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 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
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]
† indicates the event was won in a playoff; ‡ indicates the event was won wire-to-wire; # indicates the event was won by an amateur; 1942–1945 cancelled due to World War II
