# Bill Rogers (golfer)

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 | Jerry McGee |
| 2 | Mar 29, 1981 | Sea Pines Heritage | 71-69-68-70=278 | −6 | 1 stroke | Bruce Devlin, Hale Irwin, Gil Morgan, Craig Stadler |
| 3 | Jul 19, 1981 | The Open Championship | 72-66-67-71=276 | −4 | 4 strokes | Bernhard Langer |
| 4 | Aug 30, 1981 | World Series of Golf | 68-69-71-67=275 | −5 | 1 stroke | Tom Kite |
| 5 | Oct 4, 1981 | Texas Open | 67-66-70-63=266 | −14 | Playoff | Ben Crenshaw |
| 6 | Mar 20, 1983 | USF&G Classic | 69-67-69-69=274 | −14 | 3 strokes | David Edwards, Jay Haas, Vance Heafner |
PGA Tour playoff record (1–2)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
| 1 | 1978 | Western Open | Andy Bean | Lost to par on first extra hole |
| 2 | 1979 | Byron Nelson Golf Classic | Tom Watson | Lost to birdie on first extra hole |
| 3 | 1981 | Texas Open | 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 | Mike Morley, Teruo Sugihara |
| 2 | Sep 7, 1980 | Suntory Open | 68-71-70-69=278 | −10 | 2 strokes | Graham Marsh |
| 3 | Sep 13, 1981 | Suntory Open (2) | 68-65-68-69=270 | −18 | 2 strokes | 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 | Lyndsay Stephen |
| 2 | Nov 22, 1981 | Australian Open | 71-69-69-73=282 | −6 | 1 stroke | 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 | 1 up | 1 up | Isao Aoki |
| 2 | Mar 15, 1982 | PGA Grand Slam of Golf | 71 | +1 | 5 strokes | 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 | 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 |
| Totals | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 35 | 20 |
* 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)