William Todd Hamilton (born October 18, 1965) 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, IL and played golf regularly on the
local 9-hole golf course (now an 18 holes), 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 thirty eight,
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 British Open at the
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.
In 2006, Hamilton captained the American team in
ITV's celebrity golf tournament, the All*Star Cup.
