The lost years can never be regained.

Charlie Sifford has spent a good part of his days wondering what might have been, how opportunity never really knocked, how things might have been different for a golfer with immense talent but few places to show it.

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Charlie Sifford became the first African-American to gain PGA membership in 1961 when the Caucasian-only clause was repealed.

Now, at 86, he is lending his name to a special exemption being given at the annual Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles, where his last victory came 40 years ago in a playoff over Harold Henning.

Vincent Johnson, who played golf at Oregon State and is now a pro toiling on the Gateway Tour in Arizona, is the recipient of the first exemption and will play in his first PGA Tour event this week in honor of Sifford, who for years was denied access to such a tournament because of a Caucasian-only clause that was not rescinded until 1961.

"It's something that should have been done a long time ago," Sifford said recently when the exemption was created. "This is a wonderful thing. It will give someone a chance."

Sifford's chance came too late. He was nearly 40 by the time he could finally play the PGA Tour and was the first African-American to become a member in 1961. For that, he was often referred to as the Jackie Robinson of golf.

"Jackie Robinson did a beautiful job," Sifford said during an interview several years ago. "He was my friend. When I tried to start playing, I went to Jackie Robinson and asked him about it. He asked me if I was a quitter and I said no. He said, 'If you're not a quitter, take a shot at it. But you'll run into a lot of obstacles.'

"In the job Jackie had, he was in a ballpark. He had a manager. He had someone to protect him. I never had anybody to protect me out here. I was walking in the middle of a golf course. Anything could have happened."

Sifford began his days in golf as a caddie at an all-white club in Charlotte, N.C., where he started smoking cigars at age 13 and learned to play golf on Mondays, when caddies were allowed on the course. He had to sneak on other days, and because of that Sifford said he became a poor putter.

"I was always moving fast to keep from being thrown off," he said. "I never learned to take my time on the greens and develop a good stroke."

His golf career continued as singer Billy Eckstine's personal pro for a decade, and he later dominated a little-known black professional golf circuit on which he won the Negro National Open six times. All the while, he fought the PGA in order to pursue his passion: playing golf at the highest level.

"Without Charlie Sifford, there would have been no one to fight the system for the blacks that followed," said Lee Elder, who in 1975 became the first African-American to play in the Masters. "It took a special person to take the things that he took: the tournaments that barred him, the black cats in his bed, the hotels where he couldn't stay, the country-club grills where he couldn't eat. Charlie was tough and hard. That's the reason you still see that hardness."

Sifford's resilience was seen in his sturdy, stocky 5-foot-8 frame. And it helped him throughout his professional career, which began in the 1940s. When he won the 1957 Long Beach Open, he became the first African-American golfer to defeat white professionals in a PGA-sanctioned event.

Although he did not become a PGA member until age 38, he was among the top 60 money winners every year through 1969.

And he was the subject of harassment at many tournaments he tried to enter, especially in the South. He might be barred from using a club's restroom or locker room. He had a difficult time finding a hotel rooms, so he stayed with acquaintances.

"I don't blame anybody," Sifford said. "What could anybody say? That's how it was. Those were the rules."

Sifford became the first African-American to win a regular PGA Tour event at the 1967 Hartford Open, shooting a final-round 64, and he won again in 1969 at the Los Angeles Open, although neither victory earned him an invitation to the Masters.

By the time the Senior PGA Tour -- now known as the Champions Tour -- came around in 1980, Sifford already was 58 years old. He won the Suntree Classic in Melbourne, Fla., that year, his only senior victory.

"I wish I could have started when I was younger," he said. "I thank God for the greatest game in the world. But you cannot start at the age I started. You have to grow up with this game. I didn't do that."

Wie never learned how to win

There is a lot of good Michelle Wie can take from her runner-up finish in the LPGA Tour's season opener. And when you consider where she was a year ago, it was a significant step for the 19-year-old who has all season to try to notch her first victory, which many believe she will do.

But watching her turn a three-shot lead with eight holes to go into a three-shot deficit just five holes later at the SBS Open, it was difficult not to wonder what might have been for Wie if she had taken the path of others, including Tiger Woods.

Simply put, for all of Wie's talents, she has never learned how to win. Her most recent victory of any kind came at the 2003 U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links. She lost in the finals of the same tournament a year later.

Unlike Woods, who dominated at every level he played but often resisted the urge to leave his peers, Wie was always striving to play at higher levels, including playing against men. There is some good in that, but there is also much to be said for learning to -- and expecting -- to win. Wie would have been a huge favorite playing American Junior Golf Association or United States Golf Association amateur events.

While she might have been better than all but a handful of competitors, the pressure that comes with being expected to win and actually holding the trophy would have served her well in times such as Saturday. Winning breeds winning, and a few losses when you are expected to win teaches many lessons.

Wie took the lead over veteran Angela Stanford, then immediately folded, making a double bogey at the par-4 11th hole when she hit a poor drive. That gave Stanford an opening, and she birdied three straight holes to take a two-shot advantage. Wie then missed a short birdie putt at the 16th hole, left a par putt short that she had to have at the 17th, then inexplicably didn't hit a driver off the tee at the par-5 18th, where an eagle would have given her some hope.

The good news for Wie is she is off to a strong start on the LPGA Tour money list, which will help her qualify for the season's first major. And she plans to play a bunch, which should help her develop the consistency she could never quite capture in years past.

A look at this week's venue

It doesn't get much better than this. Riviera Country Club, located in Pacific Palisades, Calif., remains a gem, a place where Ben Hogan won a U.S. Open (1948), and home to the Los Angeles-based PGA Tour stop for years. The tournament dates to 1926, when Harry Cooper won at Los Angeles CC. It was first played at Riviera in 1928, two years after it was designed by George Thomas.

This will be the 47th tournament at Riviera. The course measures 7,298 yards and plays to par-71. Last year, it ranked as the 13th most difficult course on the PGA Tour.

Bob Harig covers golf for ESPN.com. He can be reached at BobHarig@gmail.com.