William Todd Hamilton (born October 18, 1965) 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 ...

. He is best known for his victory at the 2004 Open Championship.

Early life

Hamilton was born in the small west-central

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

city of Galesburg. He grew up in an even smaller town, Oquawka, in Henderson County on the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

. 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 The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

, where he was a college

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

Professional career

Hamilton turned professional in 1987 but was unable to gain entrance to 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 ...

. Instead he played internationally for many years, primarily on the

Japan Golf Tour The Japan Golf Tour () is a prominent professional golf tour. It was founded in 1973 and as of 2006, it offered the third-highest annual prize fund out of the regular (that is not for seniors) men's professional tours after the PGA Tour and the ...

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 professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...

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, Hamilton 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 The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

Royal Troon Golf Club Royal Troon Golf Club is a links golf course in Scotland, located in Troon, South Ayrshire. The club was established in 1878, and originally only consisted of five holes whereas today, it has increased to a total of 45 holes. Its Old Course i ...

. After shooting an opening round 71, Hamilton 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 Colin Stuart Montgomerie (born 23 June 1963) is a Scottish professional golfer. He has won a record eight European Tour PGA European Tour#Order of Merit winners, Order of Merit titles, including a streak of seven consecutive ones from 1993 to 1 ...

as well as Michael Campbell. Hamilton again shot a 67 in the third round to take a one-shot lead over Els. Entering the tournament's 72nd hole, Hamilton held a one-shot lead over Els, but Hamilton bogeyed the 18th hole, 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)

PGA Tour playoff record (1–0)

Japan Golf Tour wins (11)

Japan Golf Tour playoff record (1–4)

Asia Golf Circuit wins (2)

Asia Golf Circuit playoff record (2–1)

Other wins (2)

Major championships

Wins (1)

¹Defeated Ernie Els in 4-hole playoff; Hamilton (4-4-3-4=15), Els (4-4-4-4=16).

Results timeline

CUT = missed the half way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
NT = no tournament due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 4 (2007 PGA – 2008 Open Championship) *Longest streak of top-10s – 1

Results in The Players Championship

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

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.'' "T" indicates a tie for a place
CUT = missed the halfway cut
NT = No tournament due to

References

External links

* * *
Article about "outsider" Open Winners
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Todd American male golfers Oklahoma Sooners men's golfers PGA Tour golfers Japan Golf Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Winners of men's major golf championships Golfers from Illinois Golfers from Texas Sportspeople from Galesburg, Illinois People from Westlake, Texas 1965 births Living people 20th-century American sportsmen