# Lou Graham

Louis Krebs Graham (born January 7, 1938) is an American professional golfer. Graham won six PGA Tour tournaments including the 1975 U.S. Open.

## Early life

Graham was born in Nashville, Tennessee. He started playing golf when he was seven years old. He attended Nashville's Father Ryan High School, and then Memphis State University, now the University of Memphis, in Memphis, Tennessee, where he played on the golf team for three years.
Later, Graham was drafted into the U.S. Army. While in the Army, Graham served as a member of the Old Guard—Company E of the Third U.S. Infantry Regiment—the ceremonial Honor Guard that guards the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery. During his Army career, he made the Army golf team that won the Inter-Service championship in 1961.

## Professional career

Graham joined the PGA Tour in September 1964. His first win was at the Minnesota Golf Classic at Hazeltine National Golf Club in 1967 during his third full year on the tour. Graham won again in 1972 at the Liggett Myers Open, followed by the U.S. Open in 1975. Graham had only three wins in fifteen years, and then in 1979, he won three more times in the space of eleven weeks. For this achievement, he won Golf Digest's 1979 Comeback of the Year award.
Graham played on three Ryder Cup teams (1973, 1975, 1977), and was a member of the victorious 1975 World Cup Team. He was inducted as a charter member of the Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame in 1992. During his career, he won over $1.4 million on the PGA Tour and over $600,000 in Senior Tour career earnings.
Graham's greatest success in major championships has been at the U.S. Open. He won in 1975 at the Medinah Country Club in Medinah, Illinois beating John Mahaffey by two strokes in a playoff. In 1977, he finished second – losing by one stroke to Hubert Green at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He also had a previous T-3 finish at the Open in 1974. On the Senior Tour (now known as the Champions Tour), his best finish was a T-3 at the AT&T Championship in 1990.

## Awards and honors

* In 1979, Graham won Golf Digest's Comeback of the Year award.
* In 1992, he was inducted as a charter member of the Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame.

## Professional wins (7)
### PGA Tour wins (6)

* Legend
* Major championships (1)
* Other PGA Tour (5)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up |
| 1 | Jul 30, 1967 | Minnesota Golf Classic | −2 (76-68-70-72=286) | 1 stroke | Bobby Verwey |
| 2 | Aug 27, 1972 | Liggett & Myers Open | −3 (71-74-70-70=285) | Playoff | David Graham, Hale Irwin, Larry Ziegler |
| 3 | Jun 23, 1975 | U.S. Open | +3 (74-72-68-73=287) | Playoff | John Mahaffey |
| 4 | Jul 22, 1979 | IVB-Philadelphia Golf Classic | −11 (68-70-71-64=273) | Playoff | Bobby Wadkins |
| 5 | Sep 9, 1979 | American Optical Classic | −9 (68-67-71-69=275) | 1 stroke | Ben Crenshaw |
| 6 | Oct 7, 1979 | San Antonio Texas Open | −12 (69-64-69-66=268) | 1 stroke | Eddie Pearce, Bill Rogers, Doug Tewell |
PGA Tour playoff record (3–1)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
| 1 | 1971 | Greater Hartford Open | George Archer, J. C. Snead | Archer won with birdie on first extra hole |
| 2 | 1972 | Liggett & Myers Open | David Graham, Hale Irwin, Larry Ziegler | Won with birdie on third extra hole D. Graham and Ziegler eliminated by par on first hole |
| 3 | 1975 | U.S. Open | John Mahaffey | Won 18-hole playoff; Graham: E (71), Mahaffey: +2 (73) |
| 4 | 1979 | IVB-Philadelphia Golf Classic | Bobby Wadkins | Won with birdie on first extra hole |

### Other wins (1)

| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runners-up |
| 1 | Dec 7, 1975 | World Cup (with Johnny Miller) | −22 (134-142-140-138=554) | 10 strokes | Taiwan − Hsieh Min-Nan and Kuo Chie-Hsiung |

## Major championships
### Wins (1)

| Year | Championship | 54 holes | Winning score | Margin | Runner-up |
| 1975 | U.S. Open | 4 shot deficit | +3 (74-72-68-73=287) | Playoff$^1$ | John Mahaffey |
$^1$Defeated Mahaffey in an 18-hole playoff – Graham 71 (E), Mahaffey 73 (+2).

### Results timeline

| Tournament | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 |
| Masters Tournament | | | | | | | CUT |
| U.S. Open | CUT | CUT | 23 | CUT | T28 | | |
| The Open Championship | | | | | | | |
| PGA Championship | | | | | | T8 | CUT |
| Tournament | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 |
| Masters Tournament | | CUT | | T17 | CUT | T40 | T12 | T6 | CUT | T23 |
| U.S. Open | T46 | T37 | T19 | CUT | T3 | 1 | T28 | 2 | T35 | T25 |
| The Open Championship | | | | | | T47 | | | | |
| PGA Championship | T22 | CUT | T33 | T30 | T48 | T54 | T22 | T6 | CUT | T10 |
| Tournament | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 |
| Masters Tournament | T26 | | | | | |
| U.S. Open | T51 | CUT | T39 | T50 | CUT | CUT |
| The Open Championship | | | | | | |
| PGA Championship | CUT | CUT | | T42 | | |
CUT = missed the halfway cut "T" indicates a tie for a place.

### Summary

| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
| Masters Tournament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 6 |
| U.S. Open | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 21 | 14 |
| The Open Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 15 | 10 |
| Totals | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 15 | 47 | 31 |
* Most consecutive cuts made – 11 (1974 U.S. Open – 1977 U.S. Open)
* Longest streak of top-10s – 3 (1977 Masters – 1977 PGA)

## Results in The Players Championship

| Tournament | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 |
| The Players Championship | 5 | T29 | T56 | T61 | 2 | T43 | T60 | 72 | T70 | WD | CUT | CUT |
CUT = missed the halfway cut WD = withdrew "T" indicates a tie for a place

## U.S. national team appearances

Professional
* Ryder Cup: 1973 (winners), 1975 (winners), 1977 (winners)
* World Cup: 1975 (winners)