Todd Hamilton

Began playing golf at the age of 7. Member of the Canadian Tour from 1988-89. Member of the Asian Tour from 1992-2002. 1992 Asian Tour Order of Merit champion. Winner of the 1992 Thailand Open, Singapore Rolex Masters, and Korean Open. Hamilton joined Japan Golf Tour after winning the Asian Tour Order of Merit in 1992. Before that, he considered quitting the game but didn't and gained eligibility for the Japan Tour. Three-time NCAA All-American.
He secured his place in golf history with a stunning victory in The Open Championship at Royal Troon in 2004, holding off Ernie Els during a four-hole playoff to win the Claret Jug. His win sparked the biggest celebrations ever seen in his former home of Oquawka, Illinois, a sleepy town whose previous claim to fame was the circus elephant buried in the town square. Before his British Open triumph, the American was one of the world's most prolific winners, having won four times in Japan the previous year. He played the Asian and Japan Tours, winning 14 times, before winning his US PGA Tour card at his eighth attempt at the end of 2003.
1992 Japan PGA Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 20; in money - 17; Top-10 finishes - 9; scoring average - 71.61 (ranked 4th); Money Yen62,866,532 (ranked 13th); Winner, Maruman Open.
1993 Japan PGA Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 28; in money - 24; Top-10 finishes - 14; scoring average - 71.15 (ranked 4th); Money Yen91,494,648 (ranked 6th); Winner, Acom International.
1994 Japan PGA Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 27; in money - 24; Top-10 finishes - 11; scoring average - 71.73 (ranked 13th); Money Yen86,960,890 (ranked 6th); Winner, PGA Philanthropy, Japan PGA Match Play.
1995 Japan PGA Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 23; in money - 20; Top-10 finishes - 7; scoring average - 70.53 (ranked 8th); Money Yen54,302,567 (ranked 19th); Winner, Token Corporation Cup.
1996 Japan PGA Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 25; in money - 22; Top-10 finishes - 8; scoring average - 70.84 (ranked 14th); Money Yen63,073,138 (ranked 10th); Winner, PGA Philanthropy.
1997 Japan PGA Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 24; in money - 21; Top-10 finishes - 5; scoring average - 71.07 (ranked 24th); Money Yen32,554,520 (ranked 37th); best finish, 2nd, Descente Classic Munsingwear Cup.
1998 Japan PGA Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 23; in money - 17; Top-10 finishes - 3; scoring average - 71.34 (ranked 38th); Money Yen36,998,300 (ranked 28th); Winner, Gene Sarazen Jun Classic.
1999 Japan PGA Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 22; in money - 18; Top-10 finishes - 5; scoring average - 71.30 (ranked 47th); Money Yen22,975,600 (ranked 47th); best finish, T-5th PGA Championship and Aiful Cup.
2000 Japan PGA Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 19; in money - 11; Top-10 finishes - 0; scoring average - 71.97 (ranked 65th); Money Yen10,951,255 (ranked 78th); best finish, T-11th, Dydo-Drinco Shizuoka Open.
2001 Japan PGA Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 20; in money - 11; Top-10 finishes - 5; scoring average - 71.75 (ranked 60th); Money Yen24,695,582 or $231,274 (ranked 44th); best finish, 4th,UBE Kosan Open.
2002 Japan PGA Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 18; in money - 14; Top-10 finishes - 4; scoring average - 71.06 (ranked 24th); Money Yen25,471,318 or $238,539 (ranked 42nd); best finish, T2nd Munsingwear Open KSB Cup.
2003 Japan PGA Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 18; in money - 15; Top-10 finishes - 5; scoring average - 70.59 (ranked 8th); Money Yen117,547,151 or $1,100,829 (ranked 3rd); Winner, Fujisankei Classic, Diamond Cup, Gateway to the Open Mizuno Open, Japan PGA MatchPlay Championship.
He no longer has his full Tour card on the PGA Tour and spends most of his time in Europe.
2012 Notes: Made eight PGA Tour starts, making three cuts, each of which yielded a top-30 finish. He earned his first top-10 of the season since 2009, with a T-8th at the Reno-Tahoe Open. He finished with 30 points, 13 points behind J.J. Henry's winning total. Before that, he finished T-12th at the Puerto Rico Open and T-29th in Dallas at the HP Byron Nelson Championship.
2013 Notes: Played four events on the PGA Tour, making one cut (T-73 at the Open Championship). Played full-time on the Korn Ferry Tour
2013 Korn Ferry Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 14; in money - 5; top-10 finishes - 0; scoring average 71.74 (ranked 122nd); money $13,712 (ranked 171st); Best finish T-5th Panama Claro Championship.
2014 Korn Ferry Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 10; in money - 2; top-10 finishes - 0; scoring average 71.74 (ranked 122nd); money $3,768 (ranked 207th); Best finish T-45th Cleveland Open.
2015 Notes: Made his lone Champions Tour start at the Toshiba Classic in late October, shortly after turning 50. Three straight rounds in the 60s led to a T-18th finish at the Newport Beach CC. Made three starts on the PGA Tour but did not make a cut. He made one cut in six appearances on the Korn Ferry Tour, a T-36th at the Rust-Oleum Championship.
2016 Notes: Played in 22 Champions Tour events and was in the top-ten twice. In his first two starts of the year were T-15th at the Allianz Championship and T-6th at the Chubb Classic. After that, he only had one other top-ten, T-5th at the Toshiba Classic. In 22 starts finished 48th on the money list and 49th in the Schwab Ranking.
2017 Notes: In 22 events, had 4 top-ten finishes. Was T-3rd at the Shaw Charity Classic, T-8th at the Dominion Energy Charity, T-9th at Japan Airlines Open, and T-10th in the Principal Charity Classic. He was 50th on the money list and 48 in Schwab Rank.
2018 Notes: Played in 23 PGA Tour Champions events. Best finish T-13th at the Cologuard Classic, T-14th in the American Family Insurance. It was 64th in the Charles Schwab Cup.
2019 Notes: Only played in three events, missing the cut at Senior PGA Championship and U.S. Senior Open Championship, was T-55th at the Sanford International. Went to the PGA Tour Champions Qualifying tournament but finished T-36th.
2021 Notes: Missed the cut at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship and was 55th at the Shaw Charity Classic.
2022 Notes: Only played once and missed the cut at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship.