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Lawson Little
Personal information
Full name	William Lawson Little, Jr.
Born	June 23, 1910(1910-06-23) Newport, Rhode Island
Died	February 1, 1968 (aged 57) Monterey, California
Nationality	United States
Career
College	Stanford University
Turned professional	1936
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour
Professional wins	8
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	8
Best results in Major Championships (Wins: 1)
The Masters	T3: 1939
U.S. Open	Won: 1940
Open Championship	T4: 1935
PGA Championship	T17: 1946, 1951
U.S. Amateur	Won: 1934, 1935
British Amateur	Won: 1934, 1935
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame	1980 (member page)
James E. Sullivan Award	1935

William Lawson Little, Jr. (June 23, 1910 – February 1, 1968) was an American professional golfer who also had a distinguished amateur career.

Little was born in Newport, Rhode Island. He was one of the most dominant amateur players in the history of the sport, winning both the British Amateur and the U.S. Amateur, then regarded as major championships, in both 1934 and 1935. Bob Dickson, Harold Hilton and Bobby Jones are the only other golfers to have held the two titles concurrently. He graduated from Stanford University in 1934 and is a member of the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame. He won the James E. Sullivan Award for outstanding amateur athlete in 1935.

Little turned professional in April 1936 and he won eight times on the PGA Tour 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, 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 to introduce the 14 club limit in 1938.

Little was a student of golf instructor Ernest Jones.

Little died in Monterey, California in 1968. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1980.

Amateur wins (8)

• 1928 Northern California Amateur
• 1930 Northern California Amateur
• 1932 Broadmoor Invitational
• 1933 Colorado Closed Amateur
• 1934 U.S. Amateur, British Amateur
• 1935 U.S. Amateur, British Amateur

PGA Tour wins (8)

• 1936 (1) Canadian Open
• 1937 (2) Shawnee Open, San Francisco Open Match Play
• 1940 (2) U.S. Open, Los Angeles Open
• 1941 (1) Texas Open
• 1942 (1) Inverness Invitational Four-Ball (with Lloyd Mangrum)
• 1948 (1) St. Petersburg Open

Professional major championship is shown in bold.

Major championships

Professional wins (1)

Year	Championship	54 Holes	Winning Score	Margin	Runner-up
1940	U.S. Open	1 shot deficit	-1 (72-69-73-73=287)	Playoff 1	Gene Sarazen

¹ Defeated Gene Sarazen in an 18-hole playoff - Little (70), Sarazen (73)

Amateur wins (4)

Year	Championship	Winning Score	Runner-up
1934	U.S. Amateur	8 & 7	David Goldman
1934	British Amateur	14 & 13	J. Wallace
1935	U.S. Amateur	4 & 2	Walter Emery
1935	British Amateur	1 up	William Tweddell

Results timeline

Professional

Amateur

LA = Low Amateur
NT = No tournament
DNP = Did not play
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
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

See also

• Golfers with most PGA Tour wins

External links

• World Golf Hall of Fame profile