William Lawson Little, Jr. (
June 23,
1910 –
February 1,
1968) was an
American golfer.
He was born in
Newport, Rhode Island. He was one of the most dominant amateur players in the history of the sport, winning both the
British Amateur Championship and the
United States Amateur Championship, then regarded as
major championships, in both 1934 and 1935.
Bob Dickson,
Harold Hilton and
Bobby Jones are the only other golfers to have held the two titles concurrently.
He turned professional in April 1936 and he won eight times on the
PGA Tour including one professional major, the 1940
U.S. Open. This tally was considered somewhat disappointing; he was said to have lost interest in golf during the Second World War, when the major championships were cancelled, and to have focused his attention more on the stock market. Lawson carried up to 26 clubs in his bag and this prompted the
United States Golf Association to introduce the 14 club limit in 1938.
He died in
Monterey, California in 1968. He was inducted into the
World Golf Hall of Fame in 1980.