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

when he was third. He finished eighth in

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored and cooled. * J ...

and tenth in 1920. 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 The Texas Open, known as the Valero Texas Open for sponsorship reasons, is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, played near San Antonio, Texas. It dates back years to 1922, when it was first called the Texas Open; San Antonio-based Val ...

, 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 fightin ...

Early life

MacDonald was born on 24 February 1885 in

Evelix Evelix or Evelick ( gd, Èibhleag) is a village near Dornoch in south east Sutherland, Scotland. The River Evelix runs through it. Evelix is in the Scottish council area of Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. 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 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 arou ...

and Costebelle on the French Riviera.

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 Un ...

. Four-time

U.S. Amateur The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...

champion

Jerome Travers Jerome Dunstan "Jerry" Travers (May 19, 1887 – March 29, 1951) was one of the leading amateur golfers of the early 20th century. He won the U.S. Amateur in 1907, 1908, 1912 and 1913, the New Jersey Amateur three times, and the Metropolitan Amate ...

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 in ...

was the second

, contested from 16–20 September at the Engineers Country Club in

Roslyn Harbor, New York Roslyn Harbor is a village in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. It is considered part of the Greater Roslyn area, which is anchored by the Incorporated Village of Roslyn. The population was 1,051 at th ...

. 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, 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 Jack Falls "Jock" Hutchison (June 6, 1884 – September 27, 1977) was a Scottish professional golfer. Hutchison was born in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, the son of William and Helen (née Falls). His name was registered as John Waters Hutchiso ...

, but still managed to win 3 and 2. He found himself in the semi-finals against

Jim Barnes James Martin Barnes (April 8, 1886 – May 24, 1966) was an English golfer and a leading figure in the early years of professional golf in the United States. He is one of three native Britons (with Tommy Armour and Rory McIlroy) to win three di ...

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 = Country , subdivision_name ...

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

Horton Smith Horton Smith (May 22, 1908 – October 15, 1963) was an American professional golfer, best known as the winner of the first and third Masters Tournaments. Tournament career Born in Springfield, Missouri, Smith turned professional in 1926 and w ...

and Babe Zaharias. 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

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.

PGA Tour wins (3)

*1921

*1922

*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