B
illy Casper, a two-time U.S. Open
champion, 1983 U.S. Senior Open
champion and 1978 World Golf
Hall of Fame inductee, died on Feb. 7 at the
age of 83.
Long considered one of the
preeminent putters of his era, Casper was
one of golf ’s great champions during an era
dominated by legends such as Jack Nicklaus,
Arnold Palmer and Gary Player. A San
Diego, Calif., native, Casper registered 51
PGA Tour victories, good for seventh on
the all-time list. He recorded at least one
Tour victory from 1956-1971, a streak only
bettered by Nicklaus and Palmer, who had at
least one win over 17 consecutive seasons.
Casper posted 27 Tour victories from 19641970, two more than Nicklaus and six more
than Palmer and Player combined.
Born on June 2, 1922, in Charlotte,
N.C., Sifford became interested in golf as a
boy. While he made a living through caddying,
he also had the opportunity to hone his golf
skills. By age 13, he was playing par golf.
Born on June 24, 1931, in San Diego,
Casper first began playing the game at age 5.
He later caddied at San Diego Country Club
at the age of 11. When he was 15, he met the
legendary Ben Hogan at San Diego C.C. and
was inspired to follow his career path.
Once he joined the professional
ranks, it didn’t take Casper long to taste
victory. He earned his first pro win at the
1956 Labatt Open in Canada.
But his breakthrough came in the
1959 U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf
Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y., where Casper
remarkably mastered the highly challenging
green complexes of the West Course,
totaling just 114 putts over the 72 holes. He
had 31 one-putts and only one three-putt.
At the long and difficult par-3 third hole,
Casper chose to lay up all four rounds and
made par each time.
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Entering the final round, Casper built
a three-stroke lead over four-time champion
Hogan. Hogan, however, carded a 76 and
finished eighth. But Bob Rosburg, who
would win the PGA Championship later that
year, made a late charge. He holed out from
a greenside bunker on No. 11 for a birdie
and converted a 50-foot birdie putt on No.
12 to pull into a tie. That’s where the rally
ended. He three-putted the 13th hole for a
costly bogey then failed to birdie the 72nd
hole, giving Casper a one-shot victory.
Seven years later at The Olympic
Club (pictured here), in San Francisco, it was
Casper who made the final-round charge,
with a little help from Palmer. Palmer led
by seven strokes entering the inward nine,
only to see the advantage slip away. Palmer
bogeyed Nos. 10, 13 and 15, where Casper
birdied to bring the lead down to three
strokes. Another birdie-bogey swing on the
16th hole and a Palmer bogey on No. 17 put
the two stalwarts in a tie. Both made par on
the 72nd hole to set up an 18-hole playoff.
Palmer charged early, only to see his
fortunes change on the inward nine with
bogeys on Nos. 14 and 15, and a doublebogey 7 on the par-5 16th. Casper, who
registered 33 one-putts over the 90 holes
against just one three-putt, carded a 1-under
69 for a four-stroke win.
In a 2011 interview for the U.S.
Open Championship program, Casper said
the 1966 victory was his greatest U.S. Open
memory.
Casper also designed a number of
golf courses and operated numerous golf
courses via his golf management company:
Billy Casper Golf. Among the courses his
company manages includes Lyman Orchards
Golf Club, Wintonbury Hills Golf Course,
The Golf Club at Oxford Greens, the
Country Club of Woodbridge and East
Hartford Golf Club.
CSGA Links // March, 2015 | 35