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- Billy Casper is also the name of the protagonist of A Kestrel for a Knave.
Billy Casper
| Personal Information |
| Birth |
June 24, 1931 (1931-06-24) (age 76)
San Diego, California, U.S. |
| Nationality |
 United States |
| College |
None |
| Career |
| Professional wins |
66 (PGA Tour: 51, Other: 5, Senior PGA Tour: 9, Other Senior: 1) |
Best Results in Major Championships
Wins: 3 |
| Masters |
Won 1970 |
| U.S. Open |
Won 1959, 1966 |
| British Open |
4th: 1968 |
| PGA Championship |
2nd/T2: 1958, 1965, 1971 |
| Awards |
| World Golf Hall of Fame |
1978 |
| PGA Player of the Year |
1966, 1970 |
William Earl "Billy" Casper, Jr. (born June 24, 1931) is an American professional golfer who was one of the most prolific tournament winners on the PGA Tour from the mid 1950s to the mid 1970s. He was born in San Diego, California. Between 1964 and 1970 Casper won 27 tournaments on the PGA Tour, which was more than legends Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player did during that time period. His victories helped him finish third in McCormack's World Golf Rankings in 1968, 1969 and 1970, the first three years they were published. He won 51 times in his career, placing him seventh on the all time list. He captained the U.S. Ryder Cup team in 1979 and was considered the best putter of his era by many. After his professional career he has been a designer for many golf courses such as The Highlands, The Palm and Eagle Crest in Sun City Summerlin, Nevada.
Casper is a Mormon. He and his wife Shirley have 11 children. Casper is active in charitable work for children and hosts fundraisers including an annual tournament at San Diego Country Club for "Billy's Kids".
In 2000, Casper was ranked as the 15th greatest golfer of all time by Golf Digest magazine.[1]
[edit] Career summary
Casper's principal achievements include:
- Three major championships: the 1959 and 1966 U.S. Opens, and the 1970 Masters Tournament.
- 51 PGA Tour wins: this puts him seventh on the all time list of golfers with most PGA Tour wins.
- PGA Tour Money Winner in 1966 and 1968.
- PGA Player of the Year in 1966 and 1970.
- Won the Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average five times: 1960, 1963, 1965, 1966, and 1968.
- Member of the United States team in the Ryder Cup 8 times -- in 1961, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1975, and a non-playing captain in 1979. Casper has scored the most points in the Ryder Cup by an American player.
- Nine Senior PGA Tour (now the Champions Tour) wins from 1982 to 1989, including two senior majors.
- Inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1978.
[edit] PGA Tour wins (51)
- 1956 (1) Labatt Open
- 1957 (2) Phoenix Open Invitational, Kentucky Derby Open Invitational
- 1958 (3) Bing Crosby National Pro-Am Golf Championship, Greater New Orleans Open Invitational, Buick Open Invitational
- 1959 (4) U.S. Open, Portland Centennial Open Invitational, Lafayette Open Invitational, Mobile Sertoma Open Invitational
- 1960 (3) Portland Open Invitational, Hesperia Open Invitational, Orange County Open Invitational
- 1961 (1) Portland Open Invitational
- 1962 (4) Doral C.C. Open Invitational, Greater Greensboro Open, 500 Festival Open Invitation, Bakersfield Open Invitational
- 1963 (2) Bing Crosby National Pro-Am, Insurance City Open Invitational
- 1964 (4) Doral Open Invitational, Colonial National Invitation, Greater Seattle Open Invitational, Almaden Open Invitational
- 1965 (4) Bob Hope Desert Classic, Western Open, Insurance City Open Invitational, Sahara Invitational
- 1966 (4) San Diego Open Invitational, U.S. Open, Western Open, 500 Festival Open Invitation
- 1967 (2) Canadian Open, Carling World Open
- 1968 (6) Los Angeles Open, Greater Greensboro Open, Colonial National Invitation, 500 Festival Open Invitation, Greater Hartford Open Invitational, Lucky International Open
- 1969 (3) Bob Hope Desert Classic, Western Open, Alcan Open
- 1970 (4) Los Angeles Open, The Masters, IVB-Philadelphia Golf Classic, AVCO Golf Classic
- 1971 (1) Kaiser International Open Invitational
- 1973 (2) Western Open, Sammy Davis Jr.-Greater Hartford Open
- 1975 (1) First NBC New Orleans Open
Major championships are shown in bold.
Source: (Barkow 1989, pp. 262–263)
[edit] Other wins (5)
- This list is incomplete.
[edit] Senior PGA Tour wins (9)
Senior major championships are shown in bold.
[edit] Other senior wins (1)
[edit] Major Championships
[edit] Wins (3)
1 Defeated Arnold Palmer in 18-hole playoff - Casper (69), Palmer (73)
2 Defeated Gene Littler in 18-hole playoff - Casper (69), Littler (74)
[edit] Results timeline
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
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Yocom, Guy (July 2000). 50 Greatest Golfers of All Time: And What They Taught Us. Golf Digest. Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
Barkow, Al (1989), The History of the PGA TOUR, Doubleday, ISBN 0-385-26145-4
[edit] External links
