Robert George MacDonald (24 February 1885 – 29 March 1960) was a Scottish-American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

and club maker who played in the early 20th century. He had three top-10 finishes in the U.S. Open. His best performance came in

1915 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January *January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction". *January 1 ...

when he was third. He finished eighth in 1916 and tenth in

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own m ...

. MacDonald was a frequent competitor in the

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships ...

, his best result coming in

1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (now Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off the ...

when he finished T3. He won the 1922 Texas Open, pocketing $1,633 in prize money, and also won the

Metropolitan Open The Metropolitan Open is a golf tournament organized by the Metropolitan Golf Association. In the early 20th century it was one of the top events in the country and was retroactively given PGA Tour-level status. History The tournament has been ...

twice, in 1921 and again in 1923. His career results could have been much better had it not been for the interruption caused by the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

Early life

MacDonald was born on 24 February 1885 in Evelix,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

. As a young man he worked as a gardener and in 1900 served in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

. He and his family emigrated to the United States in 1910 and his first posting as a professional was in New Jersey and he later took a job at Hyde Park Country Club in Cincinnati, Ohio. MacDonald also had two brothers, Bill and Jack, who both went on to become professional golfers. The '' Aberdeen Journal'' described MacDonald as "a big brawny Scotsman of the

Braid A braid (also referred to as a plait) is a complex structure or pattern formed by interlacing two or more strands of flexible material such as textile yarns, wire, or hair. The simplest and most common version is a flat, solid, three-strande ...

type, and has all the markings of a first-class player". MacDonald took up a post at

North Berwick North Berwick (; gd, Bearaig a Tuath) is a seaside town and former royal burgh in East Lothian, Scotland. It is situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, approximately east-northeast of Edinburgh. North Berwick became a fashionable ...

with his brother-in-law, Donald MacKay, and James Watt. MacDonald would marry three times, the first to a French girl probably around 1908 when he was professional at

Aix-les-Bains Aix-les-Bains (, ; frp, Èx-los-Bens; la, Aquae Gratianae), locally simply Aix, is a commune in the southeastern French department of Savoie.

and playing in tournaments at

Hyères Hyères (), Provençal Occitan: ''Ieras'' in classical norm, or ''Iero'' in Mistralian norm) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. The old town lies from the sea clustered aroun ...

and

Costebelle Costebelle is a quarter of the town of Hyères in the southeast of France, in the Var Var or VAR may refer to: Places * Var (department), a department of France * Var (river), France * Vār, Iran, village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * ...

on the

French Riviera The French Riviera (known in French as the ; oc, Còsta d'Azur ; literal translation "Azure Coast") is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend from ...

Golf career

1915 U.S. Open

The 1915 U.S. Open was the 21st U.S. Open, held 17–18 June at

Baltusrol Golf Club The Baltusrol Golf Club is a private 36-Golf course#Anatomy of a golf course, hole Golf club (institution), golf club in the eastern United States, located in Springfield Township, Union County, New Jersey, Springfield, New Jersey, about west ...

in Springfield, New Jersey, west of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. Four-time U.S. Amateur champion Jerome Travers captured his only U.S. Open title, one stroke ahead of runner-up Tom McNamara. The championship was played on the original course at Baltusrol, now known as the Old Course, which no longer exists. MacDonald played very well in the event. He scored with rounds of 72-77-73-78=300 and finished in third place, winning $150 in prize money.

1919 PGA Championship

The

1919 PGA Championship The 1919 PGA Championship was the second PGA Championship, which is now considered one of golf's major championships. It was held September 16–20 at the Engineers Country Club in Roslyn Harbor, New York, east of New York City on Long Island i ...

was the second

, contested from 16–20 September at the

Engineers Country Club Engineers Country Club is a historic country club located in Roslyn Harbor, New York, on the historic Gold Coast on the north shore of Long Island. History The club has an 18-hole championship golf course which hosted the PGA Championship in 1919 ...

in Roslyn Harbor, New York. In his opening 36-hole match MacDonald slipped past Tom Boyd by the slim margin of 1 up. His play in the next match, against

George Fotheringham George Lyall Fotheringham (9 July 1883 – 8 April 1971) was a Scottish-American professional golfer who played in the early 20th century. He won the South African Open five times and was a founding member of the PGA of America. Early life Fot ...

, was more convincing when he was victorious 2 and 1. He rode that momentum into his third match against a much better opponent, Jock Hutchison, but still managed to win 3 and 2. He found himself in the semi-finals against Jim Barnes and finally succumbed by the score of 5 and 4, finishing the tournament tied for third place.

Golf instructor

MacDonald was posted as professional at a number of clubs in the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

area, including Evanston, Edgewater, and Indian Hill Club. He coached legendary golfers

Gene Sarazen Gene Sarazen (; born Eugenio Saraceni, February 27, 1902 – May 13, 1999) was an American professional golfer, one of the world's top players in the 1920s and 1930s, and the winner of seven major championships. He is one of five players (along ...

, Horton Smith and

Babe Zaharias Mildred Ella "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias (; Didrikson; June 26, 1911 – September 27, 1956) was an American athlete who excelled in golf, basketball, baseball and track and field. She won two gold medals in track and field at the 1932 Summe ...

. His book, ''Golf'', published in 1927, was a classic in the late 1920s. In the book's preface he wrote, "It is probably beyond argument that the golf stroke, apart from the putt, is the most highly technical method of hitting a ball in the whole realm of sport". He opened in 1918, with Jock Hutchison as partner, the first indoor golf facility in Chicago. The facility was later enlarged to cover 20,000 square feet by 1926.

Death and legacy

MacDonald died in West Hollywood, Florida, on 29 March 1960 after an illness lasting several months. He is best remembered for having three top-10 finishes in the U.S. Open, including a third-place finish in 1915, and for winning three PGA Tour events. He finished T3 in the

and at age 49 finished T54 in the 1935

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first ma ...

PGA Tour wins (3)

*1921

*1922 Texas Open *1923

Results in major championships

''Note: MacDonald never played in

The Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later t ...

.'' NYF = Tournament not yet founded
NT = No tournament
DNP = Did not play
? = Unknown
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in PGA Championship match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Yellow background for top-10.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacDonald, Bob Scottish male golfers PGA Tour golfers Scottish emigrants to the United States 1885 births 1960 deaths