Peter Thomson (golfer)

Peter Thomson
— Golfer —
Personal information
Full name	Peter William Thomson
Born	(1929-08-23) 23 August 1929 Brunswick, Melbourne, Australia
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Nationality	Australia
Spouse	Mary Thomson
Children	Diana, Andrew, Peta-Ann, Fiona
Career
Turned professional	1947
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour European Tour Australasian Tour Senior PGA Tour
Professional wins	89
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	6
European Tour	1
Japan Golf Tour	1
PGA Tour of Australasia	34
PGA Tour Champions	11
Best results in major championships (wins: 5)
Masters Tournament	5th: 1957
U.S. Open	T4: 1956
The Open Championship	Won: 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1965
PGA Championship	DNP
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame	1988 (member page)
Arnold Palmer Award (Champions Tour)	1986

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.^[1]

Thomson was born in Brunswick, 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.^[2]

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.

Professional wins (89)

PGA Tour wins (6)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	9 Jul 1954	The Open Championship	−9 (72-71-69-71=283)	1 stroke	Bobby Locke, Dai Rees, Syd Scott
2	8 Jul 1955	The Open Championship	−7 (71-68-70-72=281)	2 strokes	John Fallon
3	4 Jun 1956	Texas International Open	−13 (67-68-69-63=267)	Playoff	Gene Littler, Cary Middlecoff
4	6 Jul 1956	The Open Championship	+2 (70-70-72-74=286)	3 strokes	Flory Van Donck
5	4 Jul 1958	The Open Championship	−6 (33-72-67-73=278)	Playoff	Dave Thomas
6	9 Jul 1965	The Open Championship	−3 (74-68-72-71=285)	2 strokes	Brian Huggett, Christy O'Connor Snr

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)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1956	Texas International Open	Gene Littler, Cary Middlecoff	Won with birdie on second extra hole
2	1958	The Open Championship	Dave Thomas	Won 36-hole playoff (Thomson:139, Thomas:143)

Australasia wins (34)

1947 Australian Foursomes Shield (with H.R. Payne)
1948 Victoria Amateur Championship
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
1955 New Zealand Open, Pelaco Tournament, Speedo Tournament
1956 Pelaco Tournament
1958 Victorian Open, Pelaco Tournament
1959 New Zealand Open, Pelaco Tournament, Cole 3,000 Tournament
1960 New Zealand Open, Wills Classic
1961 New Zealand Open, Adelaide Advertiser, New South Wales Open
1965 New Zealand Open
1967 New Zealand Caltex Tournament, Australian PGA Championship, Australian Open
1968 South Australia Open (West End Open), Victorian Open
1971 New Zealand Open
1972 Australian Open
1973 Victorian Open

European wins (29)

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 (England), Daks Tournament (tie with Harold Henning), The Open Championship
1959 Italian Open, Spanish Open
1960 Daks Tournament, Bowmaker Tournament, German Open, Yorkshire Evening News Tournament
1961 News of the World Match Play, British Masters, Esso Golden Tournament (tied with Dave Thomas), Yorkshire Evening News Tournament
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, Esso Golden Tournament (tie with Kel Nagle)
1968 British Masters
1970 Martini International (tie with Doug Sewell)
1972 W.D. & H.O. Wills Tournament (United Kingdom)

Note: The Open Championship wins are repeated here. Only the last win was an official European Tour event as the tour formally started in 1972.^[3]

Japan wins (4)

Note: Only the last win was an official Japan Tour event as the tour formally started in 1973.

Other wins (9)

Senior PGA Tour wins (11)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	16 Sep 1984	World Seniors Invitational	−7 (69-69-69-74=281)	1 stroke	Arnold Palmer
2	9 Dec 1984	General Foods PGA Seniors' Championship	−2 (67-73-74-72=286)	3 strokes	Don January
3	17 Mar 1985	The Vintage Invitational	−7 (69-73-69-69=280)	1 stroke	Billy Casper, Arnold Palmer
4	31 Mar 1985	American Golf Carta Blanca Johnny Mathis Classic	−11 (70-64-71=205)	1 stroke	Don January
5	5 May 1985	MONY Senior Tournament of Champions	−4 (70-70-71-73=284)	3 strokes	Don January, Dan Sikes
6	9 Jun 1985	The Champions Classic	−6 (68-72-70=210)	2 strokes	Billy Casper, Jim Ferree
7	16 Jun 1985	Senior Players Reunion Pro-Am	−14 (68-66-68=202)	2 strokes	Lee Elder
8	21 Jul 1985	MONY Syracuse Senior's Classic	−9 (70-64-70=203)	2 strokes	Miller Barber, Gene Littler
9	18 Aug 1985	du Maurier Champions	−13 (64-70-69=203)	1 stroke	Ben Smith
10	15 Sep 1985	United Virginia Bank Seniors	−9 (69-69-69=207)	4 strokes	George Lanning
11	20 Oct 1985	Barnett Suntree Senior Classic	−9 (70-68-69=207)	1 stroke	Charlie Sifford

Senior PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	1985	Merrill Lynch/Golf Digest Commemorative Pro-Am	Lee Elder	Lost to eagle on first extra hole

Senior major championship is shown in bold.

