Early years and amateur career

Littler was born in San Diego, California. He played on the 1953 United States Walker Cup team, and won the U.S. Amateur and the California State Amateur that same year. In 1954, he won a PGA Tour event as an amateur, a rare achievement which was not to be repeated until Doug Sanders won the Canadian Open in 1956.

Littler graduated from San Diego State University. He also served in the United States Navy before turning pro in the spring of 1954.

Professional career

An early highlight of Littler's professional playing career was a second-place finish at the 1954 U.S. Open. He finished one shot behind Ed Furgol.

In 1955, he won four times on the tour, but fell into a slump in the late 1950s after tinkering with his swing. After taking advice from Paul Runyan and adjusting his grip, he recovered in 1959 to have his best year with five PGA Tour victories. He finished second on the money list that year, which was to remain his career best. Only once from 1954 to 1979 did Littler finish out of the top 60 on the final money list. He was stricken with melanoma cancer found in a lymph node under his left arm in 1972, but came back to win five more times on the PGA Tour. He ended his career with 29 PGA Tour wins, and also won two tournaments in Japan and one in Australia.

One of Littler's 29 PGA Tour wins was unique. When he won the 1975 Bing Crosby National Pro-Am, it marked the first and (so far) only time that a player won that event as a professional after having previously won the pro-amateur portion, which Littler did as a 23-year-old amateur in 1954.

Littler won one major championship - the 1961 U.S. Open. He shot a 68 in the final round to overtake Doug Sanders. He accumulated 17 top-10 finishes in the three U.S.-based majors: seven at the Masters Tournament, five at the PGA Championship, and five at the U.S. Open. In addition to his U.S. Open victory, he had one second-place finish in each of the three U.S. majors, losing playoffs to Billy Casper at the 1970 Masters and to Lanny Wadkins at the 1977 PGA Championship. The latter was the first ever sudden-death playoff in a major. He was a member of the U.S. Ryder Cup teams of 1961, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1971 and 1975, and had a 14-5-8 win/loss/tie record including five wins and three ties in 10 singles matches.

Littler received the Ben Hogan Award in 1973 for a courageous comeback from injury or illness, after returning to the tour following treatment for malignant melanoma. Also in 1973, he was given the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. In the 1980s and 1990s Littler played on the Senior PGA Tour, winning eight times. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1990.

