Lawson Little
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William Lawson Little, Jr. (June 23, 1910 – February 1, 1968) was an American golfer.
He was born in Newport, Rhode Island. He was one of the most dominant amateur players in the history of the sport, winning both the British Amateur Championship and the United States Amateur Championship, then regarded as major championships, in both 1934 and 1935. Bob Dickson, Harold Hilton and Bobby Jones are the only other golfers to have held the two titles concurrently. He won the James E. Sullivan Award for outstanding amateur athlete in 1935.
He turned professional in April 1936 and he won eight times on the PGA Tour including one professional major, the 1940 U.S. Open. This tally was considered somewhat disappointing; he was said to have lost interest in golf during World War II, when the major championships were cancelled, and to have focused his attention more on the stock market. Lawson carried up to 26 clubs in his bag and this prompted the United States Golf Association to introduce the 14 club limit in 1938.
He died in Monterey, California in 1968. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1980.
Contents |
[edit] Amateur wins (8)
- 1928 Northern California Amateur
- 1930 Northern California Amateur
- 1932 Broadmoor Invitational
- 1933 Colorado Closed Amateur
- 1934 U.S. Amateur, The Amateur Championship
- 1935 U.S. Amateur, The Amateur Championship
[edit] PGA Tour wins (8)
- 1936 (1) Canadian Open
- 1937 (2) Shawnee Open, San Francisco Open Match Play
- 1940 (2) U.S. Open, Los Angeles Open
- 1941 (1) Texas Open
- 1942 (1) Inverness Invitational Four-Ball (with Lloyd Mangrum)
- 1948 (1) St. Petersburg Open
Professional major championship is shown in bold.
[edit] Results in major championships
Professional
| Tournament | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | DNP | 6 LA | T20 | T19 | T10 | T3 |
| U.S. Open | T25 | DNP | DNP | CUT | T38 | T42 |
| The Open Championship | DNP | T4 LA | DNP | DNP | DNP | CUT |
| PGA Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| Tournament | 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | 1946 | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | T19 | 8 | T7 | NT | NT | NT | T21 | T14 | T40 | T23 |
| U.S. Open | 1 | T17 | NT | NT | NT | NT | T10 | T31 | CUT | CUT |
| The Open Championship | NT | NT | NT | NT | NT | NT | 10 | DNP | T32 | DNP |
| PGA Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | NT | DNP | DNP | T17 | DNP | T33 | T33 |
| Tournament | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | 9 | 6 | WD | WD | T38 | 65 | T72 | T28 |
| U.S. Open | CUT | CUT | CUT | T45 | T35 | CUT | DNP | DNP |
| The Open Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| PGA Championship | DNP | T17 | T33 | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
Amateur
| Tournament | 1929 | 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Amateur | T5 | T9 | DNP | T17 | T3 | 1 | 1 |
| British Amateur | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | 1 | 1 |
LA = Low Amateur
NT = No tournament
DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10
