In my first book I devoted a chapter to Bob Jones. After winning the first two legs of the Grand Slam in 1930, he came home from the British Open in England to play in the U.S. Open in Minnesota. The strain was mounting and his friend and writer O.B. Keeler saw it on the countenance of Jones. “When are you going to quit?” Keeler asked his friend. “Pretty soon, I think – and hope,” answered Bob. “There’s no game worth these last three days.” He told reporters, after pouring himself a stiff drink, “I have never had such a terrible time in my life.”
Played in withering heat at Interlachen, Jones claimed “I don’t believe I ever hit my shots better in any tournaments.” Fate played its part, as he was lucky to have a miss-hit second shot skip over the water hazard guarding the 9th hole in the second round. What could easily have been a bogey or worse was turned into a birdie. As Keeler put it, “If your name is up, the ball will walk on water for you.”
Leading in the final round coming to the 17th hole, a 262-yard par-3, he hit his tee shot into the swamp to the right of the green. He claimed the wind had fooled him, and a double-bogey was the result. Many people have claimed he received a controversial ruling, since the ball was not found, but the USGA official on the spot saw the ball travel inside the margin of the water hazard, and the local rule allowed Jones to drop in the fairway 50 yards short of the green. Case closed.
The official happened to be Prescott Bush, a future president of the USGA, and father of President George H.W. Bush, and grandfather of President George W. Bush. In a letter to Everett Seaver (father of golfer Charlie and grandfather of MLB Hall of Famer Tom) on July 22, 1930, Bush explained what happened:
“I was standing on the seventeenth tee when Jones hit the ball. I watched the flight very carefully…his ball was in or lost in a recognized water hazard…There were many eye witnesses on the spot who were absolutely positive that the ball was lodged in that marsh and from the tee it was absolutely clear to me that the ball landed in the marsh…Jimmy Johnston happened to be with me and he later told me that the ball was, in his opinion, at least ten yards inside of the margin of the hazard.” Every player was given a local rule sheet defining this parallel water hazard and stated that if in the hazard, “another ball may be dropped in the fairway as near as possible to the point at which the ball crossed the margin of the hazard, but not nearer the hole.” Bush rule correctly.
The margin of victory increased to two shots over Mac Smith when he holed a 40-foot birdie putt at the last. Bernard Darwin wrote that the time had come for Jones to call a halt to his self-torture. “Golf had always taken a prodigious toll and now I thought it had taken too great a one. The time to go, even at twenty-eight, was fast approaching.” Eddie Williams, who finished tied for 35th, told of going to the locker room in the first round to escape the stifling heat and use the facilities. “Who was there but Jones himself being quite ill. After that I did not feel so bad since a player of his caliber couldn’t hold his breakfast any better than little old me.” Grandfather Robert Tyre Jones claimed the arms of the Lord had been around the neck of his boy to come out victorious, while all Bobby could muster was an understated “I am mighty glad to have won this tournament.” (Below is a photo of a 17-year-old Prescott Bush)
