# Todd Hamilton

William Todd Hamilton (born October 18, 1965) is an American professional golfer. He is best known for his victory at the 2004 Open Championship.

## Early life

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). 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, where he was a college All-American.

## Professional career

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. 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 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 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.
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)

* Legend
* Major championships (1)
* Other PGA Tour (1)
| 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) |

### Japan Golf Tour wins (11)

| 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 | 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 | 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 |

### Asia Golf Circuit wins (2)

| 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 |

### Other wins (2)

| 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 |

## Major championships
### Wins (1)

| Year | Championship | 54 holes | Winning score | Margin | Runner-up |
| 2004 | The Open Championship | 1 shot lead | −10 (71-67-67-69=274) | Playoff$^1$ | Ernie Els |
$^1$Defeated Ernie Els in 4-hole playoff; Hamilton (4-4-3-4=15), Els (4-4-4-4=16).

### Results timeline

| Tournament | 1988 |
| Masters Tournament | |
| U.S. Open | CUT |
| The Open Championship | |
| PGA Championship | |
| Tournament | 1992 | 1996 |
| Masters Tournament | | |
| U.S. Open | | |
| The Open Championship | CUT | T45 |
| PGA Championship | | |
| Tournament | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
| Masters Tournament | | 40 | T39 | CUT | CUT | T36 | T15 |
| U.S. Open | | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT | T36 | T36 |
| The Open Championship | CUT | 1 | CUT | T68 | CUT | T32 | CUT |
| PGA Championship | T29 | T37 | T47 | CUT | T66 | CUT | |
| Tournament | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| Masters Tournament | CUT | | | | | | | | |
| U.S. Open | | T60 | | | | | | | |
| The Open Championship | CUT | CUT | CUT | T73 | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT |
| PGA Championship | | | | | | | | | |
| Tournament | 2020 | 2024 |
| Masters Tournament | | |
| PGA Championship | | |
| U.S. Open | | |
| The Open Championship | NT | CUT |
CUT = missed the half way cut "T" indicates a tie for a place. NT = no tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic

### Summary

| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
| Masters Tournament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 |
| U.S. Open | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 3 |
| The Open Championship | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 5 |
| PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 |
| Totals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 40 | 16 |
* Most consecutive cuts made – 4 (2007 PGA – 2008 Open Championship)
* Longest streak of top-10s – 1

## Results in The Players Championship

| Tournament | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
| The Players Championship | T58 | CUT | CUT | T75 | T54 | CUT |
CUT = missed the halfway cut "T" indicates a tie for a place

## Results in World Golf Championships

| Tournament | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 |
| Match Play | | | R64 |
| Championship | 72 | T6 | |
| Invitational | | 21 | |
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.
| Tournament | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| The Tradition | T23 | T40 | T48 | | NT | | | | |
| Senior PGA Championship | CUT | CUT | T33 | CUT | NT | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT |
| U.S. Senior Open | T37 | | T40 | CUT | NT | | | | |
| Senior Players Championship | T61 | T63 | 49 | | | | | | |
| Senior British Open Championship | CUT | T61 | CUT | | NT | | | | |
"T" indicates a tie for a place CUT = missed the halfway cut NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic