtain.
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At age six, Jones competes in the East Lake Children's Tournament. Although technically defeated by Alexa Stirling, he is awarded the trophy. At age nine, he wins the East Lake Junior Championship. Two years later, he shoots an 80 at East Lake; par is 73.
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Lessons learned, Jones moves on—but not without a few more challenges. When another club-tossing incident injures a woman in the gallery, the USGA warns Jones that if he can't control his temper, he won't be allowed to play. Jones promptly cleans up his act, and ends up a perfect gentleman on the course—even giving up a stroke in the 1923 U.S. Open playoff after calling a penalty on himself for inadvertently moving his ball. No one else saw the ball move, but Jones insisted it did. He went on to win the tournament—and the hearts of his opponents, the gallery, and the world for his sportsmanship and integrity, traits by which he's still known today.
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