Clifford Roberts was born in Morning Sun , Iowa , and suffered the suicides of both his parents . Having served in the First World War , he became a successful banker on Wall Street . ` I do n't think Cliff was motivated by racial issues at all , '' Sampson said . He married an American woman named Mary Elizabeth ( she died ) who had been divorced from her first husband. The pair founded what would become The Masters in 1934 , one of golf four majors .
Clifford Roberts was born in Morning Sun , Iowa , and suffered the suicides of both his parents . Having served in the First World War , he became a successful banker on Wall Street . He married an American woman named Mary Elizabeth ( she died ) who had been divorced from her first husband. The pair founded what would become The Masters in 1934 , one of golf four majors .