He was shrouded in darkness. In 1969, he found himself in trouble for driving under the influence. Then there was the confrontation with painter Big Boy Ndlovu, whose work on Locke’s apartment complex failed to meet expectations. Big Boy requested 220 rand for his services, but Locke refused to comply. After a heated exchange, Locke brandished a firearm and shot Big Boy in the shoulder.
Locke faced charges of attempted murder, paid a fine of 120 rand, and had his gun license revoked for six months.
A 2001 Sports Illustrated article featured a family friend discussing Locke’s disturbing, newfound vindictiveness towards his wife, Mary, which escalated to physical abuse. “He was no longer thinking clearly,” the source remarked. “His rationality had vanished.”
In early March 1987, at the age of 69, Locke was admitted to a nursing home in Johannesburg. He was diagnosed with meningitis, slipped into a coma, and passed away the next day. The accolades poured in, with most focusing on the celebrated first portion of his life rather than the sorrowful latter years.
Mary and their daughter, Carolyn, remained devoted to him until the end, which came in 2000 at the home they had once called Sandwich, now renamed Bobby Locke Place.
In a final, chilling twist to this tragic tale, Mary, aged 80, and Carolyn, aged 40, devised a grim ending – a suicide pact. Fearing for their safety in an area that had once been pleasant but had become plagued with crime, they withdrew from society, changed their wills, made arrangements for their dog’s euthanasia, and planned to have his ashes interred with theirs.
They were found deceased in bed, holding hands after consuming champagne with the pills they had been collecting for months. “I just want to be with Bobby again,” Mary had frequently expressed to her neighbors. None could have predicted this tragic conclusion.
Locke is primarily remembered not for the shell of a man he became post-accident or the devastating fate of his loved ones, but for his outstanding achievements on the golf course. His win in 1950 will be mentioned this week, but the darker aspects of his story may remain unspoken.
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