Lee Elder admits it: He was speeding.
And then he saw the flashing lights of a police car behind him on the morning of April 13, 1997, in a rural Georgia county.
“Oh, no,” he said in recalling his thoughts as he pulled over on the side of the road.
Elder was a man on a mission on that day 20 years ago. The first African-American to ever play in the Masters Tournament in 1975, Elder was rushing to watch Tiger Woods, the rising young PGA Tour star he had known and mentored since he was 14 years old, make history by becoming the first African-American to win the Masters.
Elder met Earl Woods through a mutual friend, PGA Tour player Rafe Botts. Earl Woods asked Elder to take a look at his son, and they played a round together at the Fox Hills Golf Club in Los Angeles.
Elder knew the goods when he saw them.
“He was going to be something special,” Elder said. “You could see it in just a few swings.”
Seven years later at Augusta National, the world saw what Elder meant.
Elder had been at Augusta for the first two days of the 1997 Masters as Woods bounced back from a disastrous 4-over 40 on the front nine to shoot 6-under 30 on the back in the first round. Woods then fired a 66 in the second round to take the lead for good.
However, Elder had to leave because he had committed to play in a charity tournament in Palm Beach County for the Boys and Girls Clubs. He wasn’t near a TV for the third round, when Woods shot 65 to take a nine-shot lead. But when Elder got back to his Pompano Beach home, his wife, Rose, told him what had happened and said an Augusta National Golf Club official had called to ask if Elder was going to be there on Sunday for what everyone assumed would be an 18-hole coronation.
“I told my wife, ‘I guess we’re going back to Augusta,’ ” Elder said.
They caught an early morning flight to Atlanta, rented a car and started driving to Augusta.
Until they were stopped by the police officer.
Elder said the officer was also African-American, and as he was writing in his ticket book, Elder began making his case.
“I gave him the whole story,” Elder said. “I was telling him, ‘There’s history about to be made in your state. Tiger Woods is about to win the Masters. I’m just trying to get there before he tees off.’ He just kept writing and writing. When he got through, he gave me the ticket and said I either had to sign it or follow him to the precinct.”
The officer then threw water on Elder’s explanation for his lead foot.
“He told me, ‘I don’t know who Tiger Woods is, and I don’t like golf,’ ” Elder said.
The good news is that Elder made it. He walked onto the grounds at August National as Woods was on the putting green near the first hole, minutes from his tee time.
Elder wanted to say a few words to Woods but initially, security guards wouldn’t let Elder get near him. However, Woods noticed the conversation and ordered the guards to let Elder under the rope.
Elder said it was pretty easy advice he gave Woods.
“I told him to just keep doing what he was doing,” Elder said. “He had a nine-shot lead. Wasn’t anyone going to catch him.”
Woods wrote of the conversation in his recently-released book “The 1997 Masters: My Story.”
“He wished me well for the round and that made me even more determined to take care of business,” Woods wrote.
Woods shot 69 and won by a record 12 shots. He also broke Raymond Floyd’s scoring record of 17-under 271 by one shot.
Elder said after Woods signed his scorecard and started walking to the Butler Cabin with his father, Earl, for the traditional CBS interview and televised green jacket ceremony, he and his wife were standing along the path to the cabin. Once again, Woods spotted him and yelled, “Lee … get over here.”
The two embraced and Woods told Elder about how much he appreciated him blazing the path that led to this point.
Elder once again kept it simple.
“I said, ‘Congratulations, champ,’ ” Elder said. “I knew you would do it.”
In his book, Woods said: “I thanked him for the sacrifices and what he meant to the game, how hard he fought to make it to the Masters in 1975. He had to earn a spot, and he did.”
Woods also wrote of the historical confluence between himself and Elder.
“He became the first black golfer to play the Masters in the year I was born,” Woods said. “I had often thought of that.”
Elder said he never had any doubts Woods would win the Masters … and if not that year, at some point very soon in his career.
“When I first saw him play in junior tournaments, I knew he had the potential,” Elder said. “I knew he’d win a lot of tournaments and the Masters would be one of them.”
