Bill Collins: PGA Tour Winner in 1950s, '60s
Full name: William Rowe Collins
Date of birth: September 23, 1928
Place of birth: Meyersdale, Pennsylvania
Date and place of death: April 8, 2006, in Woodstock, Georgia
His Biggest Wins
Bill Collins had four wins on the PGA Tour:- 1959 Greater New Orleans Open Invitational
- 1960 Houston Classic
- 1960 Hot Springs Open Invitational
- 1962 Buick Open
In the Majors
Collins played in 26 majors, first in the 1953 U.S. Open, last in the 1977 U.S. Open. He had two Top 10 finishes, both sevenths. He was solo seventh in the 1964 U.S. Open, and tied seventh in the 1961 Masters. His only other Top 20 finish in a major was tied 12th in the 1960 PGA Championship.
More About Bill Collins
A former Marine, Bill Collins was a large man for his era of golf at 6-feet, 4-inches tall and around 225 pounds in his prime. He was known as one of the tour's better dressers. And he had a reputation as a golfer who probably would have won a lot more if not for persistent back problems that ultimately led to surgery.Born in Pennsylvania, Collins grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, and won many junior and amateur tournaments in that area during the 1940s.
He first appeared in a PGA Tour event at the 1950 Eastern Open, playing as an amateur. Collins turned pro in 1951, and made a handful of tour starts yearly through the mid-1950s.
During that time he claimed his first win in the Metropolitan PGA Championship. That was in 1956, and he finished second to Doug Ford the following year. Collins went on to finish runner-up again in 1966, and win it again in 1975. That 19-year gap between wins remains the tournament record today.
Following his Met PGA successes in 1956-57, Collins decided to head out to the PGA Tour full-time in 1958. And it was a solid debut season: He mae 24 of 26 cuts, finished in the Top 25 15 times, and recorded his first career Top 10 finish on tour in the season-opening Phoenix Open.
Collins didn't wait long for his first tour victory. It was the 1959 Greater New Orleans Open, which he won by three (after birdying the final hole) over runners-up Jack Burke Jr. and Tom Nieporte. Collins made 32 starts on the PGA Tour that year and had five other Top 10 finishes.
Then came his 1960 season, which was a very, very good one by any measure: He won twice, lost twice in playoffs, had an additional second-place finish, a career-best 11 Top 10 finishes, and finished a career-best ninth on the season-ending money list.
The biggest thing that ever happened to Collins was his victory in the 1960 Houston Classic because, to earn it, he beat Arnold Palmer in an 18-hole playoff. Collins and Palmer tied at 280, then Collins won the playoff, 69 to 71. (The next year Palmer named Collins as one of the toughest "veterans" — Collins was already in his 30s — to beat.)
A couple weeks later, Collins won the 1960 Hot Springs Open by three over Pete Cooper. His two playoff losses in 1960 were in the Phoenix Open to Jack Fleck (18 holes, 71 to 68) and in the Insurance City Open against Palmer and Fleck (sudden death, Palmer won on third hole). Collins was also runner-up in the 1960 Los Angeles Open.
That strong 1960 season got Collins, age 33, on Team USA in the 1961 Ryder Cup. He played three matches, splitting two doubles with partner Mike Souchak, and losing to Peter Alliss in singles.
On tour that year, Collins had no wins or seconds but finished in the Top 10 in 10 out of 23 starts.
In 1962, Collins won his fourth PGA Tour title in the Buick Open, finishing one better than runner-up Dave Ragan. He finished second in the Hot Springs Open (losing a playoff) and in the Coral Gables Open (one behind Gardner Dickinson).
But Collins was always bothered by a bad back. There were rounds on the PGA Tour in which his fellow-competitor, feeling bad for Collins, would volunteer to get his ball out of the hole for him to spare him having to bend over.
Late in 1963, Collins underwent back surgery. He returned to make 21 starts in 1964, but reached double-digits starts on tour only a couple times afterward.
In 1965, Collins took the head professional position at a brand-new club in Westchester, New York, well-known today as Brae Burn Country Club. It was a job he held through 1981.
His very last PGA Tour start wasn't until 1977, but in most years from 1965 until then Collins played only a couple events. His PGA Tour career totals: 276 starts, four wins, seven seconds, five thirds, 24 Top 5 finishes, 47 Top 10 finishes.
Collins did come close to other wins, though. He was runner-up in the 1966 Puerto Rico Open on the Caribbean Tour. On the PGA Tour, he finished second by one to Dan Sikes in the 1967 Jacksonville Open. And, with partner Julius Boros, Collins tied for second behind Palmer/Jack Nicklaus in the 1971 National Team Championship.
Collins began playing on the Senior PGA Tour (later known as the Champions Tour) in that circuit's first year, 1980. And in 1982 he earned his only Senior Tour win at the Greater Syracuse Senior's Pro Golf Classic, beating Guy Wolstenholme by one. Collins finished eighth on the Senior Tour money list for 1982.
For his Champions Tour career, Collins made 193 starts with the one victory, and totals of five Top 5 finishes and 20 Top 10 finishes.
Collins moved to Florida after giving up his job at Brae Burn at the end of 1981. He was 77 years old when he died in 2006.
Collins is a member of the Met PGA Hall of Fame, inducted by the Metropolitan Section of the PGA of America. In addition to Brae Burn, Collins was also head pro at Grossinger's Country Club in Grossinger, New York, and served assistant stints at clubs such as Glen Oaks Country Club in Great Neck, New York, Bonnie View Golf Club in Baltimore, and Philmont Country Club in Pennsylvania.
Sources:
(Book titles are affiliate links; commissions earned)
Alliss, Peter. The Who's Who of Golf, 1983, Orbis Publishing.
Brenner, Morgan. The Majors of Golf, Volume 2, 2009, McFarland and Company.
Elliott, Len, and Kelly, Barbara. Who's Who in Golf, 1976, Arlington House Publishers.
Metropolitan Section, PGA of America. Met PGA Hall of Fame, Bill Collins, https://www.met.pga.com/hall-of-famer/bill-collins/.
PGA Tour. Senior Tour Book 1984, Player Biographies, Bill Collins.
PGATour.com. Players, Bill Collins, https://www.pgatour.com/player/01209/bill-collins/career.
Scharff, Robert. Golf Magazine's The Encyclopedia of Golf, 1970, Harper and Row.
South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Obituaries, William Collins, https://www.sun-sentinel.com/obituaries/william-collins-fl-3/.
Steel, Donald, and Ryde, Peter. The Encyclopedia of Golf, 1975, The Viking Press.
