David Graham (golfer)
| David Graham | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Full name | Anthony David Graham |
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) |
| Weight | 152 lb (69 kg; 10.9 st) |
| Sporting nationality |  Australia |
| Career | |
| Turned professional | 1962 |
| Current tour(s) | Champions Tour |
| Former tour(s) | PGA Tour |
| Professional wins | 35 |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| PGA Tour | 8 |
| PGA Tour Champions | 5 |
| Other | 22 |
| Best results in major championships (wins: 2) | |
| Masters Tournament | 5th: 1980 |
| PGA Championship | Won: 1979 |
| U.S. Open | Won: 1981 |
| The Open Championship | T3: 1985 |
Anthony David Graham (born 23 May 1946) is a former professional golfer from Australia.
Born in Windsor, Australia, Graham turned professional in 1962 at age 16 and spent much of his career in the United States, playing on the PGA Tour. Turning age 50 in 1996, he joined the Senior PGA Tour, later known as the Champions Tour. Although known for his success in the U.S., he won events on six different continents in his career, an achievement he shares with Gary Player.
In 1976, after several successful years on tours around the globe, Graham came to prominence with two wins on the PGA Tour, and then came from behind to secure a victory over the reigning champion Hale Irwin in the Piccadilly World Match Play Championship.
Graham won two major championships, the 1979 PGA Championship at Oakland Hills near Detroit, and the 1981 U.S. Open at Merion, just west of Philadelphia. He also finished third at the 1985 Open Championship, after sharing the third-round lead. Both of his major victories came in remarkable fashion. In the 1979 PGA Championship, he stood on the last tee at 7 under par for his final round and leading by two, but double-bogeyed the last hole for a 65 to drop back into a playoff with Ben Crenshaw. At each of the first two sudden-death holes he holed long putts to keep the playoff alive and finally won at the third extra hole. At the 1981 U.S. Open Graham shot a 67 in the final round to overturn a three-shot deficit to overnight leader George Burns to win by 3 strokes. He became the fourth Australian major champion (after Jim Ferrier, Peter Thomson and Kel Nagle).
Graham also participated on the Australian teams that won the World Cup (in 1970) and the Alfred Dunhill Cup (in 1985 and 1986). At the end of 1981, he was ranked 7th on Mark McCormack's world golf rankings.
On 27 June 2004, during the final round of the Bank of America Championship on the Champions Tour, Graham collapsed over a putt on the eighth green. He was later diagnosed with congestive heart failure, ending his competitive golf career at age 58.[1] He is now retired and resides in Whitefish, Montana.
PGA Tour wins (8)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning Score | Margin of Victory | Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jul 3, 1972 | Cleveland Open | -6 (68-73-68-69=278) | Playoff | Bruce Devlin
|
| 2 | Jul 18, 1976 | American Express Westchester Classic | -12 (63-68-70-71=272) | 3 strokes |  Ben Crenshaw, Tom Watson, Fuzzy Zoeller
|
| 3 | Aug 29, 1976 | American Golf Classic | -14 (69-67-69-69=274) | 4 strokes | Lou Graham
|
| 4 | Aug 5, 1979 | PGA Championship | -8 (69-68-70-65=272) | Playoff | Ben Crenshaw
|
| 5 | May 25, 1980 | Memorial Tournament | -8 (73-67-70-70=280) | 1 stroke | Tom Watson
|
| 6 | Jan 24, 1981 | Phoenix Open | -16 (65-68-69-66=268) | 1 stroke | Lon Hinkle
|
| 7 | Jun 21, 1981 | U.S. Open | -7 (68-68-70-67=273) | 3 strokes | George Burns, Bill Rogers
|
| 8 | May 8, 1983 | Houston Coca-Cola Open | -9 (66-72-73-64=275) | 5 strokes | Lee Elder, Jim Thorpe, Lee Trevino
|
Other wins (22)
- 1970 Thailand Open, French Open, World Cup (with Bruce Devlin)
- 1971 Caracas Open, JAL Open
- 1975 Wills Masters (Australia)
- 1976 Chunichi Crowns, Piccadilly World Match Play Championship
- 1977 Australian Open, South African PGA Championship
- 1978 Mexico Cup
- 1979 Westlakes Classic (Australia)
- 1980 Mexican Open, Rolex Japan, Brazilian Classic
- 1981 Trophée Lancôme
- 1982 Trophée Lancôme
- 1985 Queensland Open, Alfred Dunhill Cup (with Graham Marsh and Greg Norman)
- 1986 Alfred Dunhill Cup (with Rodger Davis and Greg Norman)
- 1987 Queensland Open
- 1994 Australian Skins
Champions Tour wins (5)
- 1997 (3) GTE Classic, Southwestern Bell Dominion, Comfort Classic
- 1998 (1) Royal Caribbean Classic
- 1999 (1) Raley's Gold Rush Classic
Major Championships
Wins (2)
| Year | Championship | 54 Holes | Winning Score | Margin | Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | PGA Championship | 4 shot deficit | -8 (69-68-70-65=272) | Playoff 1 | Ben Crenshaw
|
| 1981 | U.S. Open | 3 shot deficit | -7 (68-68-70-67=273) | 3 strokes | George Burns, Bill Rogers
|
1 Defeated Ben Crenshaw with birdie on third extra hole
Results timeline
| Tournament | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | DNP | T36 | CUT | T29 | DNP | DNP | DNP | T6 | T9 | WD |
| U.S. Open | CUT | CUT | T47 | T58 | T18 | T29 | CUT | CUT | CUT | 7 |
| The Open Championship | T32 | CUT | DNP | DNP | T11 | T28 | T21 | CUT | T39 | DNP |
| PGA Championship | DNP | DNP | CUT | CUT | DNP | 10 | T4 | CUT | CUT | 1 |
| Tournament | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | 5 | 7 | 19 | 46 | T6 | T10 | T28 | T27 | DNP | DNP |
| U.S. Open | T47 | 1 | T6 | T8 | T21 | T23 | T15 | T51 | T47 | T61 |
| The Open Championship | T29 | T14 | T27 | T14 | CUT | T3 | T11 | 34 | CUT | T61 |
| PGA Championship | T26 | T43 | T49 | T14 | T48 | T32 | T7 | CUT | T17 | CUT |
| Tournament | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| U.S. Open | 64 | 60 | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| The Open Championship | T8 | CUT | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| PGA Championship | T66 | T52 | DNP | CUT | CUT | CUT |
DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10