A MASTERS STROKE

With a wave & smile, Elder helps open tourney as honorary starter

AUGUSTA, Ga. — The applause started when Lee Elder’s golf cart began moving toward the first tee. It only got louder when he arrived and slowly made his way to his seat.

And moments later, Masters Chairman Fred Ridley said words 46 years in the making.

“Lee, it is my privilege to say, you have the honors,” Ridley said.

That prompted the first roar of the 2021 Masters Tournament.

Elder — the first Black man to play the Masters — rose from his chair, hoisted his driver skyward for a moment, then nodded, smiled and waved in appreciation of the hundreds of people who crowded around the first tee to see history happen. He joined Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus as an honorary starter for the Masters on Thursday morning, the first time he had been part of the ceremony.

“For me and my family, I think it was one of the most emotional experiences that I have ever witnessed or been involved in,” Elder said.

Player and Nicklaus each took a swing, as is tradition, knocking drives onto the first fairway. This year marks the 60th anniversary of Player’s first Masters win, the first by an international player, and the 35th anniversary of Nicklaus’ sixth and final victory.

Elder did not tee off, though just as was the case in 1975, his presence simply was the much bigger story. He became the 10th past player to be part of the honorary starter ceremony, and fittingly, the first Black man to join that list.

“I think that having Lee there was the right thing to do, a nice thing to do,” Nicklaus said.

Augusta National — mindful of the ongoing national conversation about racial injustice — announced last year that it would honor Elder with two scholarships in his name at Paine College, a historically Black institution. The scholarships will go to one men’s player and one women’s player. Augusta National’s move led to the creation of a women’s golf team at the school, with the club footing the bill for those startup costs.

Elder — who grew up in Dallas and got into the game as a caddie, not a player, since that essentially was the only avenue Black people had into the game