Australian golfing great Peter Thomson AO, CBE has died aged 88.
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He had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in recent years, and died at home on Wednesday morning.
Thomson’s career began as an amateur in the 1940s. By 15 he was club champion at Royal Park in Melbourne. He turned professional in 1949 at the age of 19, and already showed the gifts that would maker him one of the game’s greatest players.
“I sensed he had that inevitable ‘something’ when I first set eyes on him,” said Norman von Nida, another Australian great.
Thomson was the first Australian to win the British Open, and won it in 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, and 1965.
His career saw him win 26 titles in Europe, 19 in Australia and New Zealand and 11 in Asia and Japan. In the United States he won the 1956 Texas Open. Thomson won nine times on the Ameriocan senior circuit in 1985
Thomson’s family issued a statement announcing his death on Wednesday morning, saying:
He was an outstanding contributor to the game, serving as president of the Australian PGA for 32 years, designing and building courses in Australia and around the world, helping establish the Asian Tour and working behind the scenes for the Odyssey House drug rehabilitation organisation where he was chairman for five years. He also wrote for newspapers and magazines for more than 60 years and was patron of the Australian Golf Writers Association.
In 1979 he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his service to golf and in 2001 became an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for his contributions as a player and administrator and for community service.
In 2004 Peter Thomson was appointed to design the new Ballarat Championship Golf Course, which opened in 2009. He also designed the Midlands golf course at Invermay.
