Thomson made it look simple

Following on from last week’s tip — I didn’t make the mistake of not shaking Peter Thomson’s hand when I had the pleasure of meeting him.

His game was based on a clean brisk walk and cold logic. He had a gift for reducing things to their simplest essentials.

His style was free of the extraneous, so that the path he would take to victory seemed like a straight line and inevitable.

Between 1954 and 1965, the Australian 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, with one victory in the US, the 1956 Texas Open, where he closed with a 63.

Thomson was best on fast-running courses where judging the bounce and run of the ball was more important than long hitting.

Here’s one of his quotes: “The most important facets of golf are careful planning, calm and clear thinking and the ordinary logic of common sense.’’

Thomson was born on Aug 23, 1929, in Melbourne, Australia and turned away from a career as an industrial chemist to pursue golf full-time.

By temperament and design, Thomson indeed seemed pressure-proof. His grip was light, his manner at address brisk and his motion through the ball graceful and devoid of much physical effort. He was a reliable and occasionally brilliant putter. There were no frills with Thomson — so nothing could go wrong.

He designed golf courses, especially in Asia and his diverse interests were a big reason why he chose not to uproot himself for America like other Australian golfers. He did play briefly on the Champions Tour in 1985, winning nine tournaments!