William R. Collins (September 23, 1928 – April 8, 2006) was an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

who played on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

in the 1950s and 1960s and the Senior PGA Tour in the 1980s.

Life

Collins was born in

Meyersdale, Pennsylvania Meyersdale is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, on the Casselman River, southeast of Pittsburgh. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area. In the pa ...

and grew up in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. Collins joined the PGA Tour in 1958 and won four events between 1959 and 1962. His first victory came at the 1959

Greater New Orleans Open Invitational The Zurich Classic of New Orleans is a professional golf tournament in Louisiana on the PGA Tour, currently held at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, a suburb southwest of New Orleans. Beginning in 1938 and held annually since 1958, it is commonly pla ...

by three strokes (280) over Jack Burke Jr. and

Tom Nieporte Thomas Nieporte (October 21, 1928 – December 21, 2014) was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour in the 1950s and 1960s. Nieporte grew up in the Cincinnati suburb of North College Hill, Ohio. He attended the Ohio State Univ ...

. In 1960, Collins finished in a three-way tie for first at the end of regulation at the

Insurance City Open Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

, which he and

Jack Fleck Jackson Donald Fleck (November 7, 1921 – March 21, 2014) was an American professional golfer, best known for winning the U.S. Open in 1955 in a playoff over Ben Hogan. Early years Born in 1921 and raised in Bettendorf, Iowa, Fleck's parents ...

lost in a playoff to

Arnold Palmer Arnold Daniel Palmer (September 10, 1929 – September 25, 2016) was an American professional golfer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most charismatic players in the sport's history. Dating back to 1955, he won numerous ev ...

. His best finishes in major championships were T-7 at

The Masters The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first maj ...

in 1961 and a 7th-place finish at the 1964 U.S. Open. He was a member of the victorious

1961 Ryder Cup The 14th Ryder Cup Matches were held 13–14 October 1961 at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lytham St Annes, England. The United States team won the competition by a score of 14 to 9 points. At the 1959 Ryder Cup there had been informal d ...

team. Collins was forced to quit the Tour after back surgery in 1963. In 1965, he took a club pro job at Brae Burn Country Club in

Purchase, New York Purchase is a hamlet in the town and village of Harrison, in Westchester County, New York, United States. One myth explains that its name is derived from Harrison's purchase, where John Harrison was to be granted as much land as he could ride in ...

and remained there until December 1981. He joined the Senior PGA Tour in 1982 and won the Greater Syracuse Senior's Pro Golf Classic in his first full season. Collins died in

Woodstock, Georgia Woodstock is a city in Cherokee County, Georgia, United States. The population was 33,039 as of 2019 according to the US Census Bureau. Originally a stop on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, Woodstock is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. ...

at the age of 77.

Professional wins (7)

PGA Tour wins (4)

PGA Tour playoff record (1–3)

Other wins (2)

*1956 Metropolitan PGA Championship *1975 Metropolitan PGA Championship

Senior PGA Tour wins (1)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Bill American male golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Ryder Cup competitors for the United States Golfers from Pennsylvania Golfers from New York (state) People from Somerset County, Pennsylvania People from Purchase, New York 1928 births 2006 deaths