// Workers AI · dad joke modeIs Bob Hamilton a good golfer? He's a ham.

Bob Hamilton
Bob Hamilton
	Hamilton, circa 1949
Personal information
Full name	Robert T. Hamilton
Born	January 10, 1916; Evansville, Indiana, U.S.
Died	December 6, 1990 (aged 74); Evansville, Indiana, U.S.
Sporting nationality	United States
Career
Status	Professional
Former tour	PGA Tour
Professional wins	10
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	3
Other	7
Best results in major championships; (wins: 1)
Masters Tournament	3rd: 1946
PGA Championship	Won: 1944
U.S. Open	T29: 1947
The Open Championship	DNP

Robert T. Hamilton (January 10, 1916 – December 6, 1990) was an American professional golfer.

Career

He was born and raised in Evansville, Indiana. He attended and graduated from Evansville Reitz High School in 1934.

Hamilton won ten professional titles, including one major, the PGA Championship in 1944 at Manito Golf and Country Club in Spokane, Washington. Then a match play event, he defeated heavily favored Byron Nelson in the finals, 1 up. Hamilton was a three-time winner of the Indiana Open, winning in 1938, 1942, and 1966. He won five times on the PGA Tour, including the 1948 New Orleans Open, one stroke ahead of runner-up Roberto De Vicenzo. Hamilton was also a member of the 1949 Ryder Cup team.

Hamilton also served as the golf pro at Fort Lewis, south of Seattle, during the latter stages of World War II; he was also a member of the Warriors, the inter-base (intramural) team. Individually, he placed 3rd in the Pacific Northwest Servicemen's Championship (Seattle) and 3rd in the Tacoma Open, a PGA Tour event.^[1]

Hamilton finished second to Sam Snead in the 1967 Senior PGA Championship at PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

In 1975, Hamilton set the overall record for youngest golfer to shoot his age when he shot a 59 at Hamilton Golf Club in Evansville.^[2]

In 1990, Hamilton died in his hometown of Evansville, Indiana.

Awards and honors

In 1965, Hamilton was inducted into the Indiana Golf Hall of Fame.

Amateur wins

This list may be incomplete

1934 IHSAA State Champion^[3]
1936 Indiana Amateur

Professional wins (10)

PGA Tour wins (3)

Legend
Major championships (1)
Other PGA Tour (4)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Aug 15, 1944	PGA Championship	1 up		Byron Nelson
2	Mar 31, 1946	Charlotte Open	−15 (70-71-67-65=273)	3 strokes	Pete Cooper, Jimmy Demaret, Sam Snead
3	Feb 22, 1948	New Orleans Open	−4 (70-71-70-69=280)	1 stroke	Roberto De Vicenzo, Fred Haas, Lawson Little

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	1949	Miami Open	Fred Haas	Lost 18-hole playoff; Haas: −1 (69), Hamilton: +1 (71)

Source:^[4]

Other wins (7)

This list may be incomplete

1938 Indiana Open
1942 Indiana Open
1943 Indiana PGA Championship
1944 Indiana PGA Championship, North and South Open
1949 Inverness Invitational Four-Ball (with Chick Harbert)
1966 Indiana Open

Major championships

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	Winning score	Runner-up
1944	PGA Championship	1 up	Byron Nelson

Note: The PGA Championship was match play until 1958

Results timeline

Tournament	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	1946	1947	1948	1949
Masters Tournament			NT	NT	NT	3	T42	T18	T23
U.S. Open	T45	NT	NT	NT	NT		T29		CUT
PGA Championship			NT	1	R32	R32	R64	R64	R32

Tournament	1950	1951	1952	1953	1957
Masters Tournament	T32		T40	4	WD
U.S. Open		T42
PGA Championship	R64	R32	SF

Tournament	1966	1968
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open
PGA Championship	WD	T59

Note: Hamilton never played in The Open Championship.

