Bob Stanton (golfer)

Robert James Stanton (born 20 January 1946)[1] is a retired professional golfer from Australia. He had considerable success in the late 1960s, winning a number of tournaments in Australia and playing on the PGA Tour. He came to international notice when, as a 20-year-old, he won the 1966 Dunlop International, beating Arnold Palmer in a sudden-death playoff. He never won on the PGA Tour but was runner-up twice, in the 1969 AVCO Golf Classic and the 1970 Florida Citrus Invitational. He had a brief return of form in 1974/1975 and again for a few years from 1982.

Bob Stanton
Personal information
Full nameRobert James Stanton
Born (1946-01-20) 20 January 1946
Sydney, Australia
Nationality Australia
Career
StatusProfessional
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
Professional wins8
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentCUT: 1967
PGA ChampionshipT22: 1970
U.S. OpenT22: 1969
The Open ChampionshipT27: 1966

Professional career

Stanton first came to prominence in 1965. In April, he was a runner-up in the New South Wales Open, a stroke behind Colin McGregor. He bogeyed the final hole, when a par would have put him level with McGregor.[2] In late August, he won the City of Sydney Open, a shot ahead of Frank Phillips.[3] The following week, he had chances in the New South Wales PGA Championship, before finishing 5th behind Kel Nagle. In October, he travelled to South Australia and had more success, finishing runner-up in the West End Tournament and then winning the Adelaide Advertiser Tournament the following week.[4][5]

In 1966, Stanton travelled to Europe. In July, he qualified for the Open Championship and finished tied for 27th place despite a final round 79.[6] Later in the month, he won the German Open by 5 strokes from Ross Newdick.[7][8] In late October, Stanton travelled to Florida to play in the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament. He finished second, with a score of 576 for the 144-hole event, 4 strokes behind Harry Toscano and was one of 32 players to qualify for the 1967 PGA Tour season.[9] Returning to Australia, he won the Dunlop International, beating Arnold Palmer at the second hole of a sudden-death playoff.[10] In January 1967 he won the Tasmanian Open.

Following his win in the Dunlop International, Stanton received an invitation to the Masters Tournament. He scored 78 and 80 and missed the cut. He had modest success in his first season on the PGA Tour, winning US$11,112.[1] He returned to Australia in September 1967 and immediately won the New South Wales PGA Championship.[11] The following month he won the Adelaide Advertiser Tournament, by 9 strokes, and was runner-up behind Kel Nagle in the West End Tournament, while in November he won the Dunlop International for the second successive year, winning by a stroke from Bruce Devlin.[12][13][14] In early January 1968, he was runner-up in the New Zealand PGA Championship, before returning to the United States.[15]

His second season in America, 1968, was more successful than the first, with winnings of US$20,550.[1] In August, he was third in the Western Open and tied for fourth in the American Golf Classic the following week, Jack Nicklaus winning both events.[16][17] 1969 showed further improvement with winnings of US$32,289, helped by a solo runner-up finish in the AVCO Golf Classic, earning US$17,100.[1] Returning to Australia in late 1969, Stanton was runner-up to George Knudson in the Wills Masters.[18] 1970 was to be his most successful season in America with winnings of US$56,213.[1] In March, he finished joint runner-up in the Florida Citrus Invitational, winning US$13,875 and then, three weeks later, solo third in the National Airlines Open Invitational, winning a further US$14,200.[19][20] At the end of May, Stanton was runner-up in the 1970 Brazil Open.[21]

Stanton had little success in 1971, 1972 or 1973, winning less than US$5,000 on the PGA Tour each season.[1] At the end of 1973, he showed a return to form, losing in a playoff for the Confidence Open, a non-tour event, winning US$5,000.[22] He had a much better year in 1974, winning US$45,215 on the PGA Tour. His best finish was 5th in the World Open Golf Championship winning US$12,300 and he had four other top-10 finishes.[1] He played again on the tour in 1975, winning US$29,737. His best result was to be tied for 6th in the Kemper Open.[23] He had little success in 1976 winning just US$1,675 on the PGA Tour.[23]

Stanton retired from tournament golf in 1976 and became the golf director at the Diamond Head Yacht and Country Club in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.[24] He returned to competitive golf for a few years from late 1982 and was runner-up, a stroke behind Tom Watson, in the 1984 Australian Open.[25]

Professional wins (8)

Australian circuit wins (7)

European circuit wins (1)

Results in major championships
Tournament 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975
Masters Tournament CUT
U.S. Open WD T22 CUT T49
The Open Championship T27
PGA Championship T73 T22 CUT T40
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = Withdrew
"T" = tied

References
  1. "PGA Tour Guide 1975" (PDF). PGA Tour. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  2. "Surprise finish to Open". The Sun-Herald. 11 April 1965. p. 71.
  3. "Stanton wins City of Sydney". The Sydney Morning Herald. 30 August 1965. p. 12.
  4. "West End golf to John Sullivan". Victor Harbour Times. 53 (2692). South Australia. 8 October 1965. p. 458. Retrieved 16 October 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. "Stanton wins Adelaide golf". The Canberra Times. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 11 October 1965. p. 13. Retrieved 16 October 2020 – via Trove.
  6. Jacobs, Raymond (11 July 1966). "Nicklaus's Open at fifth attempt". Glasgow Herald. p. 4.
  7. "Open Title to Stanton". The Age. 26 July 1966. p. 28.
  8. "German Open Champion". The Glasgow Herald. 25 July 1966. p. 5.
  9. "Stanton Qualifies". Sydney Morning Herald. 30 October 1966. p. 71.
  10. "Sudden death play-off to Stanton". The Canberra Times. 41 (11, 528). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 7 November 1966. p. 14. Retrieved 16 October 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. "State golf title won by Stanton". Sun-Herald. 24 September 1967. p. 70.
  12. "West End Golf to Kel Nagle". Victor Harbour Times. 55 (2, 386). South Australia. 20 October 1967. p. 7. Retrieved 16 October 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. "Stanton in easy S. Aust golf win". The Sun-Herald. 8 October 1967. p. 64.
  14. "Stanton sinks his second Dunlop". The Canberra Times. 42 (11, 838). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 6 November 1967. p. 14. Retrieved 16 October 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. "NZ golf title to Shaw". The Canberra Times. 42 (11891). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 8 January 1968. p. 11. Retrieved 16 October 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  16. "Third to Stanton". Sydney Morning Herald. 6 August 1968. p. 18.
  17. "Stanton again well up". The Age. 13 August 1968. p. 23.
  18. "Knudson beat the heat for golf win". The Canberra Times. 44 (12, 446). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 20 October 1969. p. 16. Retrieved 16 October 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  19. "Great finish by Stanton". The Age. 10 March 1970. p. 24.
  20. "No jokes in playoff; Trevino tips Menne". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. 30 March 1970. p. 11.
  21. "Bob Stanton second". The Age. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. 2 June 1970. p. 26. Retrieved 16 October 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  22. "Funseth Is Golf Victor". Youngstown Vindicator. Youngstown, Ohio. 31 December 1973. p. 10. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  23. "PGA Tour Guide 1977" (PDF). PGA Tour. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  24. Grant, Trevor (9 November 1982). "Older, wiser Stanton tees up for comeback". The Age. p. 39.
  25. "Watson holds off Stanton". The Glasgow Herald. 19 November 1984. p. 20.
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