simply this didn’t happen. David Graham never achieved the widespread admiration that was afforded Hogan and Nicklaus nor that which many other major winners achieved in their careers. His reputation as the ‘hard man’ of world golf followed him throughout his playing days. But the David Graham of more recent years has mellowed, is less confrontational and certainly more personable.
This is not to say that David Graham no longer speaks his mind or frequently offends some people as a consequence. Golf Digest magazine, when interviewing him several years ago, described him as “a hard-edged character, irredeemingly stubborn, blunt and dogmatic.” This is probably an accurate description of the man today but one that needs to be tempered by the views of some of his peers. Fellow Australian golfer, Bruce Devlin, sees Graham as “honest, yes, even brutally honest, yet fiercely protective of his family and unswervingly loyal to his closest friends.”
Even David Graham’s severest critics acknowledge that his approach to golf, and life, has been influenced by the desperate struggles of his early days. A truant from school as a young boy, getting into fights that he never won, ridiculed as a loner, branded a loser, ostracised by his father at age fourteen, much of it was, in Graham’s own words, “pure hell.” Yet somehow he succeeded in spite of his upbringing and, it must be said, in spite of himself.
The years of “pain, discouragement and torment” helped make David Graham the type of golfer he became. That is, hard-edged, dour, resolute and always fiercely competitive. He practised longer than anyone else. He studied the technical aspects of the golf swing with religious fervour. He spent many hours willing himself to be mentally tough. Right from the outset he developed a thick outer shell to withstand the barbs and put-downs that continually came his way.
David Graham gave his whole life to golf but, as the man himself now reflects, “What a high price I paid.”
THE DAVID GRAHAM FILE
Born May 23, 1946 in St Kilda, Victoria, Australia.
Turned professional in 1962.
Victories:
37 worldwide.
Two time major winner:
1979 US PGA Championship
1981 US Open Championship
6 other wins on US PGA Tour:
1972 Cleveland Open
1976 Westchester Classic
1976 American Golf Classic
1980 Memorial Tournament
1981 Phoenix Open
1983 Houston Open
6 wins on Australian PGA Tour:
1970 Tasmanian Open
1970 Victorian Open
1975 Wills Masters Tournament
1977 Australian Open Championship
1979 West Lakes Classic
1985 Queensland Open
14 International wins:
1970 Thailand Open
1970 French Open
1971 Caracas Open (Venuzeula)
1971 JAL Open (Japan)
1976 Chunichi Crowns Invitational (Japan)
1976 World Match Play Championship
1977 South African Open
1978 Mexico Cup
1979 New Zealand Open
1980 Mexican Open
1980 Rolex Tournament (Japan)
1980 Brazil Classic
1981 Lancome Trophy (France)
1982 Lancome Trophy (France)
5 wins on the US Senior Tour:
1997 GTE Classic
1997 South West Bell Dominion Tournament
1997 Comfort Classic
1998 Royal Caribbean Classic
1999 Raleys Gold Rush Classic
3 Team wins: (representing Australia)
1970 World Cup (with Bruce Devlin)
1985 Dunhill Cup (with Greg Norman and Graham Marsh)
1986 Dunhill Cup (with Greg Norman and Rodger Davis)
Also:
1994 Australian Skins
12 times in top 10 at a Major Championship (excluding 2 wins):
1976 US PGA – tied 4th
1977 The Masters – tied 6th
1978 The Masters – tied 9th
1979 US Open – tied 7th
1980 The Masters – 5th
1981 The Masters – 7th
1982 US Open – tied 6th
1983 US Open – tied 8th
1984 The Masters – tied 6th
1985 The Masters – tied 10th
1985 British Open – tied 3rd
1986 US PGA – tied 7th
1.
“MY LOVE OF GOLF WAS ONLY EXCEEDED BY MY HATRED OF SCHOOL”
For the slightly built twelve-year old, the bicycle ride from school to his home put him ‘somewhere between a rock and a hard place’. School provided few, if any, rewarding experiences for David. Home was far from being a happy one. There, in the small weatherboard house, his parents fought often and loudly. Years later, when looking back at those turbulent years, his mother, Patricia, surmised that “it was perhaps no-one’s fault and yet it was everyone’s fault. At that time only bitterness and anger seemed to exist.”
It was on one of these bike
