Researching Bill Glasson

Glasson was born in Fresno, California. He attended Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma where he was a member of the golf team – a two-time All-American. He turned pro in 1983 and led the PGA Tour for driving distance in 1984.

Glasson has enjoyed nine victories as a professional golfer: seven official PGA Tour events and two non-official events. His first win came at the 1985 Kemper Open. Trailing seven strokes behind the leader Larry Mize with 14 holes to play, Glasson made a 45-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole for a round of 66 to finish one stroke ahead of Mize and Corey Pavin.

Glasson won a second Kemper Open in 1992. His best finish in a major is a tie for 4th place at the 1995 U.S. Open. Glasson has over 60 top-10 PGA Tour finishes and has earned more than $6.7 million in career earnings. He was featured in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking. His last win on the Tour was in 1997 at the Las Vegas Invitational.

Glasson experienced difficulty maintaining his PGA Tour privileges in his 40s, due in large part to medical problems. He needed to play some on the Nationwide Tour, where his best finish was 2nd place at the 2003 Northeast Pennsylvania Classic. Glasson has undergone at least 19 surgeries on various parts of his body including elbow, sinus, knee, lip, forearm and lower back. In 1994 Glasson said, "For me, breakfast is a bowl of Advil."

He began playing on the Champions Tour after his 50th birthday on April 29, 2010.

Glasson lives in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Glasson was born in Toowoomba to Rupert Hamline Glasson and Melda Olive, née Lane. He attended correspondence and state schools and then Church of England Grammar School in East Brisbane. He served in the Royal Australian Air Force from 1943 to 1945 and on his return became a grazier. On 18 August 1949, he married Shirley Margaret Lockhart, with whom he had four children.

A member of the Country Party, he was elected to Winton Shire Council in 1955, serving until 1957. In 1974 he was elected to the Queensland Legislative Assembly as the member for Gregory. He joined the front bench in 1980 as Minister for Lands and Forestry. He served throughout the 1980s but in 1989 lost the position after Russell Cooper became Premier, since Glasson was a loyal supporter of Mike Ahern. As a result, he resigned from Parliament on 30 November 1989, two days before the state election.

Glasson died in Brisbane in 2012 and was buried in Lutwyche Cemetery.

One of Glasson's sons, Bill Glasson, was President of the Australian Medical Association from 2003 to 2005. He unsuccessfully contested the federal electorate of Griffith in 2013 and 2014.