Other senior wins (1)

1988 PGA Seniors Championship

Major championships

Wins (5)

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runner(s)-up
1954	The Open Championship	Tied for lead	−9 (72-71-69-71=283)	1 stroke	Bobby Locke, Dai Rees, Syd Scott
1955	The Open Championship (2)	1 shot lead	−7 (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	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	−7 (74-68-72-71=285)	2 strokes	Christy O'Connor Snr, Brian Huggett

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

Results timeline

Tournament	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1959
Masters Tournament	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

Tournament	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969
Masters Tournament	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

Tournament	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979
Masters Tournament	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

Tournament	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984
Masters Tournament	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT

Note: Thomson never played in the PGA Championship.

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.

Summary

Tournament	Wins	2nd	3rd	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Masters Tournament	0	0	0	1	1	5	8	6
U.S. Open	0	0	0	1	1	2	5	3
The Open Championship	5	3	1	10	18	23	30	26
PGA Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Totals	5	3	1	12	20	30	43	35

Most consecutive cuts made – 10 (1954 Open Championship – 1958 Open Championship)
Longest streak of top-10s – 4 (1955 Open Championship – 1957 Masters)

Champions Tour major championships

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	Winning score	Margin	Runner-up
1984^a	General Foods PGA Seniors' Championship	−2 (67-73-74-72=286)	3 strokes	Don January

^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)

Honours

1 January 1957 – Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)^[4]
31 December 1979 – Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)^[5]
1 January 2001 – Awarded the Centenary Medal^[6]
11 June 2001 – Officer of the Order of Australia (AO)^[7]

References

↑ "1954 Peter Thomson". The Open. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
↑ "Peter Thomson AO CBE". Sport Australia Hall of Fame. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
↑ "Peter Thomson European Wins". The World Golf Hall of Fame. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
↑ Thomson, Peter William MBE, It's an Honour, 1 January 1957.
↑ Thomson, Peter William CBE, It's an Honour, 31 December 1979.
↑ Thomson, Peter William, It's an Honour, 1 January 2001.
↑ Thomson, Peter William AO, It's an Honour, 11 June 2001.

External links

Peter Thomson at the PGA Tour official site
Peter Thomson at the European Tour official site
Peter Thomson at the Japan Golf Tour official site
World Golf Hall of Fame profile
Golflegends.org profile
Statements by Peter Thomson

