Bless.ed One: From a shantytown in Kabwé, Zambia, to the first Black African in the U.S. Open

One shot.

Centuries of false truths upended. An entire sport redefined. Madalitso Muthiya did both at the U.S. Open in New York on June 5, 2006, armed only with a glistening driver, inexplicable talent, and stern but loving tutelage from his father. His warm smile and casual demeanor cloaked a hardened determination that came from a life surrounded by disease and extreme poverty and enduring the awkward stares and quiet whispers that made him an outsider.

To everyone here, "Mad" was new. A fr...