Samuel Robert Torrance OBE (born 24 August 1953) is a Scottish professional golfer and sports commentator.

His father Bob (1932-2014) was a highly respected golf instructor[2] who coached son Sam from childhood.

Torrance played in The Open Championship 28 times, with a best finish of tied 5th in 1981 at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England.

The year after, Torrance came back to Australia, capping a second-place finish in October, after losing in a playoff to Eamonn Darcy at the 1981 CBA West Lakes Classic.

On a rare visit on the U.S.-based PGA Tour, in October 1983, trying to tune up for the Ryder Cup match to be played in Florida later the same month, Torrance finished tied first after 72 holes at the 1983 Southern Open at the Green Island Country Club in Columbus, Georgia.

That year he also finished in second place at the Malaysian Open, tying Australia's Terry Gale for second, two behind Taiwan's Lu Chien-soon.

In 1985 he sank the winning putt on the 18th green at The Belfry, England, which deprived the Americans of the trophy for the first time in 28 years.

Team Scotland twice finished second in the World Cup with Torrance on the two-man-team, 1984 with Gordon Brand Jnr and 1987 with Sandy Lyle.

He debuted his version, which anchored on the chin rather than the midriff, at the 1989 Jersey Open and subsequently finished in the top five.

[11] He was promoted to an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2003 New Year Honours, for services to golf.

[12] In the June 2023 Graduation Ceremonies at University of St Andrews, Torrance was awarded Doctor of Laws (LLD),[13] in recognition of his outstanding career in, and contribution to, golf.

[14] In October 2006, he took over nine minutes to consider with his teammates Ally McCoist and Michael Holding the question, "Who is the only golfer from Europe or the United States to have won two majors without making a Ryder Cup appearance", eventually correctly answering John Daly.

[15] On 17 March 2008, he competed with Sharron Davies and team captain Phil Tufnell in the 37th season of A Question of Sport, and made history by achieving the first-ever perfect score on the show since it started in 1970[further explanation needed].