Bobby Jones, Golf Legend

Here are some things you don’t expect from one of the handful of greatest golfers of all time. You don’t expect him to get an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from Georgia Tech. You don’t expect him to then get a B.A. in English literature from Harvard. You don’t expect him to go to law school and pass the bar after just one year. You don’t expect him to remain an amateur his whole career. And you don’t expect him to retire from golf at age 28.

Bobby Jones loved golf, and in a sense he devoted himself to it. He won every major tournament that existed at the time. He started the Augusta National Country Club, co-designed its famous course, then created the Masters tournament. He made 18 short films in which he taught celebrities how to play golf. He authored books on golf. He designed golf clubs. So while he never earned money on the links, he certainly profited nicely due to his mastery of the game.

Is he the greatest golfer of all time? Probably not, but he’s close. In 2000, Golf Digest named him the fourth greatest golfer of all time (behind Nicklaus, Hogan, and Snead). In 2009, a Golf Magazine survey chose him as the third greatest (behind Nicklaus and Tiger Woods). Rankings are subjective, but no one disputes that Bobby Jones helped to make golf the popular sport it is today.