Anthony David Graham, AM (born 23 May 1946) is an Australian golfer. Graham turned pro as a teenager and had much success on the Australasian circuits in his youth, winning several tournaments. In 1972, he joined the PGA Tour where he continued with good play, winning several tournaments. This culminated with major tournament wins at the 1979 PGA Championship and 1981 U.S. Open. As a senior, Graham won five times on the Senior PGA Tour.
Graham was born and grew up in Melbourne, Australia. At young age he used to pass the Wattle Park nine-hole golf course when cycling to school and one day the local professional John Green offered him a job in the shop during week-ends. Graham started to learn to play and he did it as a left-hander. At age 13, against the strong will of his father, Graham quit school to work in the golf shop and Graham and his father never spoke to each other after that. At the age of 14, Graham was offered the second-assistant job at Riversdale Golf Club by head professional George Naismith, who convinced Graham to play right-handed.
Shortly thereafter, in late 1962, Naismith retired and Graham instead worked for a short time under Naismith's brother at Waverley Golf Club, south east of Melbourne. Graham then moved to the north-western part of Tasmania to work as an instructor at Seabrook Golf Club.
In 1967, after playing golf with Eric Cremin, who came to Seabrook for an exhibition to promote Precision Golf Forging golf clubs, Graham got the opportunity to start working at a sporting goods store in Sydney. During this time he honed his golf skills at Royal Sydney Golf Club under the tutelage of Alec Mercer, the club professional.
In early 1968, Graham started working full-time as a touring professional.
Australian and Asian circuits 1968–1970
Among the first tournaments Graham received media attention for was the 1968 Brisbane Water Tournament. In difficult conditions in the second round he moved into a tie for third. The third round was cancelled and in the final round Graham shot a 72 to finish solo fourth, four behind champion Bob Shaw.
In February 1969, Graham finished in a tie for third at the two-round $3,500 Amoco Open at Forbes, New South Wales, four back of champion Tony Mangan.
Shortly thereafter, he moved onto the Asia Golf Circuit. In mid-March he finished joint second at the 1969 Malaysian Open, one behind champion Takaaki Kono. At this point he was in third place on the Asia Golf Circuit's Order of Merit. The following week at the Singapore Open he was one back of leaders Tomio Kamata of Japan and Guy Wolstenholme of England after three rounds. Graham made up one stroke on the leaders during the back nine to enter a playoff with them, but lost to Kamata on the third extra hole.
After these two runner-ups finishes, Graham entered the next tournament, the Hong Kong Open, and shot two rounds of 69 to put him near the lead, but finished in a tie for 14th place. Graham cited his poor putting for his weak play. At that point Graham said his goal was to qualify for the Alcan Open, a limited-field tournament on the PGA Tour to be held in September in the United States. The 1969 Asia Golf Circuit finished in April with Graham tied forth on the Order of Merit.
In June 1969 he played a two-round tournament for a $1,650 purse in Goolwa, South Australia at South Lakes Golf Course. He shot a final round 70 to defeat John Lister by one stroke.
As of August 1969, Graham had qualified for the Alcan Open in Portland, Oregon. He finished 22nd among the 24 players in the field, 23 shots behind champion Billy Casper.
Shortly thereafter, he returned to Australia. In October he played the City of Sydney Open and finished fourth. Later in the month he played the Australian Open. He shot a second round 69 to move into a tie for fifth, behind Guy Wolstenholme, Bruce Devlin, Peter Thomson, and Gary Player. However, he was not near the lead as the tournament concluded. In November he played the North Coast Open in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales. He finished in solo second place, three back of champion Tony Mangan. In December he played the Caltex Tournament at Paraparaumu Links Golf Course in Wellington, New Zealand, and finished in a tie for fourteenth.
Early in 1970, Graham won two events in Australia. In February, he played the Tasmanian Open at Kingston Beach Golf Club. With a final round 72, Graham defeated Terry Kendall by one. Right before the tournament began he played the one-round $750 Golden Crumpet Purse, also at Kingston Beach. He shot a 68 (−5) to tie Terry Kendall for second place, two behind champion Tony Mangan.
The next week he won the Victorian Open. Graham defeated Kevin Hartley, Kel Nagle, and Guy Wolstenholme by four shots. His 273 (−19) total broke Yarra Yarra Golf Club's course record, set by Gary Player in 1959, by two shots.
The following week Graham played the New South Wales Open at Pymble Golf Course in Sydney. After three rounds Graham was five behind leader Kel Nagle. In the final round Graham made four birdies on holes 13–17. At the 477-yard par-5 18th hole Graham hit his second shot into a bunker. He hit his sand shot to 18 feet. His "chances of birdie looked remote" but he holed the putt creating a "tremendous roar" from the gallery. He entered an 18-hole playoff with Frank Phillips the following day. Graham was behind for most of the playoff but got tied by the 15th hole. However, Phillips birdied the final two holes to defeat Graham by two strokes.
Back onto the Asia Golf Circuit he played the Thailand Open in March 1970. He came from three strokes behind in the final round to win. The following month he played the Yomiuri International in Japan, also on the Asian circuit. Graham birdied the final two holes to win by three over New Zealander Walter Godfrey and four over pre-tournament favorite Tommy Aaron. With the victory, Graham won A$10,500 and a Japanese car.
As of July 1970, he had qualified for The Open at St Andrews, Scotland, where he entered The Open Championship for the first time and went on to finished tied 32nd.