Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I, along with the member for Corio, the joint chairs of the Parliamentary Friends of Sport, rise today to remember one of Australia's sporting legends. Peter William Thomson passed away this morning after suffering from Parkinson's disease for more than four years, just shy of his 89th birthday. Born on 23 August 1929 in Melbourne, Thomson became one of the world's great golfers. As a young boy, his first strokes were made on the sly by sneaking onto a golf course at a nine-hole club named Royal Park. By the age of 15 he was the club champion. Thomson turned away from a career as an industrial chemist to pursue his passion for golf. It paid off. Between 1954 and 1965, he won the British Open five times. He and Young Tom Morris were among only four men to win it three times consecutively. He won 26 times in Europe, 19 times in Australia and New Zealand and 11 more times in Asia and Japan. He played only a few seasons in America, garnering one victory in the US, the 1956 Texas Open, where he finished off with a round of 63.

Thomson served as the president of the Australian PGA for 32 years, designing and building courses in Australia and around the world, and he played an integral part in establishing the Asian Tour. In 1988 he was formally inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. He was a true gentleman and remains an Aussie legend. My thoughts, along with those of the member for Corio, are with his family at this sad time. Vale, Peter Thomson.

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