Who was the first golfer from New Zealand to win a Major championship?

Sir Robert James "Bob" Charles is a New Zealand professional golfer who won the 1963 Open Championship, the first left-handed player to win a major championship. He won the 1954 New Zealand Open as an 18-year-old amateur and made the cut in the same event in 2007, at the age of 71. His achievements over that period, in which he won 80 tournaments, rank him as one of the most successful New Zealand golfers of all time. He is, along with Michael Campbell, one of only two New Zealanders to win a men's major golf championship.

Sir Bob turned professional in late 1960 and for the next two years had some success in tournaments around the world. From 1963 until the mid-1970s he played mostly on the PGA Tour. He won 5 times on the tour and finished in the top-60 on the money list each year from 1963 to 1971, except 1966, and again in 1974. Later he played more on the European Tour before joining the Senior PGA Tour when he reached 50. He was very successful on the Senior PGA Tour with 23 titles between 1987 and 1996, and winning over $9 million between 1986 and 2008.

In Britain, Sir Bob won the 1963 Open Championship and the Senior British Open twice, in 1989 and 1993.