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Billy Casper

From Encyclopedia Jr, free information reference for Kids

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

Contents

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 during that time period according to the World Golf Hall of Fame. He won 51 times in his career, 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, a Mormon, and his wife have 11 children. One of his sons, David, is serving a sentence of life-without-parole in a Nevada prison.

[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: As of August 27, 2006 this puts him seventh on the all time list of golfers with most PGA Tour wins.
  • Topping the PGA Tour money list in 1966 and 1968.
  • Won the Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average five times: 1960, 1963, 1965, 1966, and 1968.

Casper was a member of the United States team in the Ryder Cup in 1961, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1973 and 1975 and non-playing captain in 1979. In 1978 he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Between 1982 and 1989 he accumulated eight wins on the Senior PGA Tour (now the Champions Tour), including one senior major, the 1983 U.S. Senior Open.

[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.

[edit] Champions Tour wins (9)

  • 1982 The Shootout at Jeremy Ranch, Merrill Lynch/Golf Digest Pro-Am
  • 1983 U.S. Senior Open
  • 1984 SENIOR PGA TOUR Roundup
  • 1987 Del E. Webb Arizona Classic, Greater Grand Rapids Open
  • 1988 Vantage At The Dominion, Mazda SENIOR TOURNAMENT PLAYERS Championship
  • 1989 Transamerica Senior Golf Championship

[edit] Other wins (2)

This list is incomplete.
  • 1974 Trophée Lancôme (France, but not a European Tour event at that time.)
  • 1975 Italian Open (European Tour)

[edit] Results in major championships

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

[edit] See also

[edit] External link


Citation Help

APA Style: Reference List

Encyclopedia Jr (2007). Billy casper. Retrieved May 25, 2012, from http://www.encyclopediajr.com/wikiarticle/b/i/l/billy_casper.

MLA Style: Works Cited Page

"Billy casper." Encyclopedia Jr. 2007. 25 May 2012 <http://www.encyclopediajr.com/wikiarticle/b/i/l/billy_casper>.


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