BILLY CASPER

:''Billy Casper is also the name of the protagonist of ''A Kestrel for a Knave''.''

'Billy Casper'

'Personal Information'
'Birth'	San Diego, California, USA
'Nationality'
'College'	None
Career
'Professional wins'	64 (PGA Tour: 51, Other: 3, 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' (born June 24, 1931) is an American 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. 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 have 11 children.

Contents

Career summary

PGA Tour wins (51)

Other wins (3)

Senior PGA Tour wins (9)

Other senior wins (1)

Major Championships

Wins (3)

Results timeline

See also

External link

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.

★ 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.

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'.

Other wins (3)

:''This list is incomplete.''

★ 1974 Trophée Lancôme (France, but not a European Tour event at that time.)

★ 1975 Italian Open (European Tour)

★ 1977 Mexican Open

Senior PGA Tour wins (9)

★ 1982 (2) Shootout at Jeremy Ranch, Merrill Lynch/Golf Digest Commemorative Pro-Am

★ 1983 (1) 'U.S. Senior Open'

★ 1984 (1) SENIOR PGA TOUR Roundup

★ 1987 (2) Del E. Webb Arizona Classic, Greater Grand Rapids Open

★ 1988 (2) Vantage at The Dominion, 'Mazda SENIOR TOURNAMENT PLAYERS Championship'

★ 1989 (1) Transamerica Senior Golf Championship
Senior major championships are shown in 'bold'.

Other senior wins (1)

★ 1984 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf (with Gay Brewer)

Major Championships

Wins (3)

'Year	'Championship	'54 Holes	'Winning Score	'Margin	'Runners Up
1959	U.S. Open	3 shot lead	-2 (71-68-69-74=282)	1 stroke	Bob Rosburg
1966	U.S. Open (2)	3 shot deficit	-2 (69-68-73-68=278)	Playoff 1	Arnold Palmer
1970	The Masters	1 shot lead	-9 (72-68-68-71=279)	Playoff 2	Gene Littler

¹ Defeated Arnold Palmer in 18-hole playoff - Casper (69), Palmer (73)

² Defeated Gene Littler in 18-hole playoff - Casper (69), Littler (74)

Results timeline

Tournament	1956	1957	1958	1959
The Masters	DNP	T16	T20	CUT
U.S. Open	T14	CUT	T13	'1'
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	2	T17

Tournament	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969
The Masters	4	T7	T15	T11	T5	T35	T10	T24	T16	T2
U.S. Open	T12	T17	CUT	DNP	4	T17	'1'	4	T9	T40
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	4	T25
PGA Championship	T24	T15	T51	DNP	T9	T2	T3	19	T6	T35

Tournament	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979
The Masters	'1'	T13	T17	T17	T37	6	8	T14	CUT	43
U.S. Open	T8	CUT	T11	CUT	CUT	DNP	CUT	DNP	T30	DNP
The Open Championship	T17	T7	T40	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	T18	2	T4	T35	T63	T5	T51	T31	CUT	CUT

Tournament	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
The Masters	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT	T57	CUT	T50	CUT	CUT
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	CUT	DNP	T67	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

Tournament	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
The Masters	CUT	CUT	DNP	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT	WD
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

Tournament	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
The Masters	WD	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	WD
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

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

See also

★ Golfers with most PGA Tour wins

★ Golfers with most major championship wins

★ Longest PGA Tour win streaks

External link

★ Profile on the PGA Tour's official site