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In 1910, Little was born inNewport, Rhode Island. He lived much of his early life in theSan Francisco area, where his father was an Army Colonel stationed at the Presidio of San Francisco.

Amateur career

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Little was one of the most dominant amateur players in the history of the sport, capturing both theBritish Amateur and theU.S. Amateur, then regarded asmajor championships, consecutively in 1934 and 1935. This feat was referred to as the "Little Slam". He remains the only player to have won both titles in the same year more than once. Little's winning margin of 14 and 13 in the 1934 British final remains the record for dominance.Bob Dickson,Harold Hilton andBobby Jones are the only other golfers to have won the two titles in the same year.

Little attendedStanford University. He was a student of golf instructorErnest Jones.

Professional career

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In 1936, Little turned professional. He won eight times on thePGA Tour including one professional major, the1940 U.S. Open. Little spent much of his early professional career traveling the country withBobby Jones and fellow golfersHorton Smith,Jimmy Thomson, andHarry Cooper with the intentions of growing the game of golf in a Spaulding-sponsored effort called The Keystones of Golf. He carried up to 26 clubs in his bag, and this prompted theUnited States Golf Association to introduce the 14-club limit in 1938.

Personal life

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Little raised his family in a house that sat on Fairway One of the Pebble Beach golf course and stayed actively involved in the golf world well into his twilight years.

He was an active photographer and sports writer for many publications and would hold golf clinics at the Masters and Crosby events.

Little died in 1968 of a heart attack at his home inMonterey, California, at the age of 57.^[1]

Awards and honors

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In 1935, Little won theJames E. Sullivan Award for outstanding amateur athlete.
He is a member of theStanford Athletic Hall of Fame
In 1980, Little was inducted into theWorld Golf Hall of Fame.

Amateur wins

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1928 Northern California Amateur Championship
1931 Northern California Championship, Denver, Colorado Invitational Championship
1933 Pacific Coast Intercollegiate Championship, Broadmoor Invitational, Colorado State Amateur Championship
1934British Amateur, Pacific Coast Intercollegiate Championship,U.S. Amateur
1935British Amateur,U.S. Amateur

Amateurmajor championships are shown inbold.

Professional wins

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PGA Tour wins (8)

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1936 (1)Canadian Open
1937 (2)Shawnee Open,San Francisco National Match Play Open
1940 (2)U.S. Open,Los Angeles Open
1941 (1)Texas Open
1942 (1)Inverness Invitational Four-Ball (withLloyd Mangrum)
1948 (1)St. Petersburg Open

Professionalmajor championship is shown inbold.

Source:^[2]

Other wins

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1934Northern California Open (as an amateur)

Major championships

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Professional wins (1)

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Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runner-up
1940	U.S. Open	1 shot deficit	−1 (72-69-73-73=287)	Playoff¹	Gene Sarazen

¹ Defeated Sarazen in an 18-hole playoff - Little 70 (−2), Sarazen 73 (+1).

Amateur wins (4)

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Year	Championship	Winning score	Runner-up
1934	U.S. Amateur	8 & 7	David Goldman
1934	British Amateur	14 & 13	James Wallace
1935	U.S. Amateur	4 & 2	Walter Emery
1935	British Amateur	1 up	William Tweddell

Results timeline

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Amateur

Tournament	1929	1930	1931	1932	1933	1934	1935
U.S. Amateur	QF	R16	DNQ	R32	SF	1	1
The Amateur Championship						1	1

Professional

Tournament	1934	1935	1936	1937	1938	1939
Masters Tournament		6LA	T20	T19	T10	T3
U.S. Open	T25LA			CUT	T38	T42
The Open Championship		T4LA				CUT
PGA Championship

Tournament	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	1946	1947	1948	1949
Masters Tournament	T19	8	T7	NT	NT	NT	T21	T14	T40	T23
U.S. Open	1	T17	NT	NT	NT	NT	T10	T31	CUT	CUT
The Open Championship	NT	NT	NT	NT	NT	NT	10		T32
PGA Championship				NT			R32		R64	R64

Tournament	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957
Masters Tournament	9	6	WD		T38	65	T72	T28
U.S. Open	CUT	CUT	CUT	T45	T35	CUT
The Open Championship
PGA Championship		R32	R64

Win

Top 10

Did not play

LA = low amateur
NT = no tournament
WD = withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
DNQ = did not qualify for match play portion of U.S. Amateur
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = round in which player lost in match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Sources: Masters,^[3] U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur,^[4] British Open^[5]

Summary

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Tournament	Wins	3rd	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Masters Tournament	0	1	1	7	13	19	18
U.S. Open	1	0	1	2	4	16	9
The Open Championship	0	0	1	2	2	4	3
PGA Championship	0	0	0	0	2	5	5
Totals	1	1	3	11	21	44	35

Most consecutive cuts made – 13 (1940 Masters – 1948 PGA)
Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (three times)

U.S. national team appearances

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Amateur

Walker Cup:1934 (winners)

References

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^"Ex-Golf Ace Dead at 57".Spokane Chronicle. AP. February 2, 1968. p. 14.
^"Lawson Little PGA TOUR Player Profile, Stats, Bio, Career".www.pgatour.com. RetrievedNovember 4, 2025.
^"Past Winners & Results". Masters Tournament. Archived fromthe original on October 12, 2013. RetrievedNovember 7, 2013.
^USGA Championship Database Archived 2010-12-21 at theWayback Machine
^"Muirfield – 1935 Results – Lawson Little". The Open. RetrievedNovember 7, 2013.

