Casper, "Billy" (William E.)
Golf
b. June 24, 1932, San Diego, CA
Casper will long be remembered as a great putter, perhaps the greatest ever. That reputation sometimes annoyed him, because he felt that people ignored the rest of his game. For fourteen consecutive years, Casper was in the top twelve in PGA winnings. He was the leading money winner twice, in 1966 and 1968, and he won five Vardon Trophies for the lowest average score, in 1960, 1963, 1965, 1966, and 1968.
But in his three biggest victories, the 1959 and 1966 U. S. Opens and the 1970 Masters, it was his putting that made the difference. In 1959, he was a chubby 212-pounder who shot 282 to beat Bob Rosburg by one stroke in the Open. He one-putted thirty-one of the seventy-two holes with an experimental, mallet-headed putter he'd never used before.
Seven years later, he was down to 185 pounds, thanks to a strange diet that included bear and buffalo meat. It didn't affect his putting. Trailing Arnold Palmer by seven shots with nine holes to play in the U. S. Open, Casper putted his way into a tie and then beat Palmer, 69-73, in a playoff. He used just 117 putts on the 90 holes and he shot under 70 for four of his five rounds.
Casper had another playoff in the 1970 Masters, against Gene Littler. He one-putted six of the first seven holes to take a five stroke lead and won 69-74.
Casper had 51 wins on the PGA Tour, sixth on the all-time list. He joined the PGA Senior Tour late in 1982 and has won two of that tour's major tournaments, the U. S. Senior Open in 1983 and the Senior Players Championship in 1988.