Far Hills, N.J. – The family of three-time United States Golf Association champion W. Lawson Little Jr. has donated his 1935 Sullivan Award to the USGA for its Museum collection.
Little, who died in 1968, won six national championships, including back-to-back U.S. Amateur and British Amateur crowns in 1934 and 1935, an achievement that has been called “The Little Slam.” He also won the 1940 U.S. Open and the 1936 Canadian Open. However, it was the Sullivan Award that he treasured more than any other accomplishment.
Given annually to the outstanding American amateur athlete, the Sullivan Award has been called the “Oscar” of sports awards. The award is named for the founder and past president of the Amateur Athletic Union, James E. Sullivan. It stands for excellence on the field and sportsmanship, integrity, leadership and high ideals of amateurism off the field. In 1935, Little beat out reigning Wimbledon champion Helen Wills Moody, fellow golf champion Glenna Collett Vare, track star Percy Beard, swimming standout Jack Medica, pole vaulter Keith Brown, sprinter Eulace Peacock, national tennis champion Helen Jacobs and record swimmer Lenore Kight Wingard.
From 1934-35, Little won 32 consecutive matches – 31 coming in the U.S. and British Amateurs and one in singles at the 1934 Walker Cup Match. No player since Little has won both the U.S. Amateur and British Amateur in consecutive years.
Amateur golf legend Bob Jones was the first recipient of the Sullivan Award in 1930. In the ensuing years such luminaries as “Doc” Blanchard, Bill Bradley, Bruce Jenner, Michelle Kwan, Carl Lewis, Greg Louganis, Wilma Rudolph, Mark Spitz, Bill Walton and Tim Tebow, who received the honor in 2007, have won it. Little is the last golfer to win the award.
“To him, it meant integrity, character and sportsmanship,” said Lawson Little III, his only son. “‘I’ve won six national titles’, he said one time, ‘But this is what I treasure the most because you don’t win it; you are honored by what you did and who you are.’ ”
Little III formally presented the Sullivan Award to USGA President Jim Vernon in late April and it will be permanently displayed in the USGA Museum’s new Arnold Palmer Center for Golf History with the medal Jones received for being the first Sullivan recipient (it wasn’t a trophy in 1930).
“Dad always had the ultimate respect for the USGA as the guardian of the game,” said Little III. “Even though this is not a trophy that the USGA created or gave out, it’s something that he thought symbolized the same principles of the USGA, integrity and sportsmanship. For that reason, Dad and Mom always wanted it to eventually end up at the USGA.”
“The Sullivan Award has only been won by two golfers … and now we have both of those awards,” said Vernon. “In one case it’s a medallion and in the other it’s a really spectacular trophy. The achievement itself is remarkable. The fact that we have both of the awards in the Museum is pretty significant.
“We get so caught up in the Heisman Trophy and other awards in higher-profile sports that we lose track of the Sullivan Award and the kind of people who have won it over the years. Lawson Little was awarded it not just for something he did, but for the way he conducted himself.”
For more details please visit http://www.usga.org/news/2008/may/SullivanAward.html.
Contact:
Pete Kowalski (pkowalski@usga.org)
Web Address: www.usga.org
USGA Phone: (908) 234-2300