External links

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Lawson Little at theWorld Golf Hall of Fame

v t e U.S. Open champions
1895Horace Rawlins 1896James Foulis 1897Joe Lloyd 1898Fred Herd 1899Willie Smith 1900Harry Vardon 1901Willie Anderson† 1902Laurie Auchterlonie 1903Willie Anderson† 1904Willie Anderson 1905Willie Anderson 1906Alex Smith 1907Alec Ross 1908Fred McLeod† 1909George Sargent 1910Alex Smith† 1911John McDermott† 1912John McDermott 1913Francis Ouimet#† 1914‡Walter Hagen 1915Jerome Travers# 1916Chick Evans# 1919Walter Hagen† 1920Ted Ray 1921‡Jim Barnes 1922Gene Sarazen 1923Bobby Jones#† 1924Cyril Walker 1925Willie Macfarlane† 1926Bobby Jones# 1927Tommy Armour† 1928Johnny Farrell† 1929Bobby Jones#† 1930Bobby Jones# 1931Billy Burke† 1932Gene Sarazen 1933Johnny Goodman# 1934Olin Dutra 1935Sam Parks Jr. 1936Tony Manero 1937Ralph Guldahl 1938Ralph Guldahl 1939Byron Nelson† 1940Lawson Little† 1941Craig Wood 1946Lloyd Mangrum† 1947Lew Worsham† 1948Ben Hogan 1949Cary Middlecoff 1950Ben Hogan† 1951Ben Hogan 1952Julius Boros 1953‡Ben Hogan 1954Ed Furgol 1955Jack Fleck† 1956Cary Middlecoff 1957Dick Mayer† 1958Tommy Bolt 1959Billy Casper 1960Arnold Palmer 1961Gene Littler 1962Jack Nicklaus† 1963Julius Boros† 1964Ken Venturi 1965Gary Player† 1966Billy Casper† 1967Jack Nicklaus 1968Lee Trevino 1969Orville Moody 1970‡Tony Jacklin 1971Lee Trevino† 1972Jack Nicklaus 1973Johnny Miller 1974Hale Irwin 1975Lou Graham† 1976Jerry Pate 1977Hubert Green 1978Andy North 1979Hale Irwin 1980Jack Nicklaus 1981David Graham 1982Tom Watson 1983Larry Nelson 1984Fuzzy Zoeller† 1985Andy North 1986Raymond Floyd 1987Scott Simpson 1988Curtis Strange† 1989Curtis Strange 1990Hale Irwin† 1991Payne Stewart† 1992Tom Kite 1993Lee Janzen 1994Ernie Els† 1995Corey Pavin 1996Steve Jones 1997Ernie Els 1998Lee Janzen 1999Payne Stewart 2000‡Tiger Woods 2001Retief Goosen† 2002‡Tiger Woods 2003Jim Furyk 2004Retief Goosen 2005Michael Campbell 2006Geoff Ogilvy 2007Ángel Cabrera 2008Tiger Woods† 2009Lucas Glover 2010Graeme McDowell 2011‡Rory McIlroy 2012Webb Simpson 2013Justin Rose 2014‡Martin Kaymer 2015Jordan Spieth 2016Dustin Johnson 2017Brooks Koepka 2018Brooks Koepka 2019Gary Woodland 2020Bryson DeChambeau 2021Jon Rahm 2022Matt Fitzpatrick 2023Wyndham Clark 2024Bryson DeChambeau 2025J. J. Spaun
† indicates the event was won in a playoff; ‡ indicates the event was won wire-to-wire; # indicates the event was won by an amateur; 1942–1945cancelled due toWorld War II

U.S. Open champions

† indicates the event was won in a playoff; ‡ indicates the event was won wire-to-wire; # indicates the event was won by an amateur; 1942–1945cancelled due toWorld War II

