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

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

. He was born, raised, and died in

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...

. He attended and graduated from Evansville Reitz High School in 1934. Hamilton won ten professional titles, including one

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

, the

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships ...

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

Manito Golf and Country Club Manito Golf and Country Club is a country club in the northwest United States, located in Spokane, Washington. The club was founded in 1917 at Hart Field by a small group of dedicated golf enthusiasts and moved to its current location in the Comst ...

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Canada ...

. Then a

match play Match play is a scoring system for golf in which a player, or team, earns a point for each hole in which they have bested their opponents; as opposed to stroke play, in which the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 h ...

event, he defeated heavily favored

Byron Nelson John Byron Nelson Jr. (February 4, 1912 – September 26, 2006) was an American professional golfer between 1935 and 1946, widely considered one of the greatest golfers of all time. Nelson and two other legendary champions of the time, Ben Hog ...

in the finals, 1 up. Hamilton was a three-time winner of the

Indiana Open The Indiana Open is the Indiana state open golf tournament, open to both amateur and professional golfers. It is organized by the Indiana section of the PGA of America. It has been played annually since 1915 at a variety of courses around the state. ...

, winning in 1938, 1942, and 1966. He won five times on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

, including the 1948 New Orleans Open, one stroke ahead of runner-up

Roberto De Vicenzo Roberto De Vicenzo (14 April 1923 – 1 June 2017) was a professional golfer from Argentina. He won a record 229 professional tournaments worldwide during his career, including seven on the PGA Tour and most famously the 1967 Open Championship. ...

. Hamilton was also a member of the 1949

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...

team. Hamilton also served as the golf pro at Fort Lewis, south of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, during the latter stages of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

; 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

event. Hamilton finished second to

Sam Snead Samuel Jackson Snead (pronounced English_phonology">sni:d.html" ;"title="English_phonology.html" ;"title="nowiki/>English phonology">sni:d">English_phonology.html" ;"title="nowiki/>English phonology">sni:d May 27, 1912 – May 23, 2002) was an ...

in the 1967

Senior PGA Championship The Senior PGA Championship, established in 1937, is the oldest of the five major championships in men's senior golf. It is administered by the Professional Golfers' Association of America and is recognized as a major championship by both PGA ...

at PGA National Golf Club in

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida Palm Beach Gardens is a city in Palm Beach County in the U.S. state of Florida, 77 miles north of downtown Miami. , the population was 59,182. Palm Beach Gardens is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to an estimated 6 ...

. Hamilton set the overall record for youngest golfer to shoot his age when he shot a 59 at Hamilton Golf Club in Evansville in 1975. Hamilton was inducted into the Indiana Golf Hall of Fame in 1965, as a member of the 2nd class so honored.

Amateur wins (2)

''This list may be incomplete'' *1934 IHSAA Boys State Champion *1936 Indiana Amateur

Professional wins (10)

PGA Tour wins (5)

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

Other wins (5)

''This list may be incomplete'' *1938

*1942

*1943 Indiana PGA Championship *1944 Indiana PGA Championship *1966

Major championships

Wins (1)

''Note: The PGA Championship was match play until 1958''

Results timeline

''Note: Hamilton never played in

The Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

.''
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

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

References

External links

Indiana Golf Hall of FameFuneral home card from Browning Genealogy database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Bob American male golfers PGA Tour golfers Ryder Cup competitors for the United States Winners of men's major golf championships Golfers from Indiana Sportspeople from Evansville, Indiana 1916 births 1990 deaths