Todd Hamilton

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) and the University of Oklahoma, where he played collegiately.

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.^[2] 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 won his first PGA Tour event 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 at Royal Troon Golf Club. 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 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.^[3]

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.^[4] In his 187 subsequent tour starts, he missed the cut 111 times and had just three top-10 finishes.^[5] 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.^[6] Hamilton became eligible to play on the Champions Tour after turning fifty years of age in October 2015.

Hamilton lives in Westlake, Texas.

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	Mar 14, 2004	The Honda Classic	−12 (68-66-68-74=276)	1 stroke	Davis Love III
2	Jul 18, 2004	The Open Championship	−10 (71-67-67-69=274)	Playoff	Ernie Els

PGA Tour playoff record (1–0)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	2004	The Open Championship	Ernie Els	Won four-hole aggregate playoff; Hamilton: E (4-4-3-4=15), Els: +1 (4-4-4-4=16)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Aug 23, 1992	Maruman Open	−16 (65-67-67-73=272)	1 stroke	Masashi Ozaki
2	Aug 15, 1993	Acom International	40 pts (7-15-3-15=40)	2 points	Craig Warren
3	Jul 3, 1994	PGA Philanthropy Tournament	−10 (74-69-68-67=278)	Playoff	Eiji Mizoguchi
4	Sep 4, 1994	Japan PGA Match-Play Championship Promise Cup	8 and 7		Ikuo Shirahama
5	Mar 12, 1995	Token Corporation Cup	−7 (70-71-68-72=281)	1 stroke	Peter Senior
6	Jun 30, 1996	PGA Philanthropy Tournament (2)	−13 (69-69-68-69=275)	2 strokes	Kazuhiro Takami
7	Sep 27, 1998	Gene Sarazen Jun Classic	−18 (71-66-68-65=270)	2 strokes	Craig Parry
8	May 11, 2003	Fujisankei Classic	−17 (67-67-65-68=267)	5 strokes	Tetsuji Hiratsuka, Shigeru Nonaka
9	Jun 1, 2003	Diamond Cup Tournament	−12 (67-72-72-65=276)	3 strokes	Steven Conran
10	Jun 29, 2003	Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open	−10 (67-72-72-65=278)	1 stroke	Brendan Jones
11	Sep 7, 2003	Japan PGA Match-Play Championship (2)	3 and 2		David Smail

Japan Golf Tour playoff record (1–4)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1994	PGA Philanthropy Tournament	Eiji Mizoguchi	Won with birdie on first extra hole
2	1996	Fujisankei Classic	Brian Watts	Lost to par on first extra hole
3	1996	Mitsubishi Galant Tournament	Masashi Ozaki	Lost to par on first extra hole
4	1996	Pocari Sweat Yomiuri Open	Kazuhiro Fukunaga	Lost to birdie on second extra hole
4	2002	Munsingwear Open KSB Cup	Yoshimitsu Fukuzawa, Kenichi Kuboya	Kuboya won with birdie on fourth extra hole Fukuzawa eliminated by birdie on second hole

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	Apr 19, 1992	Maekyung Open	−8 (68-70-69-73=280)	Playoff	Lin Chie-hsiang
2	Feb 5, 1995	Thai Airways Thailand Open	−17 (68-68-70-65=271)	Playoff	Steve Veriato

Asia Golf Circuit playoff record (2–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1992	Sanyang Republic of China Open	Lin Chie-hsiang, Craig McClellan	Lin won with birdie on first extra hole
2	1992	Maekyung Open	Lin Chie-hsiang	Won with par on first extra hole
3	1995	Thai Airways Thailand Open	Steve Veriato	Won with par on second extra hole

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Mar 22, 1992	Rolex Masters	−10 (70-67-66-71=274)	4 strokes	Gerry Norquist, Lee Porter
2	Aug 29, 1999	Oklahoma Open	−12 (66-68-64=198)	1 stroke	Greg Gregory

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runner-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).

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

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

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

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied

Results not in chronological order before 2017.

"T" indicates a tie for a place
CUT = missed the halfway cut
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

• 2003 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates
• List of golfers with most Japan Golf Tour wins

• Todd Hamilton at the PGA Tour official site
• Todd Hamilton at the Japan Golf Tour official site
• Todd Hamilton at the Official World Golf Ranking official site
• Article about "outsider" Open Winners