Robert T. Byman (born April 25, 1955) is an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

who played on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

Early life

Byman was born in

Poughkeepsie, New York Poughkeepsie ( ) is a city within the Poughkeepsie (town), New York, Town of Poughkeepsie, New York (state), New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, New York, Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie i ...

, but moved to Colorado when 13 years old. He only lived in Colorado for five years, but won the state amateur stroke-play championship three years in a row 1971–73, the first player since

Hale Irwin Hale S. Irwin (born June 3, 1945) is an American professional golfer. He was one of the world's leading golfers from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. He is one of the few players in history to win three U.S. Opens, becoming the oldest ever U.S. ...

1963–65 to do so. As a 17-year-old, he won the U.S Junior Amateur, beating Scott Simpson in the final.

Amateur career

Byman attended

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The R ...

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the List of municipalities in North Carolina, fifth-most populous ...

and was a member of the

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

team. He played with

Jay Haas Jay Dean Haas (born December 2, 1953) is an American professional golfer formerly of the PGA Tour who now plays on the PGA Tour Champions. Early life and amateur career Haas was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and grew up in Belleville, Illinois ...

and

Curtis Strange Curtis Northrup Strange (born January 30, 1955) is an American professional golfer and TV color commentator. He is the winner of consecutive U.S. Open titles and a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. He spe ...

on the 1974 and 1975 teams, which won the NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships. ''

Golf World ''Golf World'' was a weekly magazine covering the game of golf published by Condé Nast. It was in circulation between 1947 and 2014. After that, ''Golf World'' was available in digital form and from May 13, 2019 to April 8, 2022, the brand has b ...

'' has called the 1974–75 teams "the greatest college team of all time". At the end of 1976 ''

Golf Digest ''Golf Digest'' is a monthly golf magazine published by Warner Bros. Discovery through its TNT Sports unit. It is a generalist golf publication covering recreational golf and men's and women's competitive golf. The magazine started by John F. ...

'' ranked Byman the No. 2 amateur in the country behind only Scott Simpson.

Professional career

Byman turned pro in 1976. He spent the early part of his professional career playing on the

European Tour The European Tour, currently titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European ...

, where he had a great deal of success, winning four times. Tiger Woods is the only American golfer with more regular European Tour wins. He played full-time on the

1979–84. His best year was

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

when he won the Bay Hill Citrus Classic in a playoff against John Schroeder, earned $94,243, and made the cut in all 20 of his starts. His best finish in a major championship was T-7 in the 1979 British Open. Byman also won the

New Zealand Open The New Zealand Open is the premier men's golf tournament in New Zealand. It has been a regular fixture on the PGA Tour of Australasia tournament schedule since the 1970s. The 2019 event was the 100th edition of the tournament. Since 2014 it has ...

, an official event on the Australian Tour. Almost uniquely for an American golfer he won more events internationally than domestically. Byman played on the

European Seniors Tour The European Senior Tour, currently branded as the Legends Tour, is a professional golf tour for male golfers aged 50 and over, run by the PGA European Tour. The tour was titled as the Staysure Tour for the 2018 and 2019 seasons after UK-based i ...

in 2005.

Amateur wins (6)

''this list may be incomplete'' *1971 Colorado Amateur *1972 U.S. Junior Amateur, Colorado Amateur *1973 Colorado Amateur *1976

Northeast Amateur The Northeast Amateur is an amateur golf tournament played annually at the Wannamoisett Country Club in Rumford, Rhode Island. It was first played in 1962. In December 2021, the Northeast Amateur joined with six other tournaments to form the Elit ...

, Rice Planters Amateur

Professional wins (6)

PGA Tour wins (1)

PGA Tour playoff record (1–0)

European Tour wins (4)

''*Note: The 1978 Dutch Open was shortened to 54 holes due to a player controversy.''

New Zealand Golf Circuit wins (1)

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

References

External links

* *
The Byman Institute of Advanced Golf Studies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Byman, Bob American male golfers Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's golfers PGA Tour golfers European Tour golfers European Senior Tour golfers Golfers from New York (state) Sportspeople from Poughkeepsie, New York 1955 births Living people 20th-century American sportsmen