You've Got to Be Kidding!: How to Keep Your Job Without Losing Your Integrity

Bobby Jones, Role Model

You already know I’m a golfer. I grew up on the course caddying for my dad, learned the sport from him, met my husband on the course, and really haven’t been off the links much since I was a kid.

My father’s favorite golfer was Bobby Jones, the most accomplished golfer in U.S. history (even ahead of Nicklaus, Palmer, and Woods). He told me this true story about Bobby—a story that linked the term gentleman’s game forever to the game of golf.

Jones lost the 1925 U.S. Open in a grueling 36-hole playoff, after calling a one-stroke penalty on himself over the protests of rules officials. In one of the final holes, he was addressing his ball, which lay slightly in the rough, and he noticed the ball move as his iron grazed the grass (an automatic penalty). When he informed the officials, they all told him they had not seen the ball move. His caddy had not seen the ball move. His opponent had not seen it move, nor had anyone in the gallery seen the ball move. But Jones insisted he saw the ball move, and he charged himself with the one-stroke penalty. This one stroke cost him the win (and considerable winnings) of the number one tournament in the United States that year. Now that’s integrity.