Anthony David Lema (February 25, 1934 – July 24, 1966) was an American professional golfer who rose to fame in the mid-1960s and won a major title, the 1964 Open Championship at the Old Course at St Andrews in Scotland.

Noted African-American golf coach Lucius Bateman helped develop his swing and Oakland policeman Ralph Hall taught him course strategy.

Eddie Lowery, a wealthy San Francisco businessman, who invested in talented amateur players in the area, helped to sponsor and encourage Lema.

A raucous off-the-course lifestyle was taking its toll until he began talking with television producer Danny Arnold, who helped him improve his composure and bolster his confidence.

[9] Four weeks later, on the eve of his playoff victory at the Orange County Open Invitational in Costa Mesa, California,[10] Lema joked he would serve champagne to the press if he won the next day.

Friend and tour colleague Jack Nicklaus wrote that Lema's play also stabilized and improved greatly after he married Betty Cline, a former airline stewardess, in 1963.

In 1963, Lema finished second by one stroke to Nicklaus at the Masters, and missed the playoff for the U.S. Open by two shots, bogeying the last two holes, believing he needed birdies.

That winter, he wrote, with Gwylim S. Brown, "Golfers' Gold", an autobiographical account of his eight-year apprenticeship in the competitive cauldron of the PGA Tour.

[17][18] Two weeks later at St Andrews, Scotland, Lema captured his only major title at the Open Championship,[1] five shots ahead of runner-up Nicklaus.

[27] Following the PGA Championship at Firestone in Akron in late July 1966, Lema and his wife chartered an airplane to fly them to an exhibition tournament south of Chicago: the Little Buick Open at Lincolnshire Country Club in Crete, Illinois.

[15][30] Lema and his wife, Betty, age 30, were buried in California at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Hayward after funeral services on July 28 at St. Elizabeth's Church in his hometown of Oakland.