By John Egnot
Tournament Director

Lights out.

Once in a while, and in the case of most golfers a very long while, everyone who has ever picked up a club and played a round of golf can at some point declare with confidence that they played "lights out."

Obviously, some can claim this much more often than others. To the casual observer, Tiger Woods is "lights out" every time he steps up to the tee. Meanwhile, to most members of the AJGA staff, "lights out" is when you go to bed at night.

This brings us to the story of Lawson Little, a 1980 inductee into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Standing only 5'9", Little was nicknamed "Cannonball" due to his incredible strength and his competitive attitude. Although he crafted one of the finest resumes in the history of amateur golf, Little is probably not as well remembered as he should be due to a professional career that was short, yet fairly successful.

Born June 23, 1910, in Newport, R.I., Little grew up in Northern California and had his coming out party at Pebble Beach in the 1929 U.S. Amateur. In the event, Little defeated Johnny Goodman, a man who shocked the golf world a day earlier by defeating a seemingly invincible Bobby Jones. This performace in 1929 was sandwiched by a pair of victories at the 1928 and 1930 Northern California Amateur.

Five years later, Little began the incredible run that he is most remembered for. In 1934 and 1935, "Cannonball" became the first player in history to win the British Amateur Championship and the U.S. Amateur in consecutive years. With this accomplishment, Little, along with Harold Hilton and Bobby Jones, are the only players in history to hold these prestigious titles simultaneously.

His most dominating performance came in the first of his back-to-back British Amateur Championship victories, where he defeated James Wallace by an incredible 14 and 13 margin in the 36-hole final.

What may be even more impressive than the 14 and 13 victory is the fact that Little carded an unofficial 66 during the first 18 holes at Prestwick, five shots better than the established course record.

At the 1934 U.S. Amatuer, Little again won the title match by a commanding margin, defeating Spec Goldman 8 and 7. These feats contributed to the words of golf writer Charles Price, who said that "Lawson Little was the greatest match player in the history of golf."

Little's professional career included seven PGA TOUR victories and a lone major championship win at the 1940 U.S. Open, where he defeated Gene Sarazen in a playoff.

As bright as Little's career seemed, "Cannonball" seemed to lose direction after the beginning of World War II, a time in which all of the major championships were canceled. After the war, Little won the 1948 St. Petersburg Open Invitational, marking his final career victory.

Lawson Little passed away in 1968 at age 57. Jack Burke, Jr. summed up his career saying, "He never practiced. Little either had it that week or he didn't. But when he did have it, it was lights out."