Billy Casper

William Earl Casper Jr. (June 24, 1931 – February 7, 2015) was an American professional golfer. He was one of the most prolific tournament winners on the PGA Tour from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s.

In his youth, Casper started as a caddie and emerged from the junior golf hotbed of San Diego, where golf could be played year-round, to rank seventh all-time in career Tour wins with 51, across a 20-year period between 1956 and 1975. Fellow San Diegan great Gene Littler was a friend and rival from teenager to senior. Casper won three major championships, represented the United States on a then-record eight Ryder Cup teams, and holds the U.S. record for career Ryder Cup points won. After reaching age 50, Casper regularly played the Senior PGA Tour and was a winner there until 1989. In his later years, Casper successfully developed businesses in golf course design and management of golf facilities.

Casper served as Ryder Cup captain in 1979, was twice PGA Player of the Year (1966 and 1970), was twice leading money winner, and won five Vardon Trophy awards for the lowest seasonal scoring average on the Tour.

Respected for his extraordinary putting and short-game skills, Casper was a superior strategist who overcame his distance disadvantages against longer-hitting competitors such as Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus with moxie, creative shot-making, and clever golf-course management abilities. Never a flashy gallery favorite, Casper developed his own self-contained style, relying on solid technique, determination, concentration, and perseverance.

He converted to the LDS Church in 1966. Casper was inducted to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1978.

Casper was born in San Diego, California. His father started him in golf at age five. Casper caddied during his youth at San Diego Country Club to earn money for golf, and spent one semester at the University of Notre Dame on a golf scholarship, after graduating from high school. He returned to San Diego to marry his wife Shirley in 1952. Casper competed frequently as an amateur against fellow San Diegan Gene Littler. He turned professional in 1954.

Casper had 51 PGA Tour wins in his career, with his first coming in 1956. This total places him seventh on the all-time list. His victories helped him finish third in McCormack's World Golf Rankings in 1968, 1969 and 1970, the first three years they were published. He won three major championships: the 1959 and 1966 U.S. Opens, and the 1970 Masters Tournament.

He was the PGA Tour Money Winner in 1966 and 1968. He was PGA Player of the Year in 1966 and 1970. Casper won the Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average five times: 1960, 1963, 1965, 1966, and 1968.

Casper was a member of the United States team in the Ryder Cup eight times: 1961, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1975, and a non-playing captain in 1979. Casper has scored the most points in the Ryder Cup by an American player.

Casper won at least one PGA Tour event for 16 straight seasons, from 1956 to 1971, the third-longest streak, trailing only Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, who each won on Tour in 17 straight years.

On the senior circuit, Casper earned nine Senior PGA Tour (now the Champions Tour) wins from 1982 to 1989, including two senior majors.

Much has been written in the annals of golf that Casper was the most underrated star in golf history, and the best modern golfer who never received the accolades he deserved. He was not considered one of the "Big Three" — Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player — who are widely credited with popularizing and bringing enormous commercial success to the sport around the world; however, between 1964 and 1970, Casper won 27 tournaments on the PGA Tour, two more than Nicklaus and six more than Palmer and Player combined, during that time period. He is considered by many to have been the best putter of his era.

Casper's 20-year period of winning on the PGA Tour—between 1956 and 1975—was an era of extraordinary growth in tournament purses, television coverage and depth of competition. Casper faced legends such as Palmer, Nicklaus, Sam Snead, Cary Middlecoff, Gary Player and Lee Trevino when they were all at or near their peaks.

Casper was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1978. In 2000, he was ranked as the 15th greatest golfer of all time by Golf Digest magazine.

Casper's grandson, Mason Casper, played for the Utah Valley University golf team. Mason qualified for NCAA post-season play in 2012.

Casper was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, joining in early 1966 at age 34, at the height of his playing career.

Casper died at age 83 in 2015 of a heart attack at his home in Springville, Utah. He was survived by his wife of more than 60 years, Shirley Franklin Casper, 11 children, six of whom are adopted, 71 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren.

Golf course design and management

After his professional career, Casper was a designer for many golf courses, such as The Highlands, The Palm and Eagle Crest in Sun City Summerlin, Nevada. As of 2017, Billy Casper Golf (BCG) is one of the largest privately owned golf course management companies in the United States, with roughly 150 owned or managed courses in their portfolio. Billy Casper Golf annually hosts the "World's Largest Golf Outing" – a national golf outing fundraiser benefiting military charities.

Acting

Casper had a cameo appearance in the movie, Now You See Him, Now You Don't.

