Bill Rogers (golfer)

Last updated

Bill Rogers
Personal information
Full nameWilliam Charles Rogers
NicknamePanther
Born (1951-09-10) September 10, 1951 (age 72)
Waco, Texas, U.S.
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight148 lb (67 kg; 10.6 st)
Sporting nationalityFlag of the United States.svg  United States
Residence San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
Career
College University of Houston
Turned professional1974
Former tour(s) PGA Tour
Champions Tour
Professional wins14
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour6
European Tour1
Japan Golf Tour3
PGA Tour of Australasia2
Other3
Best results in major championships
(wins: 1)
Masters Tournament T29: 1978
PGA Championship T8: 1980
U.S. Open T2: 1981
The Open Championship Won: 1981
Achievements and awards
PGA Player of the Year 1981

William Charles Rogers (born September 10, 1951) is an American professional golfer who is best known as the winner of the 1981 Open Championship.

Contents

Early life

Rogers was born in Waco, Texas. He began playing golf at the age of 9. Rogers attended Texas High School in Texarkana, Texas where he excelled on the golf team. He began honing his skills at Northridge Country Club winning numerous local amateur events in northeast Texas. [1] His father was a lieutenant colonel in the United States Air Force, and Rogers spent part of his military brat youth in Morocco and Germany.

Amateur career

Rogers attended the University of Houston, where he played on the Cougar golf team and roomed with fellow future PGA Tour pro Bruce Lietzke. [2] As an amateur golfer, he played for the U.S. in the 1973 Walker Cup.

Professional career

Rogers played the PGA Tour full-time from 1975 to 1988 and won six tournaments, including four in 1981. [3] Almost uniquely for an American golfer, his two most notable victories were in Britain: Rogers won the Suntory World Match Play Championship at Wentworth in 1979, and The Open Championship in 1981 at Royal St George's, four strokes ahead of runner-up Bernhard Langer. He was the PGA Player of the Year for 1981, and finished second on McCormack's World Golf Rankings; he was also on the Ryder Cup team in 1981.

In 1982, Rogers won the PGA Grand Slam of Golf, and led the U.S. Open during the final day before falling short. After one further PGA Tour win in 1983, Rogers' tour career faded to the point where he experienced burnout. [4]

Rogers left the tour in 1988 and took a position as director of golf at San Antonio Country Club, where he worked for 11 years. [2]

Since turning 50 in 2001, Rogers has played sporadically on the Champions Tour; his most notable accomplishment as a senior player was winning the team portion of the 2002 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf with Bruce Lietzke.

Personal life

Rogers lives in San Antonio, Texas. [2]

Amateur wins

this list may be incomplete

Professional wins (14)

PGA Tour wins (6)

Legend
Major championships (1)
Other PGA Tour (5)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runner(s)-up
1Feb 13, 1978 Bob Hope Desert Classic 69-67-67-67-69=339−212 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Jerry McGee
2Mar 29, 1981 Sea Pines Heritage 71-69-68-70=278−61 stroke Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bruce Devlin, Flag of the United States.svg Hale Irwin,
Flag of the United States.svg Gil Morgan, Flag of the United States.svg Craig Stadler
3Jul 19, 1981 The Open Championship 72-66-67-71=276−44 strokes Flag of Germany.svg Bernhard Langer
4Aug 30, 1981 World Series of Golf 68-69-71-67=275−51 stroke Flag of the United States.svg Tom Kite
5Oct 4, 1981 Texas Open 67-66-70-63=266−14Playoff Flag of the United States.svg Ben Crenshaw
6Mar 20, 1983 USF&G Classic 69-67-69-69=274−143 strokes Flag of the United States.svg David Edwards, Flag of the United States.svg Jay Haas,
Flag of the United States.svg Vance Heafner

PGA Tour playoff record (1–2)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 1978 Western Open Flag of the United States.svg Andy Bean Lost to par on first extra hole
2 1979 Byron Nelson Golf Classic Flag of the United States.svg Tom Watson Lost to birdie on first extra hole
3 1981 Texas Open Flag of the United States.svg Ben Crenshaw Won with birdie on first extra hole

PGA of Japan Tour wins (3)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runner(s)-up
1Oct 9, 1977 Taiheiyo Club Masters 71-67-71-66=275−91 stroke Flag of the United States.svg Mike Morley, Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Teruo Sugihara
2Sep 7, 1980 Suntory Open 68-71-70-69=278−102 strokes Flag of Australia (converted).svg Graham Marsh
3Sep 13, 1981 Suntory Open (2)68-65-68-69=270−182 strokes Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Norio Suzuki

PGA Tour of Australasia wins (2)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1Nov 1, 1981 New South Wales Open 69-69-71-76=285−73 strokes Flag of Australia (converted).svg Lyndsay Stephen
2Nov 22, 1981 Australian Open 71-69-69-73=282−61 stroke Flag of Australia (converted).svg Greg Norman

Other wins (2)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1Oct 14, 1979 Suntory World Match Play Championship 1 up Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Isao Aoki
2Mar 15, 1982 PGA Grand Slam of Golf 71+15 strokes Flag of Australia (converted).svg David Graham

Other senior wins (1)

Major championships

Wins (1)

YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunner-up
1981 The Open Championship 5 shot lead−4 (72-66-67-71=276)4 strokes Flag of Germany.svg Bernhard Langer

Results timeline

Tournament197119721973197419751976197719781979
Masters Tournament T29
U.S. Open CUTCUT61CUTT44T4
The Open Championship
PGA Championship CUTT42T35
Tournament1980198119821983198419851986
Masters Tournament T33T37T38CUTCUTCUTCUT
U.S. Open T16T2T3CUT57WDCUT
The Open Championship T191T22T8CUTCUTCUT
PGA Championship T8T27T29CUT
  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place.

Summary

TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
Masters Tournament 00000084
U.S. Open 011334137
The Open Championship 10012474
PGA Championship 00001175
Totals1114693520

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur

Professional

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Profile on PGA Tour's official site". Archived from the original on December 13, 2010. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 Stricklin, Art. "Bill Rogers Last Shot" . Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  3. ↑ "Biographical information from PGA Tour's official site" . Retrieved March 25, 2011.[ dead link ]
  4. ↑ Rosaforte, Tim (July 12, 2011). "Forgotten Champion". Golf Digest.
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