Q&A: Bill Rogers

July 2011 will mark the thirtieth anniversary of Rogers' stunning Open Championship victory at Royal St Georges.

July 2011 will mark the thirtieth anniversary of Rogers' stunning Open Championship victory at Royal St Georges. At the time, Rogers was one of the hottest players in golf, racking up numerous wins and earning Player of the Year honours on the PGA Tour. His rise to the pinnacle of the game was fast, but so was his fall. Within a matter of years, and with his game in disarray, he would quit the tour to take a job at a country club in his home state of Texas. Now nearing his sixtieth birthday, Rogers, a devout Christian, works as a college golf coach in San Antonio.

Please describe 1981 - seven wins, including the Open Championship, and second place on the World Money List...
It was magical. I look back and can hardly believe it was me. It was the evolution of all the years of loving the game, working hard, competing hard, which culminated in reaching a great competence level. Nothing bothered me and I rode the wave, so to speak.

You tied for second in the US Open that year behind David Graham, who completed one of the greatest final rounds in US Open history to beat you. You must have been disappointed in coming so close but was it a catalyst for you at the same time? 
Contending in a major like that can do more for your confidence than winning a regular tour event. It did so much for my confidence knowing I could compete at that level and I was very much looking forward to the Open Championship at Royal St Georges after that.  

What are your memories of Royal St Georges?
Well I wasn’t afraid of anything after the US Open. I felt prepared. I lead by five into the last round which should have been a big cushion, although I managed to show a lot of people that it wasn’t by doubling the seventh hole. That threw me out of the mode I was in at the time, which was to play aggressively. However, I knew I was playing well and fortunately I managed to right the ship. Seve Ballesteros saw me a few weeks later and told me the two-putt I made on the eighth hole won me the tournament. In hindsight, he was probably right. I had hit it to the front third of the green and had about 65 feet. Had I three putted there after doubling seven, it could have been a different story.

Pages