STUART, FLORIDA — Samuel Henry Ball hasn’t discovered the fountain of youth, but the secret to his longevity, he said, is simple: a Dewars on the rocks each day and a happy marriage.

Who can argue? Ball, better known as Errie, is 102 and had his driver’s license renewed two years ago. Truth be told, Ball has reluctantly surrendered the keys to his shiny black Cadillac, and now makes the four-mile, or more than six-kilometer, drive from home to the golf club in the passenger seat.

“I’m starting to feel my age,” he said.

Yet every April, the pro emeritus at Willoughby Golf Club feels young again at the sight of the emerald fairways of Augusta National on his television screen. Ball is the last surviving competitor from the inaugural Augusta National Invitational Tournament, as the Masters was called in 1934.

Golf was in his blood. Born Nov. 14, 1910, in Bangor, Wales, Ball learned the game at Lancaster Golf Club in England, where his father, W.H. (Harry) Ball was the professional. Uncles and cousins were club professionals, too, as was John Ball, his great-uncle and an eight-time winner of the British Amateur and the 1890 British Open.