Lee, born Robert Lee Elder, was born in Dallas to Charles (a coal truck driver) and Sadie Elder.

Mr. Elder was best known as a pioneer golfer, but he was also a business executive and fundraiser. He worked as a caddy, and in a golf shop and country club locker room and did not play a round of golf until age 16. He made ends meet as a golf “hustler” during the early 1950s. He served in the U.S. Army from 1959-1961.

Lee joined the United Golf Association (UGA) Tour of professional black players in 1961 and qualified for the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Tour in 1967. He was founder of the Lee Elder Celebrity Pro-Am Golf Classic and was named Goodwill Ambassador to Africa by the U.S. State Department in 1972. He and his wife also established the Lee Elder Scholarship Fund.

Mr. Elder won his first of four PGA tournaments in 1974 (the Monsanto Open). He added the Houston Open, Greater Milwaukee Open, and the American Express Westchester Classic over the next four years. He joined the Senior PGA Tour in 1984 and won eight times between 1984 and 1988.

In his first season on the PGA Tour, he set a rookie record by earning money in nine straight professional tournaments. Lee Elder Day was established in Washington, DC on May 3, 1974, and a year later, he became the first black golfer to participate in the Masters Tournament. Four years later, Elder became the first black golfer to qualify for the Ryder Cup, part of the 1979 winning team.

Awards won include:

• Charles Bartlett Award, 1977
• Herman A. English Humanitarian Award from City of Los Angeles, 1977
• A. G. Gaston Award, 1978
• Honorary doctorate of humanities from Daniel Hale Williams University

In April 2021, Mr. Elder was invited back to Augusta National to hit the ceremonial first tee shot with Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, a long overdue recognition of his accomplishments and of the barriers he broke down almost half a century earlier.

Birthplace: Dallas, Texas

Born: July 14, 1934

Died: November 28, 2021