THOMSON, PETER W(ILLIAM)

born Aug. 23, 1929, Melbourne, Vic., Australia golfer, the first Australian to win the British Open. Thomson won the British Open five times (195456, 1958, and 1965), a record shared with J.H. Taylor and James Braid and exceeded only by Harry Vardon, who won six times. Thomson won the New Zealand Open nine times from 1950 through 1971 and the Australian Open three times. Active on the international golf tour, Thomson also won a number of international open titles. He retired in 1979. Instrumental in helping to develop a Far East professional golf tour, Thomson was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1980. He was coauthor with Desmond Zwar of This Wonderful World of Golf (1969), and he wrote a newspaper column.