v t e U.S. Amateur champions
1895Charles B. Macdonald 1896H. J. Whigham 1897H. J. Whigham 1898Findlay S. Douglas 1899Herbert M. Harriman 1900Walter Travis 1901Walter Travis 1902Louis N. James 1903Walter Travis 1904Chandler Egan 1905Chandler Egan 1906Eben Byers 1907Jerome Travers 1908Jerome Travers 1909Robert Gardner 1910William C. Fownes Jr. 1911Harold Hilton† 1912Jerome Travers 1913Jerome Travers 1914Francis Ouimet 1915Robert Gardner 1916Chick Evans 1917–18 Cancelled due toWorld War I 1919Davidson Herron 1920Chick Evans 1921Jesse Guilford 1922Jess Sweetser 1923Max Marston† 1924Bobby Jones 1925Bobby Jones 1926George Von Elm 1927Bobby Jones 1928Bobby Jones 1929Jimmy Johnston 1930Bobby Jones 1931Francis Ouimet 1932Ross Somerville 1933George Dunlap 1934Lawson Little 1935Lawson Little 1936Johnny Fischer† 1937Johnny Goodman 1938Willie Turnesa 1939Bud Ward 1940Dick Chapman 1941Bud Ward 1942–1945 Cancelled due toWorld War II 1946Ted Bishop† 1947Skee Riegel 1948Willie Turnesa 1949Charles Coe 1950Sam Urzetta† 1951Billy Maxwell 1952Jack Westland 1953Gene Littler 1954Arnold Palmer 1955Harvie Ward 1956Harvie Ward 1957Hillman Robbins 1958Charles Coe 1959Jack Nicklaus 1960Deane Beman 1961Jack Nicklaus 1962Labron Harris Jr. 1963Deane Beman 1964William C. Campbell 1965Bob Murphy 1966Gary Cowan† 1967Bob Dickson 1968Bruce Fleisher 1969Steve Melnyk 1970Lanny Wadkins 1971Gary Cowan 1972Vinny Giles 1973Craig Stadler 1974Jerry Pate 1975Fred Ridley 1976Bill Sander 1977John Fought 1978John Cook 1979Mark O'Meara 1980Hal Sutton 1981Nathaniel Crosby 1982Jay Sigel 1983Jay Sigel 1984Scott Verplank 1985Sam Randolph 1986Buddy Alexander 1987Billy Mayfair 1988Eric Meeks 1989Chris Patton 1990Phil Mickelson 1991Mitch Voges 1992Justin Leonard 1993John Harris 1994Tiger Woods 1995Tiger Woods 1996Tiger Woods† 1997Matt Kuchar 1998Hank Kuehne 1999David Gossett 2000Jeff Quinney† 2001Bubba Dickerson 2002Ricky Barnes 2003Nick Flanagan† 2004Ryan Moore 2005Edoardo Molinari 2006Richie Ramsay 2007Colt Knost 2008Danny Lee 2009An Byeong-hun 2010Peter Uihlein 2011Kelly Kraft 2012Steven Fox† 2013Matt Fitzpatrick 2014Gunn Yang 2015Bryson DeChambeau 2016Curtis Luck 2017Doc Redman 2018Viktor Hovland 2019Andy Ogletree 2020Tyler Strafaci 2021James Piot 2022Sam Bennett 2023Nick Dunlap 2024José Luis Ballester 2025Mason Howell
† indicates the event was won in extra holes.

U.S. Amateur champions

† indicates the event was won in extra holes.

v t e James E. Sullivan Award winners
1930:Jones 1931:Berlinger 1932:Bausch 1933:Cunningham 1934:Bonthron 1935:Little 1936:Morris 1937:Budge 1938:Lash 1939:Burk 1940:Rice 1941:MacMitchell 1942:Warmerdam 1943:Dodds 1944:Curtis 1945:Blanchard 1946:Tucker 1947:Kelly Jr. 1948:Mathias 1949:Button 1950:Wilt 1951:Richards 1952:Ashenfelter 1953:Sa. Lee 1954:Whitfield 1955:Dillard 1956:McCormick 1957:Morrow 1958:Davis 1959:O'Brien 1960:R. Johnson 1961:Rudolph 1962:Beatty 1963:Pennel 1964:Schollander 1965:Bradley 1966:Ryun 1967:Matson 1968:Meyer 1969:Toomey 1970:Kinsella 1971:Spitz 1972:Shorter 1973:Walton 1974:Wohlhuter 1975:Shaw 1976:Jenner 1977:Naber 1978:Caulkins 1979:Thomas 1980:Heiden 1981:Lewis 1982:Decker 1983:Moses 1984:Louganis 1985:Benoit 1986:Joyner-Kersee 1987:Abbott 1988:Griffith Joyner 1989:Evans 1990:Smith 1991:Powell 1992:Blair 1993:Ward 1994:Jansen 1995:Baumgartner 1996:M. Johnson 1997:Manning 1998:Holdsclaw 1999:C. Miller &K. Miller 2000:Gardner 2001:Kwan 2002:Hughes 2003:Phelps 2004:Hamm 2005:Redick 2006:Long 2007:Tebow 2008:S. Johnson 2009:Palmeiro-Winters 2010:Lysacek 2011:Rodriguez 2012:Franklin 2013:Urschel 2014:Elliott 2015:Stewart &Reynolds 2016:Carlini 2017:Snyder 2018:Plummer 2019:Ionescu &Sp. Lee 2020:Biles &Dressel 2021:Moore 2022:Clark 2023:Clark 2024:Rodriguez

James E. Sullivan Award winners