The Open Championship champions

1860 Willie Park Sr. 1861 Tom Morris Sr. 1862 Tom Morris Sr. 1863 Willie Park Sr. 1864 Tom Morris Sr. 1865 Andrew Strath 1866 Willie Park Sr. 1867 Tom Morris Sr. 1868 Tom Morris Jr. 1869 Tom Morris Jr. 1870 Tom Morris Jr. 1871 No championship 1872 Tom Morris Jr. 1873 Tom Kidd 1874 Mungo Park 1875 Willie Park Sr. 1876 Bob Martin† 1877 Jamie Anderson 1878 Jamie Anderson 1879 Jamie Anderson 1880 Bob Ferguson 1881 Bob Ferguson 1882 Bob Ferguson 1883 Willie Fernie† 1884 Jack Simpson 1885 Bob Martin 1886 David Brown 1887 Willie Park Jr. 1888 Jack Burns 1889 Willie Park Jr.† 1890 John Ball# 1891 Hugh Kirkaldy 1892 Harold Hilton# 1893 William Auchterlonie 1894 John Henry Taylor 1895 John Henry Taylor 1896 Harry Vardon† 1897 Harold Hilton# 1898 Harry Vardon 1899 Harry Vardon 1900 John Henry Taylor 1901 James Braid 1902 Sandy Herd 1903 Harry Vardon 1904 Jack White 1905 James Braid 1906 James Braid 1907 Arnaud Massy 1908 James Braid 1909 John Henry Taylor 1910 James Braid 1911 Harry Vardon† 1912‡ Edward Ray 1913 John Henry Taylor 1914 Harry Vardon 1915–19 No Championships due to World War I 1920 George Duncan 1921 Jock Hutchison† 1922 Walter Hagen 1923 Arthur Havers 1924 Walter Hagen 1925 Jim Barnes 1926 Bobby Jones# 1927‡ Bobby Jones# 1928 Walter Hagen 1929 Walter Hagen 1930 Bobby Jones# 1931 Tommy Armour 1932‡ Gene Sarazen 1933 Denny Shute† 1934‡ Henry Cotton 1935 Alf Perry 1936 Alf Padgham 1937 Henry Cotton 1938 Reg Whitcombe 1939 Dick Burton 1940–45 No Championships due to World War II 1946 Sam Snead 1947 Fred Daly 1948 Henry Cotton 1949 Bobby Locke† 1950 Bobby Locke 1951 Max Faulkner 1952 Bobby Locke 1953 Ben Hogan 1954 Peter Thomson 1955 Peter Thomson 1956 Peter Thomson 1957 Bobby Locke 1958 Peter Thomson† 1959 Gary Player 1960 Kel Nagle 1961 Arnold Palmer 1962 Arnold Palmer 1963 Bob Charles† 1964 Tony Lema 1965 Peter Thomson 1966 Jack Nicklaus 1967 Roberto De Vicenzo 1968 Gary Player 1969 Tony Jacklin 1970 Jack Nicklaus† 1971 Lee Trevino 1972 Lee Trevino 1973‡ Tom Weiskopf 1974 Gary Player 1975 Tom Watson† 1976 Johnny Miller 1977 Tom Watson 1978 Jack Nicklaus 1979 Seve Ballesteros 1980 Tom Watson 1981 Bill Rogers 1982 Tom Watson 1983 Tom Watson 1984 Seve Ballesteros 1985 Sandy Lyle 1986 Greg Norman 1987 Nick Faldo 1988 Seve Ballesteros 1989 Mark Calcavecchia† 1990 Nick Faldo 1991 Ian Baker-Finch 1992 Nick Faldo 1993 Greg Norman 1994 Nick Price 1995 John Daly† 1996 Tom Lehman 1997 Justin Leonard 1998 Mark O'Meara† 1999 Paul Lawrie† 2000 Tiger Woods 2001 David Duval 2002 Ernie Els† 2003 Ben Curtis 2004 Todd Hamilton† 2005‡ Tiger Woods 2006 Tiger Woods 2007 Pádraig Harrington† 2008 Pádraig Harrington 2009 Stewart Cink† 2010 Louis Oosthuizen 2011 Darren Clarke 2012 Ernie Els 2013 Phil Mickelson 2014‡ Rory McIlroy 2015 Zach Johnson† 2016 Henrik Stenson

† indicates the event was won in a playoff; ‡ indicates the event was won wire-to-wire in 72-holes; # indicates the event was won by an amateur

Senior PGA Championship champions

1980 Arnold Palmer† 1981 Miller Barber 1982 Don January 1983 Not held 1984 (Jan) Arnold Palmer 1984 (Dec) Peter Thomson 1985 Not held 1986 Gary Player 1987 Chi-Chi Rodríguez 1988 Gary Player 1989 Larry Mowry 1990 Gary Player 1991 Jack Nicklaus 1992 Lee Trevino 1993 Tom Wargo† 1994 Lee Trevino 1995 Raymond Floyd 1996 Hale Irwin 1997 Hale Irwin 1998 Hale Irwin 1999 Allen Doyle 2000 Doug Tewell 2001 Tom Watson 2002 Fuzzy Zoeller 2003 John Jacobs 2004 Hale Irwin 2005 Mike Reid† 2006 Jay Haas† 2007 Denis Watson 2008 Jay Haas 2009 Michael Allen 2010 Tom Lehman† 2011 Tom Watson† 2012 Roger Chapman 2013 Kōki Idoki 2014 Colin Montgomerie 2015 Colin Montgomerie 2016 Rocco Mediate

† indicates the event was won in a playoff

International Presidents Cup team – 1996

Robert Allenby Steve Elkington Ernie Els David Frost Mark McNulty Frank Nobilo Greg Norman Masashi Ozaki Craig Parry Nick Price Peter Senior Vijay Singh Peter Thomson (non-playing captain)

Lost: 15.5 – 16.5

International Presidents Cup team – 1998

Stuart Appleby Steve Elkington Ernie Els Carlos Franco Shigeki Maruyama Frank Nobilo Greg Norman Naomichi Ozaki Craig Parry Nick Price Vijay Singh Greg Turner Peter Thomson (non-playing captain)

Won: 20.5 – 11.5

International Presidents Cup team – 2000

Robert Allenby Stuart Appleby Michael Campbell Steve Elkington Ernie Els Carlos Franco Retief Goosen Shigeki Maruyama Greg Norman Nick Price Vijay Singh Mike Weir Peter Thomson (non-playing captain)

Lost: 10.5 – 21.5

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 95126737 LCCN: n91066391

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 7/20/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.