Lawson Little

Lawson Little
Lawson Little
	Little in 1939
Personal information
Full name	William Lawson Little Jr.
Nickname	Cannonball
Born	June 23, 1910; Fort Adams, Newport, Rhode Island, U.S.
Died	February 1, 1968 (aged 57); Monterey, California, U.S.
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Weight	200 lb (91 kg; 14 st)
Sporting nationality	United States
Spouse	Dorothy Hurd (m. 1936–1968)
Children	4
Career
College	Stanford University
Turned professional	1936
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour
Professional wins	9
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	8
Best results in major championships; (wins: 5)
Masters Tournament	T3: 1939
PGA Championship	T17: 1946, 1951
U.S. Open	Won: 1940
The Open Championship	T4: 1935
U.S. Amateur	Won: 1934, 1935
British Amateur	Won: 1934, 1935
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame
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, and lived much of his early life in the San Francisco area, where his father was an Army Colonel stationed at the Presidio of San Francisco. Little was one of the most dominant amateur players in the history of the sport, capturing both the British Amateur and the U.S. Amateur, then regarded as major championships, consecutively in 1934 and 1935. This feat was referred to as the "Little Slam". He remains the only player to have won both titles in the same year more than once. Little's winning margin of 14 and 13 in the 1934 British final remains the record for dominance. Bob Dickson, Harold Hilton and Bobby Jones are the only other golfers to have won the two titles in the same year.

Little attended Stanford University 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 was a student of golf instructor Ernest Jones.

Little turned professional in April 1936, and he won eight times on the PGA Tour including one professional major, the 1940 U.S. Open. Little spent much of his early professional career traveling the country with Bobby Jones and fellow golfers Horton Smith, Jimmy Thomson, and Harry Cooper with the intentions of growing the game of golf in a Spaulding-sponsored effort called The Keystones of Golf. 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 raised his family in a house that sat on Fairway One of the Pebble Beach golf course and stayed actively involved in the golf world well into his twilight years. He was an active was a photographer and sports writer for many publications and would hold golf clinics at the Masters and Crosby events. Little died in 1968 of a heart attack at his home in Monterey, California, at the age of 57.^[1] He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1980.

Amateur record (19 wins)

1927

Western Amateur Championship - Qualified Championship flight, defeated first round by Chick Evans

1928

Winner Northern California Amateur Championship (2 months before 18th birthday)
Winner Presidio Golf Club Championship

1929

Winner and Medalist Presidio Golf Club Championship
Winner Orinda Country Club Fourth of July Invitational
Quarter-finalist U.S. Amateur Championship at Pebble Beach (1st National Amateur)

1930

Medalist California State Amateur Championship at Pebble Beach
Quarter-finalist California State Amateur Championship, defeated by winner, Francis Brown
Defeated 2nd round U.S. Amateur Championship by Gene Holmans, runner-up to Bob Jones

1931

Winner Stanford University Championship
Winner Northern California Championship
Winner Denver, Colorado Invitational Championship (Medal Play)
Did not qualify U.S. Amateur at Beverly C.C. Chicago, IL.

1932

Defeated in 1st round U.S. Amateur by medalist, Johnny Fischer.

1933

Winner Pacific Coast Intercollegiate Championship, Pebble Beach, CA
Winner & Medalist Broadmoor Invitational, Colorado Springs, CO
Winner & Medalist Colorado State Amateur Championship, Cherry Hills CC
Winner Stanford University Championship
Runner-up Trans-Mississippi Championship, Colorado Springs, CO
Semi-finalist U.S. Amateur (defeated Sandy Summerville, the Champion, in quarter-finals, was defeated by eventual winner, Geo Dunlap)

1934

Winner 8&6 U.S. Walker Cup with partner Johnny Goodman
Winner 6&5 U.S. Walker Cup singles vs. No.2 Cyril Tolley
Winner British Amateur Championship at Prestwick Golf Club by record margin 14&15
Low Amateur in U.S. Open
Winner Northern California Open
Winner Pacific Coast Intercollegiate Championship
Winner U.S. Amateur Championship, defeated David Goodwin 8&7 at The Country Club in Brookline, MA

1935

Low Amateur Masters. Finished 6th. Score 288
Low Amateur British Open. Finished 4th. Score 289 (Set Amateur course record of 69 at Muirfield Golf Club, Scotland)
Winner British Amateur Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club, Lancashire, England. 1 up (Second year in a row)
Winner U.S. Amateur Championship at The Country Club in Cleveland, OH. 4&2. (Second year in a row)

Professional wins

PGA Tour wins (8)

1936 (1) Canadian Open
1937 (2) Shawnee Open, San Francisco National Match Play Open
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.

Other wins

1934 Northern California Open (as an amateur)

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 Sarazen in an 18-hole playoff - Little 70 (−2), Sarazen 73 (+1).

Amateur wins (4)

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

Results timeline

Amateur

Tournament	1929	1930	1931	1932	1933	1934	1935
U.S. Amateur	QF	R16	DNQ	R32	SF	1	1
The Amateur Championship						1	1

Professional

Tournament	1934	1935	1936	1937	1938	1939
Masters Tournament		6 LA	T20	T19	T10	T3
U.S. Open	T25 LA			CUT	T38	T42
The Open Championship		T4 LA				CUT
PGA Championship

Tournament	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	1946	1947	1948	1949
Masters Tournament	T19	8	T7	NT	NT	NT	T21	T14	T40	T23
U.S. Open	1	T17	NT	NT	NT	NT	T10	T31	CUT	CUT
The Open Championship	NT	NT	NT	NT	NT	NT	10		T32
PGA Championship				NT			R32		R64	R64

Tournament	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957
Masters Tournament	9	6	WD		T38	65	T72	T28
U.S. Open	CUT	CUT	CUT	T45	T35	CUT
The Open Championship
PGA Championship		R32	R64

Win

Top 10

Did not play

LA = low amateur
NT = no tournament
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

Sources: Masters,^[2] U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur,^[3] British Open^[4]