William Lawson Little Jr. (June 23, 1910 – February 1, 1968) was an American professional

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

er who also had a distinguished amateur career. Little was born in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Yor ...

, and lived much of his early life in the

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

area, where his father was a senior military officer. Little was one of the most dominant amateur players in the history of the sport, capturing both the

British Amateur The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 1 ...

and the U.S. Amateur, then regarded as major championships, consecutively in 1934 and 1935. He remains the only player to have won both titles in the same year more than once. Little's winning margin of 14 and 13 in the 1934 British final remains the record for dominance. Bob Dickson,

Harold Hilton Harold Horsfall Hilton (12 January 1869 – 5 May 1942) was an English amateur golfer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He won The Open Championship twice, The Amateur Championship four times, and the U.S. Amateur Championship once. B ...

and Bobby Jones are the only other golfers to have won the two titles in the same year. Little graduated from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...

in 1934 and is a member of the

Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame The Stanford Cardinal are the athletic teams that represent Stanford University. As of June, 2022, Stanford's program has won 131 NCAA team championships. Stanford has won at least one NCAA team championship each academic year for 46 consecutiv ...

. He won the

James E. Sullivan Award The AAU James E. Sullivan Award, presented by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), is awarded annually in April to "the most outstanding amateur athlete in the United States". Representatives from the AAU created the AAU Sullivan Award with the int ...

for outstanding amateur athlete in 1935. Little was a student of golf instructor Ernest Jones. Little turned professional in April 1936, and he won eight times 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 ...

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 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, when the major championships were cancelled, and to have focused his attention more on the stock market. He carried up to 26 clubs in his bag, and this prompted the

United States Golf Association The United States Golf Association (USGA) is the United States national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the rules ...

to introduce the 14-club limit in 1938. Little died of a heart attack in

Monterey, California Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under b ...

in 1968. He was inducted into the

World Golf Hall of Fame The World Golf Hall of Fame is located at World Golf Village near St. Augustine, Florida, in the United States, and it is unusual among sports halls of fame in that a single site honors both men and women. It is supported by a consortium of 26 go ...

in 1980.

Amateur wins (9)

*1928 Northern California Amateur *1929 Orinda Country Club Fourth of July Invitational *1930 Northern California Amateur *1932 Broadmoor Invitational *1933 Colorado Match Play Championship *1934 U.S. Amateur,

*1935 U.S. Amateur,

Professional wins

PGA Tour wins (8)

*1936 (1) Canadian Open *1937 (2)

Shawnee Open The Shawnee Open is a golf tournament that was first held in 1912. It is played at The Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort in Smithfield Township, Monroe County, Pennsylvania. The couse was completed in 1911, the first ever design by renowned architect A. ...

San Francisco National Match Play Open The San Francisco Open was a golf tournament played in the San Francisco area. It was played at a number of different courses in the December to February period. From 1930 to 1941 it was a match-play event before becoming a 72-hole stroke play eve ...

*1940 (2) U.S. Open, Los Angeles Open *1941 (1)

Texas Open The Texas Open, known as the Valero Texas Open for sponsorship reasons, is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, played near San Antonio, Texas. It dates back years to 1922, when it was first called the Texas Open; San Antonio-based Val ...

*1942 (1) Inverness Invitational Four-Ball (with

Lloyd Mangrum Lloyd Eugene Mangrum (August 1, 1914 – November 17, 1973) was an American professional golfer. He was known for his smooth swing and his relaxed demeanour on the course, which earned him the nickname "Mr. Icicle." Early life and family Mangrum ...

) *1948 (1)

St. Petersburg Open The St. Petersburg Open (russian: Открытый Санкт-Петербург) is a professional men's tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is part of the ATP Tour 250 series of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tou ...

Professional major championship is shown in bold.

Other wins

*1934

Northern California Open The Northern California Open is a golf tournament played in the Northern California, open to both amateur and professional golfers. It is run by the Northern California section of the PGA of America. It has been played annually since 1920 at a var ...

(as an amateur)

Major championships

Professional wins (1)

¹ Defeated Sarazen in an 18-hole playoff - Little 70 (−2), Sarazen 73 (+1).

Amateur wins (4)

Results timeline

Amateur Professional LA = low amateur
NT = no tournament
WD = withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
DNQ = did not qualify for match play portion of U.S. Amateur
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = round in which player lost in match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Sources: Masters, U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur, British Open

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 13 (1940 Masters – 1948 PGA) *Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (three times)

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur *

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup Match (not "Matches" as in Ryder Cup Matches). It is ...

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maxi ...

(winners)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Little, Lawson American male golfers Stanford Cardinal men's golfers PGA Tour golfers Winners of men's major golf championships World Golf Hall of Fame inductees Golfers from Rhode Island Golfers from San Francisco James E. Sullivan Award recipients Sportspeople from Newport, Rhode Island 1910 births 1968 deaths