By Stuart Mason
Captains Club also chooses to honor posthumously St. Andrews Native Allen Robertson, one of the earliest golf professionals.
DUBLIN, Ohio – Officials of the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday announced today that the Captains Club has selected two-time major champion and 1980 Memorial Tournament winner David Graham as the 2026 Tournament Honoree.
The Captains Club also announced that it will honor posthumously golf pioneer and early St. Andrews professional Allan Robertson in 2026, which marks the 50th anniversary of the PGA TOUR Signature Event founded and hosted by golf legend Jack Nicklaus. Graham and Robertson will be honored Wednesday, June 3, 2026, at Muirfield Village Golf Club.
“This is one of the greatest honors I have ever received,” said Graham, 79, who was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2015. “I’m just tickled to death as a past winner of the Memorial and a proud Muirfield Village Golf Club member to have been selected by the Captains Club. It’s even more rewarding to know that this was a decision by such a distinguished committee. This is a really special honor, especially having a close relationship with Jack Nicklaus.”
A native of Melbourne, Australia, Graham was a tenacious competitor and terrific ball striker who won eight times on the PGA TOUR, including the 1979 PGA Championship and the 1981 U.S. Open. His two major victories came on storied courses that validated his longtime goal of becoming a world-class player.
“Without a doubt David was one of the toughest competitors on the TOUR when I was playing,” Tom Watson, a two-time Memorial Tournament winner and member of the Captains Club, once said of Graham. “He was a strong man; he was strong mentally.”
In the 61st PGA at Oakland Hills Country Club near Detroit, Graham rallied from four strokes behind Rex Caldwell in the final round with a 5-under-par 65 to end up in a tie with Ben Crenshaw at 8-under 272. Crenshaw had closed with a 67. Graham won the title with an eight-foot birdie putt on the third sudden-death playoff hole to become the second Australian-born player to capture the Wanamaker Trophy, joining Jim Ferrier, who won it in 1947.
Two years later in the 81st U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club near Philadelphia, Graham once again needed a final-round rally. Trailing 54-hole leader George Burns by three shots, Graham shot a closing 3-under 67 and beat Burns and Bill Rogers by three strokes with a 7-under 273 total.
In between those victories came his hard-fought win in the 1980 Memorial Tournament, an emotional triumph for Graham who revered Nicklaus and had joined Muirfield Village Golf Club a few years prior. After opening with a 73, tied for the second-highest opening round by a winner, Graham put together rounds of 67-70-70 and beat Watson, the 1979 winner, by a stroke thanks to birdies on three of the last four holes, including a downhill 30-footer on the final hole. Just two days after his 34th birthday, Graham posted a record 8-under 280 total, breaking the Memorial Tournament scoring mark by one stroke that Nicklaus set in 1977.
“David has been a great friend for a very long time, and we have not only played a lot of golf together, we also have worked alongside each other outside the ropes,” said Nicklaus. “David worked at one time with MacGregor—the clubs I played for decades and the company I owned for a while—and actually helped me make clubs. David was a very good player when he came to the United States, but he really learned how to win once here. He is a really good man and an excellent choice by the Captains Club.”
Born May 23, 1946, Anthony David Graham was introduced to golf at a young age by a club professional at a local nine-hole course in Melbourne. He quickly fell in love with the game, and by age 13 he decided to quit school and dedicate himself to the sport. He actually began playing golf left-handed before switching to right-handed at the behest of his mentor, George Naismith. Graham turned pro at 16 and took up several club jobs while honing his game. After finding some success in tournament play in his home country, he moved to the U.S. He earned his PGA TOUR card in 1971 and won his first TOUR title at the 1972 Cleveland Open after beating fellow Australian Bruce Devlin in a playoff.
According to the World Golf Hall of Fame, Graham is credited with 36 professional wins that have come on six different continents. He also won five times on the PGA TOUR Champions before retiring in 2004 after suffering from congestive heart failure. He served as the captain of the International Team in the first Presidents Cup in 1994 and for years was a member of the Masters Tournament Cup and Tee Committee responsible for setting up the course at Augusta National Golf Club. He also has designed golf courses, predominantly in the U.S.
Among the honors he has received include the Order of Australia by Queen Elizabeth II in 1992 for contributions to the game. He is a member of the Australian Sports Hall of Fame and the Australian Golf Hall of Fame as well as the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Graham and his wife Maureen live in Dallas, Texas. They have two sons, Andrew and Michael, three grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Allan Robertson made his mark in golf before there existed any of today’s major championships. Born September 11, 1815, in St. Andrews, Scotland, Robertson’s path into golf was established by following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. Both men served as caddies at the Old Course at St. Andrews and were accomplished feathery ball-makers. His father Davie was one of Scotland’s top players.
Allan learned the ball-making trade and eventually became known as one of the finest in Scotland. Old Tom Morris worked as an apprentice in Robertson’s shop. But it was his skill as a player that set Robertson apart, and he reigned over the game for nearly two decades. He was known to be practically unbeatable in challenge matches, either alone or with Morris as his partner. Robertson also contributed to golf as a caddie, inventor, keeper of the green and course designer. Among his credits are improvements to the Old Course and 10 holes at Carnoustie Golf Links.
Charles Blair Macdonald, a trailblazer in American golf, once said of Robertson, “Allan Robertson was the best-known golfer of his generation and generally thought to have been the greatest player of his day.”
Robertson died on September 1, 1859, in St. Andrews at age 43 after an attack of jaundice. His prowess as a golfer was so profound that his passing inspired golfers at Prestwick Golf Club to institute a competition to determine who would succeed Robertson as the best player or “Champion Golfer.” Thus was born The Open Championship.
A plaque in his honor was dedicated only a few weeks ago at St. Andrews. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2001.
The 2026 Memorial Tournament presented by Workday will celebrate the Tournament’s 50th anniversary June 1-7 at the world-renowned Muirfield Village Golf Club.
For more information about the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, please visit thememorialtournament.com. For the latest news and updates on social media, follow the Tournament on X and Instagram at @MemorialGolf and on Facebook at Facebook.com/theMemorialTournament.
About the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday
The Memorial Tournament presented by Workday is held annually at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus. The Tournament, founded and hosted by Jack Nicklaus, is conducted each year with three goals in mind: to honor the memory of individuals living and deceased who have distinguished themselves in the game of golf; to showcase the world’s best golfers competing on one of the most challenging venues in the world for the enjoyment of spectators; and to benefit many Greater Columbus Charities in alliance with the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation and numerous other local organizations. For more information, visit www.thememorialtournament.com or call 614-889-6700.
About Workday
Workday is the AI platform for managing people, money, and agents. The Workday platform is built with AI at the core to help customers elevate people, supercharge work, and move their business forever forward. Workday is used by more than 11,000 organizations around the world and across industries – from medium-sized businesses to more than 60% of the Fortune 500. For more information about Workday, visit workday.com.
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