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Bill Rogers (golfer)

American professional golfer

Field	Value
name	Bill Rogers
image	Bill Rogers - Golfer - 2022 - 220125-F-PF238-0128 (cropped).jpg
caption	Rogers in 2022
fullname	William Charles Rogers
nickname	Panther
birth_date
birth_place	Waco, Texas, U.S.
death_date
height
weight	148 lb
nationality
residence	San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
college	University of Houston
yearpro	1974
extour	PGA Tour
Champions Tour
prowins	14
pgawins	6
eurowins	1
japwins	3
auswins	2
otherwins	3
majorwins	1
masters	T29: 1978
usopen	T2: 1981
open	Won: 1981
pga	T8: 1980
wghofid
wghofyear
award1	PGA Player of the Year
year1	1981
awardssection
module	{{Infobox person	embed=yes
signature	Bill_Rogers_(golfer)_signature.jpg

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

Early life

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. 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

Rogers attended the University of Houston, where he played on the Cougar golf team and roomed with fellow future PGA Tour pro Bruce Lietzke. As an amateur golfer, he played for the U.S. in the 1973 Walker Cup.

Professional career

Rogers played the PGA Tour full-time from 1975 to 1988 and won six tournaments, including four in 1981. 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.

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.

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

Rogers lives in San Antonio, Texas.

Amateur wins

this list may be incomplete

1972 Southern Amateur

Professional wins (14)

PGA Tour wins (6)

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	USA Jerry McGee
2	Mar 29, 1981	Sea Pines Heritage	71-69-68-70=278	−6	1 stroke	AUS Bruce Devlin, USA Hale Irwin,
USA Gil Morgan, USA Craig Stadler
3	Jul 19, 1981	The Open Championship	72-66-67-71=276	−4	4 strokes	FRG Bernhard Langer
4	Aug 30, 1981	World Series of Golf	68-69-71-67=275	−5	1 stroke	USA Tom Kite
5	Oct 4, 1981	Texas Open	67-66-70-63=266	−14	Playoff	USA Ben Crenshaw
6	Mar 20, 1983	USF&G Classic	69-67-69-69=274	−14	3 strokes	USA David Edwards, USA Jay Haas,
USA Vance Heafner

PGA Tour playoff record (1–2)

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

PGA of Japan Tour wins (3)

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	USA Mike Morley, JPN Teruo Sugihara
2	Sep 7, 1980	Suntory Open	68-71-70-69=278	−10	2 strokes	AUS Graham Marsh
3	Sep 13, 1981	Suntory Open (2)	68-65-68-69=270	−18	2 strokes	JPN Norio Suzuki

PGA Tour of Australasia wins (2)

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	AUS Lyndsay Stephen
2	Nov 22, 1981	Australian Open	71-69-69-73=282	−6	1 stroke	AUS Greg Norman

Other wins (2)

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

Other senior wins (1)

2002 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf – Raphael Division (with Bruce Lietzke)

Major championships

Wins (1)

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

Results timeline

Tournament	1971	1973	1975	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

CUT = missed the halfway cut

WD = withdrew

"T" indicates a tie for a place.

Summary

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

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

Amateur

Walker Cup: 1973 (winners)

Professional

Ryder Cup: 1981 (winners)

References

"Profile on PGA Tour's official site".
(January 2016). "Biographical information from PGA Tour's official site".
Rosaforte, Tim. (July 12, 2011). "Forgotten Champion".
Stricklin, Art. "Bill Rogers Last Shot".

Info: Wikipedia Source

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