Billy Maxwell: U.S. Amateur Champ, PGA Tour Winner

Billy Maxwell was a winner at the highest levels of amateur and professional golf. He claimed the U.S. Amateur in the early 1950s, and won on the PGA Tour in the 1950s and 1960s.

Full name: Billy Joe Maxwell

Date of birth: July 23, 1929

Place of birth: Abilene, Texas

Date and place of death: September 20, 2021, in Jacksonville, Florida

Nickname: When he was young, "The West Texas Cyclone."

His Biggest Wins

Maxwell won one amateur major:
  • 1951 U.S. Amateur
He is credited with seven career wins on the PGA Tour: He also won the 1972 Alfred Kaskel, a 36-hole "second tour" event for PGA Tour players who didn't make it through Monday qualifying. In addition, his wins outside the PGA Tour included the 1956 Mexican Open, 1961 Puerto Rico Open and 1973 Florida Open.

In the Majors

Maxwell first played in a professional major in the 1952 Masters, which he got into on the strength of his U.S. Amateur title the previous year. His final appearance in a major was in the 1971 PGA Championship.

Maxwell recorded eight Top 10 finishes in majors, the best of which where the three times he tied for fifth place. He tied for fifth in the 1962 Masters (seven behind winner Arnold Palmer); in the 1963 U.S. Open (two behind Julius Boros); and in the 1963 PGA Championship (five behind Jack Nicklaus).

In The Masters, Maxwell tied ninth in 1958 and tied eighth in 1959. In the U.S. Open, he tied eighth in 1957 and also in 1962. In the PGA Championship, he tied 10th in 1970. Six other times Mawell finished in the Top 20. He never played the British Open.

More About Billy Maxwell

Billy Maxwell's father was a golf pro in Abilene, Texas, and when Billy was a kid the family lived just off the fourth green of that course. Today, that course is known as Maxwell Municipal in honor of Billy's dad.

Billy began winning tournaments when he was 12 years old, that age at which he won the first of his four consecutive Abilene Junior Championship titles. In 1947, he claimed the Texas State Junior Championship.

State and regional prominence followed, and the young Maxwell earned a golf scholarship to North Texas State College in Denton. From 1950-52, when his teammates included Don January, Joe Conrad, and his twin brother Bobby Maxwell, Billy helped lead the team to three consecutive NCAA Division I Championships.

Billy earned his first real national acclaim as a golfer in 1951 by winning the U.S. Amateur Championship. Along the way to the championship match, Maxwell beat Bo Wininger in the third round and Harvie Ward in the fourth round. He won his semifinal match by a 10-and-9 score. In the final, Maxwell dispatched Joe Gagliardi (a future New York State Supreme Court judge) by a 4-and-3 tally. At age 22, Maxwell was the second-youngest U.S. Amateur winner to that point.

One year earlier, Maxwell had lost in the Round of 16 of the U.S. Amateur. In his title defense in 1952, he suffered a shock first-round loss. But that 1951 U.S. Amateur crown wasn't the only national amateur title Maxwell won. He also took the 1953 Mexican Amateur, beating Frank Stranahan in the championship match.

Maxwell had a good record in the biggest tournaments in Mexican golf: He also reached the title match of the 1951 Mexican Amateur (losing to Stranahan), won the 1956 Mexican Open, and three other times (1960, 1963, 1971) was runner-up in the Mexican Open.

Maxwell turned pro in 1954, and his PGA Tour career was a fruitful one. He was a shorter hitter than most of his contemporaries off the tee, but he made up for it with excellent fairway woods and a strong short game.

The 1971 PGA Tour media guide stated that "Billy follows 'The Maxwell Method' — play often and well enough to take home a check every week." The guide cited his strong short game as the key part of his approach: "If they crowned an 'up-and-down' champion on the Tour, Billy would be at the head of the line for the title. He is one of the best when it comes to saving pars with a keen game around the green. He also is a fine putter and some years back played 288 holes without three-putting."

