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.
Rogers was born in Waco, Texas. His father was a lieutenant colonel in the United States Air Force, and he spent time in Morocco and Germany during his youth. He began playing golf at age nine. Later he attended the University of Houston, where he roomed with fellow future PGA Tour pro Bruce Lietzke. As an amateur golfer, he played for the U.S. in the 1973 Walker Cup.
Rogers played the PGA Tour full-time from 1975 to 1988. He won six tournaments, including four in 1981. Almost uniquely for an American golfer, his two most notable victories were in Britain: in 1979, he won the Suntory World Match Play Championship at Wentworth, and two years later, he won The Open Championship at Royal St George's, where he bettered runner up Bernhard Langer by four strokes. He was the PGA Player of the Year for 1981, and that year finished second on McCormack's World Golf Rankings. He also made an appearance in the Ryder Cup that year.
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; he 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.
Rogers lives in San Antonio, Texas.
Read more about Bill Rogers (golfer): Amateur Wins, U.S. National Team Appearances
Famous quotes containing the words bill and/or rogers:
“Mildred Pierce: You look down on me because I work for a living, don’t you? You always have. All right, I work. I cook food and sell it and make a profit on it, which, I might point out, you’re not too proud to share with me.
Monte Beragon: Yes, I take money from you, Mildred. But not enough to make me like kitchens or cooks. They smell of grease.
Mildred Pierce: I don’t notice you shrinking away from a fifty- dollar bill because it smells of grease.”
—Ranald MacDougall (1915–1973)
“Mine be a cot beside the hill;
A bee-hive’s hum shall soothe my ear;
A willowy brook, that turns a mill,
With many a fall shall linger near.”
—Samuel Rogers (1763–1855)