Tributes flow for Australian golf legend Peter Thomson

Arguably Australia’s greatest golfer Peter Thomson passed away this morning at age 88.

After battling Parkinson’s Disease for the later period of his life, Peter Thomson passed away at his home in Melbourne, this morning, and not surprisingly the tributes are flowing for one of Australia’s greatest-ever sportspeople.

The memories, stories and accolades have been coming from some of the best in golf and also from some of the best in golf media of which Thomson was an integral part when he finished playing golf.

Here are some of them.

Firstly, if you haven’t watched the video above from the PGA of Australia, do so now.

Martin Blake does a wonderful job of summarizing Thomson’s life for Farifax Media including this gem of a quote from Thomson:

“But making golf a science and insisting that people study it, they get the feeling ‘this is difficult’. Whereas really, they should consider it easy because it is. It’s just whacking a ball, for goodness sakes.”

And Mike Clayton penned a great article at Golf Australia including one of Thomson’s most famous lines he wrote during his time as a writer for The Age:

“After the 1977 Australian Open on the newly redesigned Jack Nicklaus he headlined a column in The Age with ‘Packer money wasted’ and likened the new ponds as being as American ‘as fins on Cadillac’s’. It didn’t endear him to the media mogul who had financed the alterations but he was absolutely right.”

Blake’s tweet from a snap from Thomson’s book gives you a good idea of his no-nonsense approach to golf.

And Clayton adding more on Thomson’s simple approach to golf:

Tom Morris’ piece at FoxSports is a must-read opening with this fun story:

In 1979 Peter William Thomson was commissioned to do a short golf masterclass video alongside up and coming Melbourne-based pro Bruce Green.

The video would be played during breaks in play on ABC’s coverage of the Australian Open.

But after filming it, the producer nervously sauntered up to the five-time British Open winner and told him there was not enough content for it to go to air.

After some convincing, the ABC producer put the short clip on during the Australian Open and Thomson was inundated with literally thousands of calls and letters.

Channel 7’s report and tribute to the passing of Thomson:

This tweet from Mark Allen showing off Thomson’s prowess at Royal Melbourne:

This majestic photo that Adrian Logue dug up from FairFax Media:

And this:

And plenty of tributes from golf organisations across the world and some of the world’s best golfers:

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4 thoughts on “Tributes flow for Australian golf legend Peter Thomson”

  • Just got back from vacation and saw this post. I loved listening to his measured tones on broadcast. May he rest in peace.

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  • Peter Thomson was quiet simply the greatest player I have seen why? The way he approached life and golf were similar as he treated both life and golf with a cunning respect and an enviable intelligence.The sad thing is today and I proved it most of our young up and coming golfers did not know who I was talking about.A sad day for golf but were we not lucky to have seen him play. Ray Smith Galway Ireland the home town of the Christy O Connors. RIP Peter Thomson

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  • You need to read the reviews for the car rental.

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