Win

Top 10

Did not play

NT = no tournament
WD = withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = round in which player lost in PGA Championship match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Summary

Tournament	Wins	3rd	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Masters Tournament	0	1	2	2	4	8	7
U.S. Open	0	0	0	0	0	4	3
The Open Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
PGA Championship	1	1	2	2	6	11	10
Totals	1	2	4	4	10	23	20

Most consecutive cuts made – 11 (1941 U.S. Open – 1949 Masters)
Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (1952 PGA – 1953 Masters)

References

↑ "Fort Lewis Golf Course". www.historylink.org. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
↑ Kelley, Brent. ""Age-Shooter" Records in Golf". About.com. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved October 24, 2013.
↑ "State Finals Preview: Prairie View Hosts Boys Golf Championships" (PDF). IHSAA. June 13, 2015.
↑ "Bob Hamilton". PGA Tour. Retrieved September 20, 2025.

External links

[1] "Fort Lewis Golf Course". www.historylink.org. Retrieved September 7, 2020.

[2] Kelley, Brent. ""Age-Shooter" Records in Golf". About.com. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved October 24, 2013.

[3] "State Finals Preview: Prairie View Hosts Boys Golf Championships" (PDF). IHSAA. June 13, 2015.

[4] "Bob Hamilton". PGA Tour. Retrieved September 20, 2025.

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v t e PGA Championship champions
Match play era	1916 Jim Barnes 1919 Jim Barnes 1920 Jock Hutchison 1921 Walter Hagen 1922 Gene Sarazen 1923 Gene Sarazen 1924 Walter Hagen 1925 Walter Hagen 1926 Walter Hagen 1927 Walter Hagen 1928 Leo Diegel 1929 Leo Diegel 1930 Tommy Armour 1931 Tom Creavy 1932 Olin Dutra 1933 Gene Sarazen 1934 Paul Runyan 1935 Johnny Revolta 1936 Denny Shute 1937 Denny Shute 1938 Paul Runyan 1939 Henry Picard 1940 Byron Nelson 1941 Vic Ghezzi 1942 Sam Snead 1944 Bob Hamilton 1945 Byron Nelson 1946 Ben Hogan 1947 Jim Ferrier 1948 Ben Hogan 1949 Sam Snead 1950 Chandler Harper 1951 Sam Snead 1952 Jim Turnesa 1953 Walter Burkemo 1954 Chick Harbert 1955 Doug Ford 1956 Jack Burke Jr. 1957 Lionel Hebert
Stroke play era	1958 Dow Finsterwald 1959 Bob Rosburg 1960 Jay Hebert 1961 Jerry Barber† 1962 Gary Player 1963 Jack Nicklaus 1964‡ Bobby Nichols 1965 Dave Marr 1966 Al Geiberger 1967 Don January† 1968 Julius Boros 1969‡ Raymond Floyd 1970 Dave Stockton 1971 Jack Nicklaus 1972 Gary Player 1973 Jack Nicklaus 1974 Lee Trevino 1975 Jack Nicklaus 1976 Dave Stockton 1977 Lanny Wadkins† 1978 John Mahaffey† 1979 David Graham† 1980 Jack Nicklaus 1981 Larry Nelson 1982‡ Raymond Floyd 1983‡ Hal Sutton 1984 Lee Trevino 1985 Hubert Green 1986 Bob Tway 1987 Larry Nelson† 1988 Jeff Sluman 1989 Payne Stewart 1990 Wayne Grady 1991 John Daly 1992 Nick Price 1993 Paul Azinger† 1994 Nick Price 1995 Steve Elkington† 1996 Mark Brooks† 1997 Davis Love III 1998 Vijay Singh 1999 Tiger Woods 2000‡ Tiger Woods† 2001 David Toms 2002 Rich Beem 2003 Shaun Micheel 2004 Vijay Singh† 2005 Phil Mickelson 2006 Tiger Woods 2007 Tiger Woods 2008 Pádraig Harrington 2009 Y. E. Yang 2010 Martin Kaymer† 2011 Keegan Bradley† 2012 Rory McIlroy 2013 Jason Dufner 2014 Rory McIlroy 2015 Jason Day 2016 Jimmy Walker 2017 Justin Thomas 2018 Brooks Koepka 2019 Brooks Koepka 2020 Collin Morikawa 2021 Phil Mickelson 2022 Justin Thomas† 2023 Brooks Koepka 2024‡ Xander Schauffele 2025 Scottie Scheffler 2026 Aaron Rai
† indicates the event was won in a playoff; ‡ indicates the event was won wire-to-wire; 1943 cancelled due to World War II

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