Charlie Sifford, Pioneer of the PGA
Long before Tiger Woods, there was Charlie Sifford.
A far less-heralded trailblazer, Sifford became the first black man to hold a PGA Tour card in 1961, doing for the highly-segregated world of professional golf what Jackie Robinson had done for baseball a decade-and-a-half earlier. He died Tuesday night in Cleveland at the age of 92, having finally earned the recognition toward the end of his life that had eluded him during his prime playing days. Sifford became the first African American inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2004, and 10 years later he joined Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer as the only professional golfers to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Tributes to Sifford poured in on Wednesday from leaders in sports, entertainment, and politics. President Obama lauded him "for altering the course of the sport and the country he loved." Woods, who said his father might not have picked up the game had it not been for Sifford, called his death "a terrible loss for golf and me personally."
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/02/charlie-sifford-pioneer-of-the-pga/385180/