''' Robert Lee Elder''' ( born July 14 1934 in Dallas, Texas) is an American golfer. He is best remembered for becoming the first African-American to play in the Masters Tournament in 1975.

His parents died when he was relatively young. As a result he spent many years of his early life living in poverty. He taught himself to play golf by sneaking onto golf courses at night. As a teenager, he passed himself off as a caddie in order to earn money. He turned professional in 1959 and went on to win four tournaments on the PGA Tour and eight on the Senior PGA Tour.

Professional wins

PGA Tour wins

*1974 Monsanto Open
*1976 Houston Open
*1978 Greater Milwaukee Open, American Express Westchester Classic

Senior Tour wins

*1984 Suntree Senior Classic, Hilton Head Seniors International
*1985 Denver Post Championship, Merrill Lynch/Golf Digest Commemorative, Digital Seniors Classic, Citizens Union Senior Golf Classic
*1986 Merrill Lynch/Golf Digest Commemorative
*1988 Gus Machado Classic

Other wins

*1971 Nigerian Open

Biography courtesy of the brilliant Wikipedia!