Bruce Crampton (born 28 September 1935) is an Australian professional

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 ...

er.

Early life and amateur career

Crampton was born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, and attended Kogarah High School from 1948 to 1950. In August 1953 he reached final of the New South Wales Amateur Championship, losing 5&4 to Harry Berwick. In October, he led the Lakes Open after two rounds. According to Norman Von Nida, he was "probably" the first amateur in roughly 15 years, since Jim Ferrier, "to lead a big tournament after two rounds." Von Nida also stated that, "Crampton proves my prediction that he would become one of the greatest players Australia has produced."

Professional career

In 1953, Crampton turned professional, becoming an assistant to Billy McWilliam at Beverley Park in

. His decision to turn professional came soon after he had been left out of the Australian amateur team to tour Britain in 1954 and play in the Commonwealth Tournament at St Andrews. Crampton won the Vardon Trophy for the player with the lowest stroke average 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 ...

in 1973 and 1975. He had 14 career wins on the

between 1961 and 1975 and was runner up in four major championships – one Masters, one U.S. Open, and two

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. The PGA is one of the four men's major golf champi ...

s – all to

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (; born January 21, 1940), nicknamed "the Golden Bear", is an American retired professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greate ...

. He was ranked among the top five golfers in the world in both 1972 and 1973, according to Mark McCormack's world golf rankings. His other regular career victories included the

Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...

, New Zealand PGA Championship, Far East Open and the Philippine Open. As a senior, he won 20 times on the Champions Tour, and topped the money list in 1986.

Awards and honors

In 2001, Crampton was inducted into the

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Don Bradman, Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and ...

Professional wins (45)

PGA Tour wins (14)

PGA Tour playoff record (0–2) Source:

PGA Tour satellite wins (1)

* 1968 West End Classic

Other wins (8)

''this list may be incomplete'' *1954 New Zealand PGA Championship *1956

, Speedo Tournament *1957 Pelaco Tournament *1958 North Coast Open *1959 Far East Open, Philippine Open *1971 Wills Masters

Senior PGA Tour wins (20)

''*Note: The 1986 Pepsi Senior Challenge was shortened to 36 holes due to rain.'' Senior PGA Tour playoff record (2–2)

Other senior wins (2)

*1987

Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf The Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf at Big Cedar was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour Champions. From 2014 to 2019, it was played at Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale, Missouri, on the par-3 Top of the Rock course, designed by Jack Nicklaus and the ...

(with Orville Moody) *1988

(with Orville Moody)

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 33 (1961 U.S. Open – 1973 Masters) *Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (twice)

Team appearances

Amateur * Australian Men's Interstate Teams Matches (representing New South Wales): 1953 Professional *

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

(representing Australia):

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

* Slazenger Trophy (representing British Commonwealth and Empire): 1956 * Vicars Shield (representing New South Wales): 1956 (winners)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crampton, Bruce Australian male golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour of Australasia golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Golfers from Sydney 1935 births Living people Sportsmen from New South Wales 20th-century Australian sportsmen