Bob Stanton

Bob Stanton is a retired Australian professional golfer who competed internationally during the 1960s, 1970s and briefly again in the 1980s. Born in Sydney on 20 January 1946, he became notable for winning the 1966 Dunlop International in a sudden-death playoff against Arnold Palmer, winning the German Open and recording two PGA TOUR runner-up finishes. Provider details match the historical professional golfer Robert James Stanton: PGA, provider_id 7535, Australian, born 20 January 1946, inacti…

Robert James “Bob” Stanton is a retired Australian professional golfer from Sydney. He began his professional development unusually early, securing an apprentice professional position in Australia at age 15. After several years working in the profession, he joined the Australian tournament circuit in 1965 and quickly established himself as one of the country’s leading young golfers.

Stanton’s first major breakthrough came in 1965, when he won the City of Sydney Open and the Adelaide Advertiser Tournament after earlier strong finishes in the New South Wales Open and West End Tournament. In 1966 he travelled to Europe, qualified for The Open Championship and finished tied 27th. Later that year he won the German Open by five strokes, then qualified for the PGA TOUR in the United States through the Florida qualifying tournament.

His defining Australian achievement followed at the 1966 Dunlop International at The Australian Golf Club in Sydney. At age 20, Stanton tied Arnold Palmer after 72 holes and defeated him on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff. The victory brought him an invitation to the 1967 Masters Tournament and helped establish his international reputation. He also won the Tasmanian Open in early 1967, the New South Wales PGA Championship, the Adelaide Advertiser Tournament and the Dunlop International for a second consecutive year.

Stanton joined the PGA TOUR in 1967 and spent much of the next decade competing in the United States. His strongest PGA TOUR season was 1970, when he recorded a runner-up finish in the Florida Citrus Invitational, third place in the National Airlines Open Invitational and reported season earnings of US$56,213. He also finished runner-up in the 1969 AVCO Golf Classic and placed third in the 1968 Western Open. His major-championship highlights included tied 22nd finishes at the 1969 U.S. Open and 1970 PGA Championship, as well as a tied 27th at The Open Championship in 1966.

After a reduced tournament schedule in 1971–73, Stanton returned to form in 1974, earning US$45,215 on the PGA TOUR and recording a fifth-place finish at the World Open Golf Championship plus several other top-10 results. He remained on tour in 1975 before retiring from regular tournament golf in 1976. He subsequently worked as a golf director at Diamond Head Yacht and Country Club in Mississippi and later returned to Australia. Stanton made a competitive comeback in the early 1980s and finished runner-up to Tom Watson in the 1984 Australian Open.

Outside tournament golf, Stanton became a pioneer of Australian corporate golf. Following his return from the United States, he established Bob Stanton Corporate Golf and reportedly hosted more than 1,000 corporate golf events. The supplied provider status of Inactive is consistent with his retired playing career; no verified current professional playing roster was identified as at 23 August 2026.