David Graham (golfer)

Anthony David Graham, AM (born 23 May 1946) is a former professional golfer from Australia.

Contents

• 1981 us open david graham first person
• PGA Tour wins 8
• Australasian wins 9
• Japan Golf Tour wins 1
• Other wins 14
• Champions Tour wins 5
• Wins 2
• Results timeline
• Summary
• Team appearances
• References

Born in Windsor, New South Wales, 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 continents in his career, an achievement he shares with only four other players Gary Player, Hale Irwin, Bernhard Langer and Justin Rose.

In 1976, won twice 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) and the first to win a U.S. Open.

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. He is now retired and resides at Iron Horse Golf Club in Whitefish, Montana.

Graham was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1988 and inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1990.

It was announced on 16 October 2014 that Graham has been elected into the World Golf Hall of Fame. His nomination was supported by Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. He was inducted with other nominees Mark O'Meara, course architect A. W. Tillinghast and Laura Davies on 13 July 2015 at the University of St Andrews, during the 2015 Open Championship.