Billy's Kids

Casper was active in charitable work for children and hosted fundraisers, including an annual tournament at San Diego Country Club for "Billy's Kids".

Books

• Casper, Billy; Toski, Bob (1966). Golf Shotmaking. Golf Digest/Doubleday. ASIN B0000CN8TV.
• Casper, Billy; Barkow, Al (1980). The Good Sense of Golf. Prentice-Hall. ISBN 978-0133605112.
• Casper, Billy; Parkinson, James; Benson, Lee (2012). The Big Three And Me. Genesis Press. ISBN 978-1-58571-628-9.

PGA Tour wins (51)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Jul 15, 1956	Labatt Open	−14 (68-68-67-71=274)	2 strokes	Jimmy Demaret
2	Feb 3, 1957	Phoenix Open Invitational	−9 (68-71-65-67=271)	3 strokes	Cary Middlecoff, Mike Souchak
3	Apr 28, 1957	Kentucky Derby Open Invitational	−7 (68-68-71-70=277)	1 stroke	Peter Thomson
4	Jan 12, 1958	Bing Crosby National Pro-Am Golf Championship	−11 (71-66-69-71=277)	4 strokes	Dave Marr
5	Mar 12, 1958	Greater New Orleans Open Invitational	−10 (69-70-70-69=278)	Playoff	Ken Venturi
6	Jun 23, 1958	Buick Open Invitational	−3 (70-73-71-71=285)	1 stroke	Ted Kroll, Arnold Palmer
7	Jun 14, 1959	U.S. Open	+2 (71-68-69-74=282)	1 stroke	Bob Rosburg
8	Oct 4, 1959	Portland Centennial Open Invitational	−19 (69-64-67-69=269)	3 strokes	Bob Duden, Dave Ragan
9	Nov 15, 1959	Lafayette Open Invitational	−11 (69-64-71-69=273)	4 strokes	George Bayer
10	Nov 22, 1959	Mobile Sertoma Open Invitational	−8 (71-68-68-73=280)	2 strokes	Wes Ellis, Dave Ragan
11	Sep 25, 1960	Portland Open Invitational	−22 (68-67-66-65=266)	2 strokes	Paul Harney
12	Oct 3, 1960	Hesperia Open Invitational	−13 (70-68-67-70=275)	5 strokes	Bob Rosburg
13	Oct 16, 1960	Orange County Open Invitational	−8 (70-68-69-69=276)	1 stroke	Charlie Sifford
14	Sep 24, 1961	Portland Open Invitational	−15 (68-71-67-67=273)	1 stroke	Dave Hill
15	Mar 26, 1962	Doral C.C. Open Invitational	−5 (70-67-75-71=283)	1 stroke	Pete Bondeson
16	Apr 15, 1962	Greater Greensboro Open	−9 (69-70-68-68=275)	1 stroke	Mike Souchak
17	May 27, 1962	500 Festival Open Invitation	−20 (66-67-67-64=264)	1 stroke	George Bayer, Jerry Steelsmith
18	Oct 14, 1962	Bakersfield Open Invitational	−16 (69-71-65-67=272)	4 strokes	Tony Lema
19	Jan 20, 1963	Bing Crosby National Pro-Am	−3 (73-65-73-74=285)	1 stroke	Dave Hill, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Bob Rosburg, Art Wall, Jr.
20	Aug 18, 1963	Insurance City Open Invitational	−13 (67-68-71-65=271)	1 stroke	George Bayer
21	Mar 22, 1964	Doral Open Invitational	−11 (70-70-67-70=277)	1 stroke	Jack Nicklaus
22	May 10, 1964	Colonial National Invitation	−1 (72-67-70-70=279)	4 strokes	Tommy Jacobs
23	Sep 27, 1964	Greater Seattle Open Invitational	−15 (68-67-66-64=265)	2 strokes	Mason Rudolph
24	Nov 3, 1964	Almaden Open Invitational	−9 (68-70-73-68=279)	Playoff	Pete Brown, Jerry Steelsmith
25	Feb 7, 1965	Bob Hope Desert Classic	−12 (70-70-69-67-72=348)	1 stroke	Tommy Aaron, Arnold Palmer
26	Jul 4, 1965	Western Open	−14 (70-66-70-64=270)	2 strokes	Jack McGowan, Chi Chi Rodriguez
27	Jul 25, 1965	Insurance City Open Invitational	−10 (70-72-66-66=274)	Playoff	Johnny Pott
28	Oct 23, 1965	Sahara Invitational	−15 (66-66-68-69=269)	3 strokes	Billy Martindale
29	Jan 16, 1966	San Diego Open Invitational	−16 (70-66-68-64=268)	4 strokes	Tommy Aaron, Tom Weiskopf
30	Jun 20, 1966	U.S. Open	−2 (69-68-73-68=278)	Playoff	Arnold Palmer
31	Jun 26, 1966	Western Open	−1 (69-72-72-70=283)	3 strokes	Gay Brewer
32	Jul 31, 1966	500 Festival Open Invitation	−11 (69-70-68-70=277)	3 strokes	R. H. Sikes
33	Jul 3, 1967	Canadian Open	−5 (69-70-71-69=279)	Playoff	Art Wall, Jr.
34	Sep 4, 1967	Carling World Open	−3 (74-68-70-69=281)	Playoff	Al Geiberger
35	Jan 28, 1968	Los Angeles Open	−10 (70-67-68-69=274)	3 strokes	Arnold Palmer
36	Apr 8, 1968	Greater Greensboro Open	−17 (65-67-69-66=267)	4 strokes	George Archer, Gene Littler, Bobby Nichols
37	May 19, 1968	Colonial National Invitation	−5 (68-71-68-68=275)	5 strokes	Gene Littler
38	Jun 9, 1968	500 Festival Open Invitation	−8 (70-71-69-70=280)	1 stroke	Frank Beard, Mike Hill
39	Sep 8, 1968	Greater Hartford Open Invitational	−18 (68-65-67-66=266)	3 strokes	Bruce Crampton
40	Nov 3, 1968	Lucky International Open	−15 (68-65-70-66=269)	4 strokes	Raymond Floyd, Don Massengale
41	Feb 9, 1969	Bob Hope Desert Classic	−15 (71-68-71-69-66=345)	3 strokes	Dave Hill
42	Jun 8, 1969	Western Open	−8 (72-69-68-67=276)	4 strokes	Rocky Thompson
43	Sep 28, 1969	Alcan Open	−14 (70-68-70-66=274)	1 stroke	Lee Trevino
44	Jan 11, 1970	Los Angeles Open	−8 (68-68-68-72=276)	Playoff	Hale Irwin
45	Apr 13, 1970	Masters Tournament	−9 (72-68-68-71=279)	Playoff	Gene Littler
46	Jul 19, 1970	IVB-Philadelphia Golf Classic	−14 (68-67-71-68=274)	3 strokes	Terry Wilcox
47	Aug 24, 1970	AVCO Golf Classic	−11 (68-67-73-69=277)	1 stroke	Rod Funseth, Tom Weiskopf
48	Oct 24, 1971	Kaiser International Open Invitational	−19 (67-65-69-68=269)	4 strokes	Fred Marti
49	Jul 1, 1973	Western Open	−12 (67-69-67-69=272)	1 stroke	Larry Hinson, Hale Irwin
50	Sep 3, 1973	Sammy Davis Jr.-Greater Hartford Open	−20 (67-65-68-64=264)	1 stroke	Bruce Devlin
51	May 18, 1975	First NBC New Orleans Open	−17 (67-68-66-70=271)	2 strokes	Peter Oosterhuis

