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.

Bill Rogers
Rogers in 2022
Personal information
Full name	William Charles Rogers
Nickname	Panther
Born	(1951-09-10) September 10, 1951 (age 73) Waco, Texas, U.S.
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight	148 lb (67 kg; 10.6 st)
Sporting nationality	United States
Residence	San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
Career
College	University of Houston
Turned professional	1974
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour Champions Tour
Professional wins	14
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	6
European Tour	1
Japan Golf Tour	3
PGA Tour of Australasia	2
Other	3
Best results in major championships (wins: 1)
Masters Tournament	T29: 1978
PGA Championship	T8: 1980
U.S. Open	T2: 1981
The Open Championship	Won: 1981
Achievements and awards
PGA Player of the Year 1981

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.^[1] 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.^[2] 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.^[3] 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.^[4]

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.^[2]

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.^[2]

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			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	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	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

  Win

  Top 10

  Did not play

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)

See also

• 1974 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates