Anthony David Graham, AM (born 23 May 1946) is a former professional golfer from Australia.
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, 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) 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.
Professional wins (38)
PGA Tour wins (8)
No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up |
---|
1 | 3 Jul 1972 | Cleveland Open | 68-73-68-69=278 | −6 | Playoff | Bruce Devlin |
2 | 18 Jul 1976 | American Express Westchester Classic | 63-68-70-71=272 | −12 | 3 strokes | Ben Crenshaw, Tom Watson,
Fuzzy Zoeller |
3 | 29 Aug 1976 | American Golf Classic | 69-67-69-69=274 | −14 | 4 strokes | Lou Graham |
4 | 5 Aug 1979 | PGA Championship | 69-68-70-65=272 | −8 | Playoff | Ben Crenshaw |
5 | 25 May 1980 | Memorial Tournament | 73-67-70-70=280 | −8 | 1 stroke | Tom Watson |
6 | 24 Jan 1981 | Phoenix Open | 65-68-69-66=268 | −16 | 1 stroke | Lon Hinkle |
7 | 21 Jun 1981 | U.S. Open | 68-68-70-67=273 | −7 | 3 strokes | George Burns, Bill Rogers |
8 | 8 May 1983 | Houston Coca-Cola Open | 66-72-73-64=275 | −9 | 5 strokes | Lee Elder, Jim Thorpe,
Lee Trevino |
PGA Tour playoff record (2–1)
No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
---|
1 | 1972 | Cleveland Open | Bruce Devlin | Won with birdie on second extra hole |
2 | 1972 | Liggett & Myers Open | Lou Graham, Hale Irwin, Larry Ziegler | L Graham won with birdie on third extra hole D. Graham and Ziegler eliminated with par on first hole |
3 | 1979 | PGA Championship | Ben Crenshaw | Won with birdie on third extra hole |
Australasian wins (8)
- 1967 Queensland PGA Championship
- 1970 Tasmanian Open, Victorian Open
- 1975 Wills Masters
- 1977 Australian Open
- 1979 Westlakes Classic
- 1985 Queensland Open
- 1987 Queensland Open
European Tour wins (1)
No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner-up |
---|
1 | 24 Oct 1982 | Trophée Lancôme | −12 (66-70-70-70=276) | 2 strokes | Seve Ballesteros |
Other wins (16)
- 1970 Thailand Open, French Open, World Cup (with Bruce Devlin)
- 1971 Caracas Open, JAL Open
- 1976 Chunichi Crowns (Japan Golf Tour), Piccadilly World Match Play Championship
- 1977 South African PGA Championship
- 1978 Mexico Cup
- 1980 Mexican Open, Rolex Japan, Brazilian Classic
- 1981 Trophée Lancôme (unofficial event; became European Tour event in 1982)
- 1985 Alfred Dunhill Cup (with Graham Marsh and Greg Norman)
- 1986 Alfred Dunhill Cup (with Rodger Davis and Greg Norman)
- 1994 Australian Skins
Champions Tour wins (5)
No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up |
---|
1 | 16 Feb 1997 | GTE Classic | −9 (71-68-65=204) | 3 strokes | Bob Dickson |
2 | 30 Mar 1997 | Southwestern Bell Dominion | −10 (68-69-69=206) | 1 stroke | John Jacobs |
3 | 21 Sep 1997 | Kroger Senior Classic | −16 (67-68-65=200) | 1 stroke | Buddy Allin, Larry Nelson |
4 | 1 Feb 1998 | Royal Caribbean Classic | −11 (67-68-67=202) | Playoff | Dave Stockton |
5 | 17 Oct 1999 | Raley's Gold Rush Classic | −17 (63-71-65=199) | 4 strokes | Larry Mowry |
Champions Tour playoff record (1–1)
No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
---|
1 | 1996 | Emerald Coast Classic | Bob Eastwood, Mike Hill,
Dave Stockton, Lee Trevino | Trevino won with birdie on first extra hole |
2 | 1998 | Royal Caribbean Classic | Dave Stockton | Won with birdie on tenth extra hole |
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 Crenshaw with a birdie on third extra hole.
Results timeline
Tournament | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 |
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Masters Tournament | 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 |
---|
Masters Tournament | 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 |
---|
Masters Tournament | 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.
Summary
Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
---|
Masters Tournament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 14 | 12 |
U.S. Open | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 22 | 17 |
The Open Championship | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 19 | 14 |
PGA Championship | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 22 | 13 |
Totals | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 16 | 28 | 77 | 56 |
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- Most consecutive cuts made – 20 (1979 U.S. Open – 1984 U.S. Open)
- Longest streak of top-10s – 3 (1979 U.S. Open – 1980 Masters)
Team appearances
- World Cup (representing Australia): 1970, 1971
- Dunhill Cup (representing Australia): 1985 (winners), 1986 (winners), 1988
- Nissan Cup (representing Australasia): 1985, 1986