Peter Thomson (golfer)

Peter William Thomson AO, CBE (born 23 August 1929) is an Australian professional golfer. He is best remembered for his five wins in The Open Championship.

Contents

• Peter thomson australian golf legend
• 1972 australian open golf won by peter thomson kooyonga golf club
• Amateur wins
• PGA Tour wins 6
• Australasia wins 33
• Japan Golf Tour wins 1
• Other Japan wins 5
• Other wins 8
• Senior PGA Tour wins 11
• Wins 5
• Results timeline
• Summary
• Wins 1
• Team appearances
• Honours
• References

Thomson was born in Brunswick, a northern suburb of Melbourne, Australia. His 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, very few of the leading professionals from the United States travelled to Britain to play in that event. At that time, the prize money in the Open was insufficient even for an American to cover expenses if he won. 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 and the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985.

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.

Among golf's top players, Thomson has perhaps been the most active as a golf writer, having contributed to the Melbourne Age for some 50 years, since the early 1950s. He is an honorary member of Royal Melbourne Golf Club, one of the world's top courses. Thomson has designed over a hundred golf courses in Australia and around the world.

Amateur wins

1947 Australasian Foursomes Shield (with Dick Payne)

1948 Victoria Amateur Championship

PGA Tour wins (6)

Major championships are shown in bold. The Open Championship was not sanctioned by the PGA Tour in Thomson's era, but pre-1995 Open wins were retrospectively classified as PGA Tour wins in 2002.

PGA Tour playoff record (2–0)

Australasia wins (33)

1950 New Zealand Open

1951 Australian Open, New Zealand Open

1952 Victorian PGA Championship, Mobilco Tournament

1953 New Zealand Open, New Zealand PGA Championship, Victorian PGA Championship

1954 Ampol Tournament (Nov)

1955 New Zealand Open, Pelaco Tournament, Speedo Tournament

1956 Pelaco Tournament

1958 Victorian Open, Pelaco Tournament

1959 New Zealand Open, Pelaco Tournament, Coles Tournament

1960 New Zealand Open, Wills Classic

1961 New Zealand Open, Adelaide Advertiser Tournament, New South Wales Open

1965 New Zealand Open

1966 New Zealand Wills Masters (tie with Tim Woolbank)

1967 Caltex Tournament (tie with Bob Charles), Australian PGA Championship, Australian Open

1968 South Australian Open, Victorian Open

1971 New Zealand Open

1972 Australian Open

1973 Victorian Open

Japan Golf Tour wins (1)

1976 Pepsi-Wilson Tournament

Other Japan wins (5)

1962 Yomiuri International

1969 Chunichi Crowns

1971 Dunlop Tournament, Wizard Tournament

1972 Chunichi Crowns

Other wins (8)

1952 Mills Round Robin (South Africa)

1960 Hong Kong Open

1964 Indian Open, Philippine Open

1965 Hong Kong Open

1966 Indian Open

1967 Hong Kong Open

1976 Indian Open

Senior PGA Tour wins (11)

Senior PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

Senior major championship is shown in bold.

Wins (5)

¹ Defeated Dave Thomas in 36-hole playoff: Thomson (139), Thomas (143)

Results timeline

Note: Thomson never played in the PGA Championship.

CUT = missed the halfway cut (3rd round cut in 1975 and 1984 Open Championships)
DQ = disqualified
"T" indicates a tie for a place.

Summary

Most consecutive cuts made – 10 (1954 Open Championship – 1958 Open Championship)

Longest streak of top-10s – 4 (1955 Open Championship – 1957 Masters)

Wins (1)

^a This was the December edition of the tournament.

Team appearances

World Cup (representing Australia): 1953, 1954 (winners), 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959 (winners), 1960, 1961, 1962, 1965, 1969

Slazenger Trophy (representing British Commonwealth and Empire): 1956

Presidents Cup (representing International): 1996 (non-playing captain), 1998 (non-playing captain, winners), 2000 (non-playing captain)

Honours

1 January 1957 – Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)

31 December 1979 – Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)

1 January 2001 – Awarded the Centenary Medal

11 June 2001 – Officer of the Order of Australia (AO)