William Todd Hamilton (born October 18, 1965) is an American professional golfer. He is best known for his victory at the 2004 Open Championship.
Early life Hamilton was born in the small west-central Illinois city of Galesburg. He grew up in an even smaller town, Oquawka, in Henderson County on the Mississippi River. His parents were the owners of a small grocery story called "Hamilton's." He attended Union High School in Biggsville, Illinois (now West Central High School). At the time, the high school did not have a golf team, and Hamilton competed as an individual. He won back to back Class A state titles in 1981–82 and 1982–83. Hamilton then played at the University of Oklahoma, where he was a college All-American.
Professional career Hamilton turned professional in 1987 but was unable to gain entrance to the PGA Tour. Instead he played internationally for many years, primarily on the Japan Golf Tour after gaining his card as winner of the 1992 Asia Golf Circuit Order of Merit winner. When he left the Japan Golf Tour after 12 seasons, he was the tour's 2nd all-time leading non-Japanese money winner (to USA's David Ishii), with earnings of over 630 million yen (about $6.18 million in 2014 US dollars) with 11 tour wins.
After eight tries, at the age of 38, Hamilton went back to Qualifying School in 2003, where he finally earned his first PGA Tour card.
Hamilton captured his first PGA Tour win at the 2004 Honda Classic. He birdied the final two holes to beat Davis Love III by one stroke at 12 under par. Later that year, he won a major championship in one of golf's all-time upsets when he defeated Ernie Els in a four-hole playoff to win The Open Championship at Royal Troon Golf Club. After shooting an opening round 71, he fired a second round 67 to move to -4 and a fifth-place tie with future World Golf Hall of Famers Els, Vijay Singh and Colin Montgomerie as well as future US Open winner Michael Campbell. He again shot a 67 in the third round to take a one-shot lead over Els. Entering the tournament's 72nd hole, he held a one-shot lead over Els but bogeyed, leaving Els with a 12-foot birdie putt for the win, which he missed. Els and Hamilton headed for the four-hole aggregate playoff, in which Hamilton carded four pars while Els managed three pars and a bogey, and Hamilton took the win.
These two victories in his first season on the PGA Tour led to Hamilton being named the 2004 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year and reaching a peak world ranking of 16. In his 187 subsequent tour starts, he missed the cut 111 times and had just three top-10 finishes. In 2006, Hamilton captained the American team in ITV's celebrity golf tournament, the All*Star Cup.
He lost his full exempt status on the PGA Tour in 2010. Hamilton played on the Web.com Tour in 2014 and 2015. Hamilton became eligible to play on the Champions Tour after turning fifty years of age in October 2015.
Personal life Hamilton lives in Westlake, Texas.
Professional wins (17) PGA Tour wins (2) Legend Major championships (1) Other PGA Tour (1) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner-up1Mar 14, 2004The Honda Classic−12 (68-66-68-74=276)1 stroke Davis Love III2Jul 18, 2004The Open Championship−10 (71-67-67-69=274)Playoff Ernie Els
PGA Tour playoff record (1–0) No.YearTournamentOpponentResult12004The Open Championship Ernie ElsWon four-hole aggregate playoff;Hamilton: E (4-4-3-4=15),Els: +1 (4-4-4-4=16)
Japan Golf Tour wins (11) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up1Aug 23, 1992Maruman Open−16 (65-67-67-73=272)1 stroke Masashi Ozaki2Aug 15, 1993Acom International40 pts (7-15-3-15=40)2 points Craig Warren3Jul 3, 1994PGA Philanthropy Tournament−10 (74-69-68-67=278)Playoff Eiji Mizoguchi4Sep 4, 1994Japan PGA Match-Play Championship Promise Cup8 and 7 Ikuo Shirahama5Mar 12, 1995Token Corporation Cup−7 (70-71-68-72=281)1 stroke Peter Senior6Jun 30, 1996PGA Philanthropy Tournament (2)−13 (69-69-68-69=275)2 strokes Kazuhiro Takami7Sep 27, 1998Gene Sarazen Jun Classic−18 (71-66-68-65=270)2 strokes Craig Parry8May 11, 2003Fujisankei Classic−17 (67-67-65-68=267)5 strokes Tetsuji Hiratsuka, Shigeru Nonaka9Jun 1, 2003Diamond Cup Tournament−12 (67-72-72-65=276)3 strokes Steven Conran10Jun 29, 2003Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open−10 (67-72-72-65=278)1 stroke Brendan Jones11Sep 7, 2003Japan PGA Match-Play Championship (2)3 and 2 David Smail