Source

PGA Tour playoff record (8–8)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1958	Greater New Orleans Open Invitational	Ken Venturi	Won with eagle on second extra hole
2	1961	Buick Open	Jack Burke, Jr., Johnny Pott	Lost an 18-hole playoff (Burke:71, Casper:74, Pott:74)
3	1964	Almaden Open Invitational	Pete Brown, Jerry Steelsmith	Won with birdie on third sudden death playoff hole Steelsmith eliminated in 18-hole playoff (Casper:68, Brown:68, Steelsmith:73)
4	1965	San Diego Open Invitational	Wes Ellis	Lost to birdie on first extra hole
5	1965	Insurance City Open Invitational	Johnny Pott	Won with birdie on first extra hole
6	1966	U.S. Open	Arnold Palmer	Won an 18-hole playoff (Casper:69, Palmer:73)
7	1967	Canadian Open	Art Wall, Jr.	Won an 18-hole playoff (Casper:65, Wall, Jr.:69)
8	1967	Carling World Open	Al Geiberger	Won with par on first extra hole
9	1967	Hawaiian Open	Dudley Wysong	Lost to par on first extra hole
10	1968	Bing Crosby National Pro-Am	Bruce Devlin, Johnny Pott	Pott won with birdie on first extra hole
11	1969	Kaiser International Open Invitational	George Archer, Don January, Jack Nicklaus	Nicklaus won with birdie on second extra hole January eliminated with birdie on first hole
12	1970	Los Angeles Open	Hale Irwin	Won with birdie on first extra hole
13	1970	Masters Tournament	Gene Littler	Won an 18-hole playoff (Casper:69, Littler:74)
14	1971	Glen Campbell-Los Angeles Open	Bob Lunn	Lost to birdie on fourth extra hole
15	1972	Byron Nelson Golf Classic	Chi Chi Rodriguez	Lost to birdie on first extra hole
16	1975	World Open Golf Championship	Jack Nicklaus	Lost to par on first extra hole

European Tour wins (1)

Other wins (8)

This list is incomplete.