Maxwell only had to wait a year for his first PGA Tour victory — a 1-stroke win over Mike Souchak in the 1955 Azalea Open Invitational. A year later, win No. 2 was in the 1956 Arlington Hotel Open by one stroke over George Bayer and Ernie Vossler. In his title defense a year later, Maxwell was one of five golfers who tied for second one stroke behind Jimmy Demaret.

He came close to a huge win in the 1957 Western Open, getting into a four-man playoff. But Doug Ford emerged the winner there. Maxwell did win in 1957, though, at the Hesperia Open Invitational, by two over Dow Finsterwald.

There was another win in 1958 (Memphis Open by one over Cary Middlecoff — the runners-up in Maxwell's tour wins were always high class), then a two-year winless gap.

But in 1961 Maxwell had his only multi-win year on the PGA Tour. He first took the Palm Springs Golf Classic (aka Bob Hope Chrysler Classic) by two over Doug Sanders. Then, in the Insurance City Open Invitational (Hartford Open/Travelers Championship), Maxwell outlasted Ted Kroll in a sudden-death playoff that wasn't settled until the seventh hole. Maxwell finished 10th on the money list at the end of 1961, his career-best showing.

Maxwell's seventh and final win on tour was in the 1962 Dallas Open (aka Byron Nelson Classic), which he won by four over second-place Johnny Pott.

Maxwell earned a place on Team USA for the 1963 Ryder Cup, and he made the most of it: In a 23-9 American romp, Maxwell was a perfect 4-for-4 in winning matches. He partnered Bob Goalby to a win in foursomes, and Billy Casper to two wins in four-ball. In singles, Maxwell bested Christy O'Connor, 2 and 1.

Maxwell continued playing the tour for almost another 10 years after that Ryder Cup appearance. In 1972, his tour starts dropped to 14, and he was off the tour in 1973. He played in a final two PGA Tour events in 1974.

For his career, Maxwell made 486 PGA Tour starts. In addition to his seven wins, he was runner-up 13 times, third place 11 times. He finished in the Top 10 in 114 total tour events.

His other runner-up finishes, in addition to ones already mentioned, included the 1955 Baton Rouge Open, in which he lost in a three-way, 18-hole playoff (Bo Wininger 66, Jimmy Clark 70, Maxwell 71). There was also the 1955 Kansas City Open and 1955 Phoenix Open (tied Arnold Palmer for second, one behind Gene Littler). In addition, the 1956 Carling Open, 1957 Tournament of Champions (second to Littler again), 1958 Kansas City Open, 1960 Yorba Linda Open, 1961 Carling Open, 1963 Azalea Open, and 1969 Phoenix Open (Littler again).

In addition to 10th on money list in 1961, Maxwell finished 12th in 1955, 1959 and 1962, and 13th in 1958. He was in the Top 20 every year from 1955-59 and seven out of eight years from 1955-1962. In an era when golfers had to finish in the Top 60 of the money list to avoid Monday qualifying, Maxwell was in the Top 60 every year from 1955-67. At the end of the 1970 season, he was 30th on the PGA Tour's all-time money list.

Maxwell turned 50 in 1979, the year before the launch of the PGA Seniors Tour, aka the Champions Tour and today officially named PGA Tour Champions. He joined the Champions Tour in 1981 and finished 19th on the money list that year, his best senior circuit showing. He was in the Top 50 in earnings each of the following six years.

For his Senior Tour career, Maxwell played in 292 tournaments, first in 1980 and last in 1987. He had no wins or second-place finishes, and seven Top 10 finishes.

In 1971, Maxwell and a fellow pro purchased Hyde Park Golf Club, a 1925 Donald Ross design in Jacksonville, Florida. He ran the course from then through the rest of his life, and his family still owns it today. Each year, the North Florida Junior Foundation and Hyde Park Golf Club stage the Billy Maxwell Memorial at the club.

Maxwell is a member of the Texas Golf Hall of Fame and North Texas Athletics Hall of Fame.

Photo credit: [Billy Maxwell, Golfer], photograph, 1952; (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc271021/: accessed July 13, 2026), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.

Sources:
(Book titles are affiliate links; commissions earned)
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PGA of America, Tournament Players Division. The Tour Book 1971, Player Biographies, Billy Maxwell.
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