Professional wins

PGA Tour wins (29)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Jan 21, 1954	San Diego Open (as an amateur)	−14 (67-66-69-72=274)	4 strokes	Dutch Harrison
2	Jan 9, 1955	Los Angeles Open	−8 (72-67-68-69=276)	2 strokes	Ted Kroll
3	Feb 6, 1955	Phoenix Open	−5 (66-70-68-71=275)	1 stroke	Billy Maxwell, Arnold Palmer
4	May 1, 1955	Tournament of Champions	−8 (69-71-68-72=280)	13 strokes	Jerry Barber, Pete Cooper, Bob Toski
5	Aug 28, 1955	Labatt Open	−8 (67-69-68-68=272)	Playoff	Stan Leonard
6	Feb 19, 1956	Texas Open Invitational	−12 (68-73-70-65=276)	2 stroke	Mike Fetchick, Frank Stranahan, Ernie Vossler
7	Apr 29, 1956	Tournament of Champions	−7 (70-71-69-71=281)	4 strokes	Cary Middlecoff
8	Jun 10, 1956	Palm Beach Round Robin	+55 pts (69-69-68-68-70=344)	24 points	Ted Kroll
9	Apr 21, 1957	Tournament of Champions	−3 (73-73-69-70=285)	3 strokes	Billy Casper, Jimmy Demaret, Dow Finsterwald, Billy Maxwell
10	Feb 8, 1959	Phoenix Open Invitational	−12 (67-63-67-71=268)	1 stroke	Art Wall, Jr.
11	Feb 15, 1959	Tucson Open Invitational	−14 (65-67-68-66=266)	1 stroke	Joe Campbell, Art Wall, Jr.
12	May 17, 1959	Arlington Hotel Open	−18 (67-69-64-70=270)	1 stroke	Jim Ferree
13	Jul 19, 1959	Insurance City Open Invitational	−12 (64-66-72-70=272)	1 stroke	Tom Nieporte
14	Aug 30, 1959	Miller Open Invitational	−15 (68-66-64-67=265)	1 stroke	Bob Rosburg, Bo Wininger
15	Jun 12, 1960	Oklahoma City Open Invitational	−11 (71-64-70-68=273)	1 stroke	Art Wall, Jr.
16	Jul 31, 1960	Eastern Open Invitational	−15 (65-68-73-67=273)	2 strokes	Gary Player
17	Jun 17, 1961	U.S. Open	+1 (73-68-72-68=281)	1 stroke	Bob Goalby, Doug Sanders
18	Jan 28, 1962	Lucky International Open	−10 (65-68-68-73=274)	2 strokes	George Knudson
19	Jun 10, 1962	Thunderbird Classic Invitational	−13 (67-71-70-67=275)	2 strokes	Jack Nicklaus
20	Jul 17, 1965	Canadian Open	−7 (70-68-69-66=273)	1 stroke	Jack Nicklaus
21	Feb 16, 1969	Phoenix Open Invitational	−21 (69-66-62-66=263)	2 strokes	Miller Barber, Don January, Billy Maxwell
22	Apr 6, 1969	Greater Greensboro Open	−10 (66-70-69-69=274)	Playoff	Julius Boros, Orville Moody, Tom Weiskopf
23	Apr 18, 1971	Monsanto Open	−8 (71-67-71-67=276)	3 strokes	George Archer, Pete Brown
24	May 23, 1971	Colonial National Invitation	+3 (72-68-74-69=283)	1 stroke	Bert Yancey
25	Jul 22, 1973	St. Louis Children's Hospital Golf Classic	−12 (66-66-68-68=268)	1 stroke	Bruce Crampton
26	Jan 26, 1975	Bing Crosby National Pro-Am	−8 (68-71-68-73=280)	4 strokes	Hubert Green
27	May 25, 1975	Danny Thomas Memphis Classic	−18 (67-68-69-66=270)	5 strokes	John Mahaffey
28	Aug 3, 1975	Westchester Classic	−17 (68-68-69-66=271)	Playoff	Julius Boros
29	May 1, 1977	Houston Open	−12 (70-65-67-74=276)	3 strokes	Lanny Wadkins

Source

PGA Tour playoff record (3-8)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1955	Labatt Open	Stan Leonard	Won with par on first playoff hole
2	1956	Texas International Open	Cary Middlecoff, Peter Thomson	Thomson won with birdie on second extra hole
3	1957	Western Open	George Bayer, Doug Ford, Billy Maxwell	Ford won with par on third extra hole Littler and Maxwell eliminated with par on first extra hole
4	1960	Memphis Open Invitational	Tommy Bolt, Ben Hogan	Lost an 18-hole playoff (Bolt:68, Hogan:69, Littler:71)
5	1962	Memphis Open Invitational	Lionel Hebert, Gary Player	Hebert won with birdie on first extra hole
6	1966	Tucson Open	Joe Campbell	Lost to birdie on first extra hole
7	1969	Greater Greensboro Open	Julius Boros, Orville Moody, Tom Weiskopf	Littler won with birdie on fifth extra hole Weiskopf eliminated with par on first hole
8	1970	Masters Tournament	Billy Casper	Lost an 18-hole playoff (Casper:69, Littler:74)
9	1975	Westchester Classic	Julius Boros	Won with par on first extra hole
10	1977	Tucson Open	Bruce Lietzke	Lost to birdie on fourth extra hole
11	1977	PGA Championship	Lanny Wadkins	Lost to par on third extra hole

Major championship is shown in bold.

