Peter Thomson (Australian golfer)
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For other people with the same or similar name, see Peter Thompson.
| Personal Information | |
|---|---|
| Birth | August 23, 1929 Melbourne, Australia |
| Nationality |  Australia |
| College | None |
| Career | |
| Professional wins | 67 (European: 26, Australasia: 20, Other: 9, Senior PGA Tour: 11, Other Senior: 1) |
| Best Results in Major Championships Wins: 5 |
|
| Masters | 5th: 1957 |
| U.S. Open | T4: 1956 |
| British Open | Won 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1965 |
| PGA Championship | DNP |
| Awards | |
| World Golf Hall of Fame | 1988 |
| Senior PGA Tour Money List Leader | 1986 |
Peter William Thomson (born August 23, 1929) is an Australian golfer. He is best remembered for his five wins in The Open Championship.
He was born in Melbourne. Thomson's Open Championship wins came in 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, and 1965. He was the only man to win the tournament for three consecutive years in the 20th century.
Thomson was a prolific tournament champion around the world, winning the national championships of ten countries, including the New Zealand Open nine times. He competed on the PGA Tour in 1953 and 1954 with relatively little success (finishing 44th and 25th on the Money List) and after that was an infrequent competitor. However in 1956, playing in just eight events, he won the rich Texas International and achieved his best finish in one of the three majors staged in the United States (fourth at the U.S. Open) to finish ninth on the Money List.
In the era that Thomson won his first four Open Championships, it was true that very few of the leading professionals from the United States travelled to Britain to play in that event. However, Thomson demonstrated with his win in 1965 that he could beat a field of the world's very best players, as that victory came against a field that included Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tony Lema, three of the top four American golfers from the 1964 Money List.
Thomson enjoyed a successful senior career. In 1985 he won nine times on the Senior PGA Tour in the United States, and finished top of the money list. His last tournament victory came at the 1988 British PGA Seniors Championship. He was president of the Australian PGA from 1962 to 1994 and a victorious non-playing captain of the international team in the 1998 Presidents Cup.
He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1988.
Thomson was a guest at the presentation ceremony of the 135th Open Championship, which was won by Tiger Woods. The event marked the 50th anniversary of Thomson's third Open victory.
Contents |
[edit] Professional wins
[edit] PGA Tour wins (6)
- 1954 (1) The Open Championship
- 1955 (1) The Open Championship
- 1956 (2) Texas International Open, The Open Championship
- 1958 (1) The Open Championship
- 1965 (1) The Open Championship
Major championships are shown in bold. The Open Championship was not sanctioned by the PGA Tour in Thomson's era, but pre 1995 British Open wins were retrospectively classified as PGA Tour wins in 2002.
[edit] Australasia wins (20)
- 1947 Australian Foursomes Shield (with H.R. Payne)
- 1948 Victoria Amateur Championship
- 1950 New Zealand Open
- 1951 Australian Open, New Zealand Open
- 1953 New Zealand Open, New Zealand PGA Championship
- 1955 New Zealand Open
- 1959 New Zealand Open, Wills Masters
- 1960 New Zealand Open
- 1961 New Zealand Open
- 1965 New Zealand Open
- 1967 New Zealand Caltex Tournament, Australian PGA Championship, Australian Open
- 1968 West End Open
- 1971 New Zealand Open
- 1972 Australian Open
- 1973 Victorian Open (Australia)
[edit] European wins (26)
- 1954 News of the World Match Play, The Open Championship
- 1955 The Open Championship
- 1956 The Open Championship
- 1957 Yorkshire Evening News Tournament
- 1958 Dunlop Tournament (United Kingdom), Daks Tournament (tie with Harold Henning), The Open Championship
- 1959 Italian Open, Spanish Open
- 1960 Yorkshire Evening News Tournament, Daks Tournament, Bowmaker Tournament, German Open
- 1961 News of the World Match Play, British Masters, Esso Golden Tournament (tied with Dave Thomas)
- 1962 Piccadilly Tournament, Martini International
- 1965 Daks Tournament, The Open Championship
- 1966 News of the World Match Play
- 1967 News of the World Match Play, Alcan International
- 1968 British Masters
- 1970 Martini International (tie with Douglas Sewell)
- 1972 W.D. & H.O. Wills Tournament (United Kingdom)
The Open Championship wins are repeated here. Only the last win was an official European Tour event as the tour formally started in 1972.
[edit] Other wins (8)
- 1954 Canada Cup (with Kel Nagle)
- 1959 Canada Cup (with Kel Nagle)
- 1960 Hong Kong Open
- 1964 Indian Open
- 1964 Philippine Open
- 1965 Hong Kong Open
- 1966 Indian Open
- 1976 Indian Open
[edit] Senior PGA Tour wins (11)
- 1984 (2) World Seniors Invitational, General Foods PGA Seniors' Championship
- 1985 (9) The Vintage Invitational, American Golf Carta Blanca Johnny Mathis Classic, MONY Senior Tournament of Champions, The Champions Classic, Senior Players Reunion Pro-Am, MONY Syracuse Senior's Classic, du Maurier Champions, United Virginia Bank Seniors, Barnett Suntree Senior Classic
Senior major championship is shown in bold.
[edit] Other senior wins (1)
[edit] Major championships
[edit] Wins
| Year | Championship | 54 Holes | Winning Score | Margin | Runners Up |
| 1954 | The Open Championship | Tied for lead | (72-71-69-71=283) | 1 stroke |  Bobby Locke,  Dai Rees,  Syd Scott |
| 1955 | The Open Championship (2) | 1 shot lead | (71-68-70-72=281) | 2 strokes | John Fallon |
| 1956 | The Open Championship (3) | 3 shot lead | -2 (70-70-72-74=286) | 3 strokes | .svg/22px-Flag_of_Belgium_(civil).svg.png){kind=small} Flory Van Donck |
| 1958 | The Open Championship (4) | 2 shot lead | -6 (66-72-67-73=278) | Playoff 1 | Dave Thomas |
| 1965 | The Open Championship (5) | 1 shot lead | -3 (74-68-72-71=285) | 2 strokes |  Christy O'Connor Snr |
1 Defeated Dave Thomas in 36-hole playoff: Thomson (139), Thomas (143)
[edit] Results timeline
| Tournament | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | DNP | DNP | T36 | T16 | T18 | DNP | 5 | T23 | DQ |
| U.S. Open | DNP | DNP | T26 | CUT | DNP | T4 | T22 | DNP | DNP |
| The Open Championship | T6 | 2 | T2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | T23 |
| PGA Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| Tournament | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | DNP | T19 | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | CUT |
| U.S. Open | DNP | CUT | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| The Open Championship | T9 | T7 | T6 | 5 | T24 | 1 | T8 | T8 | T24 | T3 |
| PGA Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| Tournament | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| U.S. Open | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| The Open Championship | T9 | T9 | T31 | T31 | CUT | CUT | CUT | T13 | T24 | T26 |
| PGA Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| Tournament | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| U.S. Open | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| The Open Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | CUT |
| PGA Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
DNP = Did not play
DQ = Disqualified
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
[edit] See also
- Golfers with most PGA Tour wins
- Golfers with most major championship wins
- Most wins in one PGA Tour event
- Golfers with most Champions Tour wins
[edit] External links
- World Golf Hall of Fame profile
- Profile on the PGA Tour of Australasia's official site
- Profile on the PGA Tour's official site
- Golflegends.org profile
