Buffalo Bill was introduced to golf by his father at age 5 and began his career on the PGA Tour in 1955 at the age of 24, which could be considered a late start by today’s standards. Even with this late start, he finished with 51 PGA Tour wins, sixth on the all-time wins list. Those 51 wins include two US Open and one Masters. He also won nine Senior Tour Championships, including two Senior Majors, one of them the USGA Senior Open in 1983.
Buffalo Bill was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1978 and the PGA Hall of Fame in 1982. He played on eight Ryder Cup teams and captained the 1979 Ryder Cup. He won five Vardon Trophies. , awarded to the player with the lowest scoring average of the year, and was a two-time Player of the Year winner. In 1968 he was the first player to exceed $200,000 in earnings in a single season and won his second money title. He was also the second player in history to reach the $1 million career earnings mark, Arnold Palmer being the first.
These are the highlights of Buffalo Bill’s golf career. Only five people in the history of the game have achieved more on the PGA Tour. Sam Snead leads the all-time wins list with 81 wins, followed by Jack Nicklaus with 73 and Ben Hogan with 64, “The King” Arnold Palmer has 62 and Byron Nelson has 52, to round out the top five. These five great champions, as well as the less successful pros, are talked about all the time, but not Buffalo Bill. For some reason, his name only appears occasionally. One would think that with credentials like these, his name would be a household word at least throughout the golf world. However, for some reason that is not the case.
Hell, his name hasn’t even appeared here yet! Who is Buffalo Bill?
Well, for those of you who haven’t figured it out yet, it’s none other than San Diego native Billy Casper.
Why Buffalo Bill?
When Billy Casper began a strict diet of buffalo meat, he went on a winning streak (51 PGA Tour wins in total) that secured him legendary golf status. This peculiar cuisine earned Casper the nickname “Buffalo Bill”. The rest, including the aforementioned Masters championship and two US Open titles, is history.
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