Todd Hamilton

Who is Todd Hamilton?

William Todd Hamilton is an American professional golfer.

Hamilton was born in the small west-central Illinois city of Galesburg. He grew up in an even smaller Henderson County town on the Mississippi called Oquawka. He attended Union High School in Biggsville, Illinois and played golf regularly on the local 9-hole golf course, Hend-Co Hills. He went to the University of Oklahoma for college where he continued to play.

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. When he left the Japan Golf Tour, he was the all-time leading non-Japanese money winner on it, with earnings of over 630 million yen and had won 11 times.

After eight tries, at the age of 38, Hamilton went back to Qualifying School in 2003 where he finally earned his first PGA 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 defeated Ernie Els in a four-hole playoff to win The Open Championship at Royal Troon Golf Club.

These two victories in his first season on the PGA Tour led to Hamilton's being named the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year for 2004.