Japan Golf Tour wins (2)

• 1974 Taiheiyo Masters
• 1975 Taiheiyo Masters

Other wins (3)

this list may be incomplete

• 1954 California State Open
• 1966 World Series of Golf
• 1980 Australian Masters

Champions Tour wins (8)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Mar 20, 1983	Greater Daytona Senior Classic	−13 (65-70-68=203)	6 strokes	Guy Wolstenholme
2	Jul 10, 1983	Greater Syracuse Senior's Pro Classic	−9 (69-69-70-67=275)	2 strokes	Don January
3	Jan 4, 1984	Seiko-Tucson Senior Match Play Championship	1 up		Don January
4	May 4, 1986	Sunwest Bank Charley Pride Senior Golf Classic	−14 (65-66-71=202)	2 strokes	Don January
5	Aug 31, 1986	Bank One Senior Golf Classic	−12 (71-63-67=201)	Playoff	Miller Barber, Bob Goalby
6	Aug 2, 1987	NYNEX/Golf Digest Commemorative	−10 (67-68-65=200)	1 stroke	Dale Douglass
7	Nov 22, 1987	Gus Machado Senior Classic	−6 (71-67-69=207)	3 strokes	Orville Moody
8	Feb 26, 1989	Aetna Challenge	−7 (70-70-69=209)	2 strokes	Harold Henning

Champions Tour playoff record (1-2)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1981	Peter Jackson Champions	Miller Barber	Lost to par on first extra hole
2	1986	Greater Grand Rapids Open	Jim Ferree, Chi-Chi Rodríguez	Ferree won with birdie on first extra hole
3	1986	Bank One Senior Golf Classic	Miller Barber, Bob Goalby	Littler won with par on third extra hole Goalby eliminated with par on first hole

Other senior wins (10)

• 1980 World Senior Invitational
• 1981 Vintage Invitational
• 1981 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf (with Bob Rosburg)
• 1983 Vintage Invitational
• 1985 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf (with Don January)
• 1986 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf (with Don January)
• 1994 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf - Legendary Division (with Don January)
• 1997 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf - Legendary Division (with Don January)
• 2001 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf - Demaret Division (with Don January)
• 2004 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf - Demaret Division (with Don January)

Major championships

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runners-up
1961	U.S. Open	3 shot deficit	+1 (73-68-72-68=281)	1 stroke	Bob Goalby, Doug Sanders

Amateur wins (1)

Year	Championship	Winning score	Runner-up
1953	U.S. Amateur	1 up	Dale Morey

Results timeline

Tournament	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1959
Masters Tournament	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	T22	T22	T12	CUT	42	T8
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	2	15	T34	T32	4	T11
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	R64	DNP	T10
U.S. Amateur	R64	DNP	QF	1	-	-	-	-	-	-

Tournament	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969
Masters Tournament	CUT	T15	4	T24	T13	T6	T44	T26	T43	T8
U.S. Open	CUT	1	T8	T21	T11	T8	T48	CUT	DNP	CUT
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	T18	T5	T23	T34	T33	T28	T3	T7	T30	T48

Tournament	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979
Masters Tournament	2	T4	DNP	T17	T39	T22	T12	T8	T24	T10
U.S. Open	T12	T37	DNP	T18	CUT	T49	T50	DNP	T35	CUT
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	T18	CUT	T32	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	T4	T75	DNP	CUT	T28	T7	T22	2	CUT	T16

Tournament	1980	1981	1982	1983
Masters Tournament	49	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	T38	DNP	T22	DNP
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	CUT	CUT	T49	CUT

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in PGA Championship match play
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

Source for U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur: USGA Championship Database

Summary

Tournament	Wins	2nd	3rd	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Masters Tournament	0	1	0	3	8	18	26	24
U.S. Open	1	1	0	3	5	12	25	20
The Open Championship	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	2
PGA Championship	0	1	1	4	7	11	25	20
Totals	1	3	1	10	20	42	80	66

• Most consecutive cuts made - 14 (1962 PGA - 1967 Masters)
• Longest streak of top-10s - 4 (1961 U.S. Open - 1962 U.S. Open)

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur

• Walker Cup: 1953 (winners)

Professional

• Ryder Cup: 1961 (winners), 1963 (winners), 1965 (winners), 1967 (winners), 1969 (tie), 1971 (winners), 1975 (winners)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]