David Graham

Height: 5 ft 9 in

Born: May 23, 1946

Nationality: Australia

Turned Pro: 1962

David Graham started his professional golf career at the tender age of 16. A native of Australia, Graham chose to make his living in the United States as a member of the PGA Tour and, after turning 50 years old, the Senior PGA Tour (now known as the Champions Tour).

Graham is one of only four players (Bernhard Langer, Hale Irwin and Gary Player) to have won golf tournaments on six different continents.

The pinnacle of Graham’s career were two Major Championships – the 1979 PGA Championship and the the 1981 U.S. Open Championship. Graham’s ’79 win came in a playoff over future two-time Masters Champion Ben Crenshaw. His U.S. Open win was by three shots over Bill Rogers and third round leader George Burns. Graham fired a final round 67 to overcome a three shot deficit.

Graham came close to winning more majors. He finished 5th at the 1980 Masters. He tied for 3rd place at the 1985 Open Championship and was leading the tournament going into the final round. Graham fired a final round 75 at Royal St. Georges to lose by two shots to Scotland’s Sandy Lyle.

Graham found success early and often when he joined the Senior Tour. He won three times in 1997. He won five times in total after the age of 50. Sadly, Graham’s golf career came to an abrupt end. In the summer of 2004 Graham collapsed on the 8th green during the final round of the Bank of America Championship. Graham recovered, but retired from golf at age 58 due to a heart condition.

Graham will be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame at the 2015 Open Championship.

The Australian now resides in Whitefish, Montana.