• 1958 Brazil Open
• 1959 Brazil Open
• 1971 Miki Gold Cup (tie with Masashi Ozaki)
• 1973 Hassan II Golf Trophy
• 1974 Trophée Lancôme (France, unofficial European Tour event), Lancia d'Oro
• 1975 Hassan II Golf Trophy
• 1977 Mexican Open

Senior PGA Tour wins (9)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Aug 28, 1982	Shootout at Jeremy Ranch	−9 (74-71-69-65=279)	1 stroke	Miller Barber, Don January
2	Sep 19, 1982	Merrill Lynch/Golf Digest Commemorative Pro-Am	−10 (68-7-68=206)	Playoff	Bob Toski
3	Jul 25, 1983	U.S. Senior Open	+4 (73-73-69-73=288)	Playoff	Rod Funseth
4	Apr 22, 1984	Senior PGA Tour Roundup	−14 (68-69-65=202)	2 strokes	Bob Stone
5	Mar 15, 1987	Del E. Webb Arizona Classic	−15 (68-65-68=201)	5 strokes	Bob Charles, Dale Douglass
6	Jun 28, 1987	Greater Grand Rapids Open	−13 (69-68-63=200)	3 strokes	Miller Barber
7	May 8, 1988	Vantage at The Dominion	−14 (70-68-67=205)	1 stroke	Chi-Chi Rodríguez
8	Jun 12, 1988	Mazda Senior Tournament Players Championship	−10 (69-68-74-67=278)	2 strokes	Al Geiberger
9	Oct 22, 1989	Transamerica Senior Golf Championship	−9 (69-70-68=207)	3 strokes	Al Geiberger

Senior PGA Tour playoff record (2–3)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1981	U.S. Senior Open	Arnold Palmer, Bob Stone	Lost 18-hole playoff (Palmer 70, Stone:74, Casper:77)
2	1982	Merrill Lynch/Golf Digest Commemorative Pro-Am	Bob Toski	Won with birdie on fourth extra hole
3	1983	Gatlin Brothers Seniors Golf Classic	Don January	Lost to par on fifth extra hole
4	1983	U.S. Senior Open	Rod Funseth	Won with birdie on first extra hole after 18-hole playoff (Casper:75, Funseth:75)
5	1988	United Hospitals Classic	Bruce Crampton	Lost to birdie on first extra hole

Senior major championships are shown in bold.

Other senior wins (1)

• 1984 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf (with Gay Brewer)

Wins (3)

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runner-up
1959	U.S. Open	3 shot lead	−2 (71-68-69-74=282)	1 stroke	Bob Rosburg
1966	U.S. Open	3 shot deficit	−2 (69-68-73-68=278)	Playoff	Arnold Palmer
1970	Masters Tournament	1 shot lead	−9 (72-68-68-71=279)	Playoff	Gene Littler

Defeated Palmer in an 18-hole playoff: Casper 69 (−1), Palmer 73 (+3).
Defeated Littler in an 18-hole playoff: Casper 69 (−3), Littler 74 (+2).

Results timeline

CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" = tied

Summary

• Most consecutive cuts made – 27 (1962 PGA – 1971 Masters)
• Longest streak of top-10s – 4 (twice)

Wins (2)

Year	Championship	Winning score	Margin	Runner-up
1983	United States Senior Open	+4 (73-69-73-73=288)	Playoff	Rod Funseth
1988	Mazda Senior Tournament Players Championship	−10 (69-68-74-67=278)	2 strokes	Al Geiberger

18-hole playoff finished in a tie, Casper (75) to Funseth (75), Casper won with a birdie on the first sudden-death hole.

Professional

• Ryder Cup: 1961 (winners), 1963 (winners), 1965 (winners), 1967 (winners), 1969 (winners), 1971 (winners), 1973 (winners), 1975 (winners), 1979 (winners, non-playing captain)