Wikipedia

Bill Rogers (golfer)

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

Bill Rogers
Personal information
Full nameWilliam Charles Rogers
NicknamePanther
Born (1951-09-10) September 10, 1951 (age 73)
Waco, Texas, U.S.
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight148 lb (67 kg; 10.6 st)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceSan Antonio, Texas, U.S.
Career
CollegeUniversity 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 TournamentT29: 1978
PGA ChampionshipT8: 1980
U.S. OpenT2: 1981
The Open ChampionshipWon: 1981
Achievements and awards
PGA Player of the Year1981

Early life

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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

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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

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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

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Rogers lives in San Antonio, Texas.[2]

Amateur wins

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this list may be incomplete

Professional wins (14)

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PGA Tour wins (6)

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Legend
Major championships (1)
Other PGA Tour (5)
No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 Feb 13, 1978 Bob Hope Desert Classic 69-67-67-67-69=339 −21 2 strokes   Jerry McGee
2 Mar 29, 1981 Sea Pines Heritage 71-69-68-70=278 −6 1 stroke   Bruce Devlin,   Hale Irwin,
  Gil Morgan,   Craig Stadler
3 Jul 19, 1981 The Open Championship 72-66-67-71=276 −4 4 strokes   Bernhard Langer
4 Aug 30, 1981 World Series of Golf 68-69-71-67=275 −5 1 stroke   Tom Kite
5 Oct 4, 1981 Texas Open 67-66-70-63=266 −14 Playoff   Ben Crenshaw
6 Mar 20, 1983 USF&G Classic 69-67-69-69=274 −14 3 strokes   David Edwards,   Jay Haas,
  Vance Heafner

PGA Tour playoff record (1–2)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 1978 Western Open   Andy Bean Lost to par on first extra hole
2 1979 Byron Nelson Golf Classic   Tom Watson Lost to birdie on first extra hole
3 1981 Texas Open   Ben Crenshaw Won with birdie on first extra hole

PGA of Japan Tour wins (3)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 Oct 9, 1977 Taiheiyo Club Masters 71-67-71-66=275 −9 1 stroke   Mike Morley,   Teruo Sugihara
2 Sep 7, 1980 Suntory Open 68-71-70-69=278 −10 2 strokes   Graham Marsh
3 Sep 13, 1981 Suntory Open (2) 68-65-68-69=270 −18 2 strokes   Norio Suzuki

PGA Tour of Australasia wins (2)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory 		Runner-up
1 Nov 1, 1981 New South Wales Open 69-69-71-76=285 −7 3 strokes   Lyndsay Stephen
2 Nov 22, 1981 Australian Open 71-69-69-73=282 −6 1 stroke   Greg Norman

Other wins (2)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory 		Runner-up
1 Oct 14, 1979 Suntory World Match Play Championship 1 up   Isao Aoki
2 Mar 15, 1982 PGA Grand Slam of Golf 71 +1 5 strokes   David Graham

Other senior wins (1)

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Major championships

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Wins (1)

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Year Championship 54 holes Winning score Margin Runner-up
1981 The Open Championship 5 shot lead −4 (72-66-67-71=276) 4 strokes   Bernhard Langer

Results timeline

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Tournament 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
Masters Tournament T29
U.S. Open CUT CUT 61 CUT T44 T4
The Open Championship
PGA Championship CUT T42 T35
Tournament 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986
Masters Tournament T33 T37 T38 CUT CUT CUT CUT
U.S. Open T16 T2 T3 CUT 57 WD CUT
The Open Championship T19 1 T22 T8 CUT CUT CUT
PGA Championship T8 T27 T29 CUT
  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

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

Summary

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Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 4
U.S. Open 0 1 1 3 3 4 13 7
The Open Championship 1 0 0 1 2 4 7 4
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 1 1 7 5
Totals 1 1 1 4 6 9 35 20
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 17 (1978 Masters – 1982 PGA)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (1981 U.S. Open – 1981 Open Championship)

U.S. national team appearances

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Amateur

Professional

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Profile on PGA Tour's official site". Archived from the original on December 13, 2010. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  2. ^ a b c 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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