Australian golfing great and five-time Open winner Peter Thomson dies aged 88

Australia's five-time British Open winner Peter Thomson has died aged 88.

The first Australian to win the major died at his home in Melbourne at 9am local time on Wednesday, his family told PGA Australia (PGAA).

Thomson had suffered from Parkinson's disease for more than four years, the body said.

Aged 24, Thomson became one of the youngest winners of the British Open Championship with a victory at Royal Birkdale in 1954.

He went on to win the Claret Jug a further four times over the next decade, a record only matched by the US's Tom Watson and Scotsman James Braid in the 20th century.

Born Vale Peter Thomson on August 23, 1929, in Brunswick, Victoria, he began playing professionally at 19 and won his first open in New Zealand in 1950, a competition he would win on a further eight occasions.

His British Open victories in 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958 and 1965 were among 89 professional tournament wins during his career.




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