Bobby Jones

Jones in 1916, at the age of 14, competing in his first U.S. Amateur

 

Brandenburg Museum Memorabilia of Jones

 

Did you guess right? Born Robert Tyre Jones, Jr., more commonly known as Bobby Jones, was born in 1902 in Atlanta, GA. Battling health issues already as a young boy, golf was suggested to strengthen him. Encouraged by his father, who was a skilled player himself, Jones loved golf from the start. After winning his first children's tournament at the age of age six, his skills continued to grow. At 14, Jones made the third round of the U.S. Amateur Championship and won the Georgia State Amateur Championship. At the age of 18, he qualified for his first U.S. Open.

The early success wasn't necessarily good for Jones. He started putting tremendous pressure on himself. Tournaments were so stressful for him that he chain smoked the entire time and sometimes lost as much as 15 pounds during a single event. The young Jones also battled to control his temper (well, when it comes to golf, don't we all?), and the Old Course at St. Andrews got the best of him during The Open Championship in 1921. After struggling during the first ten holes of his third round, he hit the ball into the bunker on the 11th. He ended up picking up his ball and failing to complete the hole, which in turn resulted in his withdrawal from the tournament. The story states that he even tore up his scorecard, but managed to complete the round. Later, he called this incident his "most inglorious failure", but success was just around the corner.