# Lawson Little

William Lawson Little Jr. (June 23, 1910 – February 1, 1968) was an American professional golfer who also had a distinguished amateur career.

## Early life

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.

## Amateur career

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. Little was a student of golf instructor Ernest Jones.

## Professional career

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.

## Personal life

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.

## Awards and honors

* Little won the James E. Sullivan Award for outstanding amateur athlete in 1935
* He is a member of the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame
* Little was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1980

## Amateur wins

* 1928 Northern California Amateur Championship
* 1931 Northern California Championship, Denver, Colorado Invitational Championship
* 1933 Pacific Coast Intercollegiate Championship, Broadmoor Invitational, Colorado State Amateur Championship
* 1934 British Amateur, Pacific Coast Intercollegiate Championship, U.S. Amateur
* 1935 British Amateur, U.S. Amateur

## 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 | | | | | |
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, U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur, British Open

### Summary

| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
| Masters Tournament | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 13 | 19 | 18 |
| U.S. Open | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 9 |
| The Open Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 |
| PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 5 |
| Totals | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 21 | 44 | 35 |
* Most consecutive cuts made – 13 (1940 Masters – 1948 PGA)
* Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (three times)

## U.S. national team appearances

Amateur
* Walker Cup: 1934 (winners)