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Bobby Jones was the most accomplished amateur golfer of all time, and we remember him as his birthday lands on St. Patty's Day
Bobby Jones didn’t just have a great amateur career — he set the bar for what amateur golf could be. In an era (and a sport) where the best players are often expected to cash in, Jones remained an amateur for life, piling up achievements that still feel unreal nearly a century later.
And if you enjoy stories about the game’s most accomplished lifelong amateurs, you’ll want to check out our roundup of the top amateur golfers who never turned pro — because Bobby Jones is the ultimate example of what that path can look like.
Born in Atlanta, Ga., on March 17, 1902, Jones would become the most celebrated amateur golfer the sport has ever produced. He passed away on December 18, 1971, at age 69 — but his impact on golf still stretches from championship record books to the gates of Augusta National.
Jones was famously accomplished away from the course, too. He studied English literature at Harvard and later attended Emory University Law School, passing the Bar after only three semesters. He went on to practice civil and contract law.
During World War II, Jones joined the U.S. Army as an officer and served as an intelligence officer. He went ashore in Normandy the day after D-Day.
On the golf course, his first major breakthrough came at the 1923 U.S. Open at Inwood. That win was just the opening chapter. Jones would go on to win 13 major championships — a staggering total for someone who remained an amateur throughout it all.
He played in his first U.S. Amateur at age 14 in 1916 at Merion Cricket Club. By age 21, he was already a U.S. Open champion.
Jones’ greatest competitive achievement came in 1930, when he completed the original Grand Slam — winning the U.S. Amateur, British Amateur, British Open, and U.S. Open in the same year. He remains the only golfer to ever win all four in a single season, and the only golfer to win all four in a career.
Jones was also the winner of five U.S. Amateur titles (1924, 1925, 1927, 1928, 1930) and compiled an impressive Walker Cup record, playing on winning teams in 1922, 1924, 1926, 1928 (playing captain), and 1930 (playing captain).
He won the U.S. Open four times and The Open Championship on three occasions — all as an amateur. In total, Jones won 34 tournaments and completed the 1930 Grand Slam.
And still never turned pro.
Jones shocked the golf world later that year, retiring from competitive golf at the “old” age of 28. But his biggest achievement was still yet to come.
In 1934, Jones founded Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament. He played the Masters twelve times, and his best finish came in the tournament’s first year, when he finished T13 in 1934.
Not only did he win five U.S. Amateur titles, none of them were particularly close.
Here are the final results of all five of his U.S. Amateur wins:
1924: 9&8 over George Von Elm
1925: 8&7 over Watts Gunn
1927: 8&7 over Chick Evans
1928: 10&9 over Philip Perkins
1930: 8&7 over Eugene V. Homans
In 1948, Jones developed syringomyelia — a fluid-filled cavity in his spinal cord — which first caused pain, then paralysis. He was eventually restricted to a wheelchair until his death in 1971.
Plenty of great players have done remarkable things as amateurs — and we’ve highlighted many of them in our list of the top amateurs who never turned professional. But Bobby Jones sits in a category of his own: major champion, Grand Slam winner, and co-founder of a tournament and a venue that would become the most famous week and the most famous grounds in golf.
So when March 17 rolls around, take a minute — responsibly — to appreciate the greatest amateur golfer to ever live.
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