Charles Sifford received the Presidential Medal of Freedom Monday in a White House Ceremony.
Sifford was golf’s Jackie Robinson—a civil rights pioneer who broke a sport’s color barrier. In this case, it was the PGA’s notorious “Caucasian only” clause, which kept Sifford from playing on the professional tour.
Now 92, Sifford was admitted to the PGA in 1960 after twenty years of working as a golf pro. In the interim, Sifford made his living playing in non-PGA sanctioned events, and giving lessons. In the 1950s, Sifford dominated the Negro National Open, winning six times.
In 1967, Sifford became the first African American to win a PGA Title. He won again in 1969.
