Peter Thomson (golfer)

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 Open, 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, 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 for an American to cover their expenses. However, Thomson demonstrated with his win in 1965 that he could beat a field of the world's 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.[4]

Thomson was active as a golf writer, contributing to The Age of Melbourne for some 50 years from the early 1950s. His local club was Victoria Golf Club. He was an honorary member of Royal Melbourne Golf Club. Thomson designed over a hundred golf courses in Australia and around the world.

Thomson died in Melbourne on 20 June 2018 after a four-year battle with Parkinson's disease at the age of 88.[5][6]

• 1947 Australasian Foursomes Shield (with Dick Payne)
• 1948 Victorian Amateur Championship

• World Cup (representing Australia): 1953, 1954 (winners), 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959 (winners), 1960, 1961, 1962, 1965, 1969
• Lakes International Cup (representing Australia): 1952
• 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)
• Hopkins Trophy (representing Canada): 1952

• 1955 – ABC Sportsman of the Year
• 1 January 1957 – Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)[8]
• 31 December 1979 – Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)[9]
• 10 December 1985 – inaugural member of Sport Australia Hall of Fame[4]
• 1988 – elected to World Golf Hall of Fame[4]
• 1997 – the inaugural Peter Thomson Trophy, an annual contested between the eight Melbourne Sandbelt golf clubs[10]
• 1 January 2001 – Awarded the Centenary Medal[11]
• 2001 – elevated to Legend in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame[4]
• 11 June 2001 – Officer of the Order of Australia (AO)[12]
• 2011 – Victorian Golf Industry Hall of Fame[13]2
• 2016 – inducted as inaugural Immortal of the PGA of Australia[14]

• List of golfers with most Champions Tour wins
• List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins
• List of golfers with most wins in one PGA Tour event
• List of men's major championships winning golfers

• 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