Japan Golf Tour playoff record (1–4) No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result11994PGA Philanthropy Tournament Eiji MizoguchiWon with birdie on first extra hole21996Fujisankei Classic Brian WattsLost to par on first extra hole31996Mitsubishi Galant Tournament Masashi OzakiLost to par on first extra hole41996Pocari Sweat Yomiuri Open Kazuhiro FukunagaLost to birdie on second extra hole42002Munsingwear Open KSB Cup Yoshimitsu Fukuzawa, Kenichi KuboyaKuboya won with birdie on fourth extra holeFukuzawa eliminated by birdie on second hole
Asia Golf Circuit wins (2) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner-up1Apr 19, 1992Maekyung Open−8 (68-70-69-73=280)Playoff Lin Chie-hsiang2Feb 5, 1995Thai Airways Thailand Open−17 (68-68-70-65=271)Playoff Steve Veriato
Asia Golf Circuit playoff record (2–1) No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result11992Sanyang Republic of China Open Lin Chie-hsiang, Craig McClellanLin won with birdie on first extra hole21992Maekyung Open Lin Chie-hsiangWon with par on first extra hole31995Thai Airways Thailand Open Steve VeriatoWon with par on second extra hole
Other wins (2) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up1Mar 22, 1992Rolex Masters−10 (70-67-66-71=274)4 strokes Gerry Norquist, Lee Porter2Aug 29, 1999Oklahoma Open−12 (66-68-64=198)1 stroke Greg Gregory
Major championships Wins (1) YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunner-up 2004 The Open Championship 1 shot lead −10 (71-67-67-69=274) Playoff1 Ernie Els 1Defeated Ernie Els in 4-hole playoff; Hamilton (4-4-3-4=15), Els (4-4-4-4=16).
Results timeline Tournament19881989Masters TournamentU.S. OpenCUTThe Open ChampionshipPGA Championship
Tournament1990199119921993199419951996199719981999Masters TournamentU.S. OpenThe Open ChampionshipCUTT45PGA Championship
Tournament2000200120022003200420052006200720082009Masters Tournament40T39CUTCUTT36T15U.S. OpenCUTCUTCUTCUTT36T36The Open ChampionshipCUT1CUTT68CUTT32CUTPGA ChampionshipT29T37T47CUTT66CUT Tournament201020112012201320142015201620172018Masters TournamentCUTU.S. OpenT60The Open ChampionshipCUTCUTCUTT73CUTCUTCUTCUTCUTPGA Championship Tournament201920202021202220232024Masters TournamentPGA ChampionshipU.S. OpenThe Open ChampionshipNTCUT
CUT = missed the half way cut "T" indicates a tie for a place. NT = no tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Summary Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts madeMasters Tournament 0 0 0 0 0 1 7 4U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 3The Open Championship 1 0 0 1 1 1 19 5PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 4Totals 1 0 0 1 1 2 40 16 Most consecutive cuts made – 4 (2007 PGA – 2008 Open Championship) Longest streak of top-10s – 1
Results in The Players Championship Tournament200420052006200720082009The Players ChampionshipT58CUTCUTT75T54CUT CUT = missed the halfway cut "T" indicates a tie for a place
Results in World Golf Championships Tournament200320042005Match PlayR64Championship72T6Invitational21
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play "T" = Tied
Results in senior major championships Results not in chronological order before 2017. Tournament2016201720182019202020212022202320242025The TraditionT23T40T48NTSenior PGA ChampionshipCUTCUTT33CUTNTCUTCUTCUTCUTCUTSenior Players ChampionshipT61T6349U.S. Senior OpenT37T40CUTNTSenior British Open ChampionshipCUTT61CUTNT
"T" indicates a tie for a place CUT = missed the halfway cut NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
See also 2003 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates List of golfers with most Japan Golf Tour wins
References
External links
Article about "outsider" Open Winners