Kel Nagle

Kel Nagle
— Golfer —
Personal information
Full name	Kelvin David George Nagle
Nickname	"The Pymble Crusher"
Born	(1920-12-21)21 December 1920 North Sydney, Australia
Died	29 January 2015(2015-01-29) (aged 94) Sydney, Australia
Height	5 ft 10.5 in (1.79 m)
Weight	190 lb (86 kg; 14 st)
Nationality	Australia
Career
Turned professional	1946
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour of Australasia European Tour Champions Tour
Professional wins	79
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	2
PGA Tour of Australasia	61
Other	18
Best results in major championships (wins: 1)
Masters Tournament	T15: 1965
U.S. Open	2nd: 1965
The Open Championship	Won: 1960
PGA Championship	T20: 1965
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame	2007 (member page)

Kelvin David George Nagle AM (21 December 1920 – 29 January 2015) was an Australian professional golfer best known for winning The Open Championship in 1960.^[1] He won at least one tournament each year from 1949 to 1975.

Biography

Nagle was born in North Sydney.

Because of five-and-a-half years of World War II military service (1939–45), Nagle got a late start on pro golf, as he didn't play any golf between ages 19–24, and turned pro at age 25 (1946). He made up for the lost time by winning at least one tournament each year from 1949 to 1975. During his early career, he had a long swing and was regarded as the longest hitter on the Australasia tour, as evidenced by the Australian press dubbing him as "the Pymble Crusher".^[2] By age 39 (in 1960, when he won The Open Championship), Nagle had shortened his swing and become a straight hitter with what Gary Player described as "the best short game out here".

Although he had won over 30 tournaments in Australia, and had won the Canada Cup for Australia in partnership with five-time Open champion Peter Thomson in 1954 and 1959, Nagle was a shock winner of The Open, as he was 39 years old but had never finished in the top-10 at a major championship before. Thomson told Nagle a few weeks prior to the 1960 Open championship that he "had the game" to win and that "you can beat me". He beat the rising star of American golf Arnold Palmer into second place, and it was Palmer who deprived him of his title in 1961. Although he never regained The Open title, Kel Nagle had six top-five finishes at the Open between 1960 and 1966 (ages 39 to 45). His best result in a United States major was second in the 1965 U.S. Open—the year after he won the Canadian Open—when he and Gary Player finished the 72-hole tournament in a tie. Nagle lost to Player the next day in an 18-hole playoff, during which Nagle hit a female spectator in the forehead on the fifth hole and was visibly effected to the point that he hit another spectator on the same hole. Player won the playoff by 3 strokes.

As late as 1970, the year he turned 50, Nagle was ranked among the top ten players in the world on the McCormack's World Golf Rankings, the forerunner of the modern world ranking system. Nagle won 61 times on the PGA Tour of Australasia, giving him the most wins all-time on that tour, 30 wins ahead of Greg Norman, whose 31 wins sit in second place. Nagle played on the Senior PGA Tour (now Champions Tour) in the U.S. in the 1980s, when he was in his 60s. His best finishes were a pair of T-3s: at the 1981 Eureka Federal Savings Classic and the 1982 Peter Jackson Champions. In July 2007, Nagle was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame, and was inducted in November 2007.

Nagle died in Sydney on 29 January 2015 at the age of 94.^[3]

Recognition

1980 – Member of the Order of Australia for the service to the sport of golf.^[4]
1986 – Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductee.^[4]
2001 – Australian Sports Medal
2005 – Kel Nagle Plate, presented annually to the best performing rookie in the Australian PGA Championship.^[4]
2007 – World Golf Hall of Fame inductee.

Professional wins (79)

Australasian Tour wins (61)

1949 (1) Australian PGA Championship
1950 (1) WA Open
1951 (4) North Coast Open, New South Wales Open, WA Open, ACT Open
1952 (3) North Coast Open, WA Open, NSW PGA Championship
1953 (3) NSW PGA Championship, Adelaide Advertiser, McWilliams Wines
1954 (4) Australian PGA Championship, North Coast Open, Lakes Open, ACT Open
1955 (2) North Coast Open, NSW PGA Championship
1956 (1) NSW PGA Championship
1957 (4) New South Wales Open, New Zealand Open, New Zealand PGA Championship, Lakes Open
1958 (5) New Zealand Open, New Zealand PGA Championship, Australian PGA Championship, Lakes Open, Adelaide Advertiser
1959 (5) Australian Open, Australian PGA Championship, Queensland Open, NSW PGA Championship, Ampol Tournament (tie)
1960 (1) New Zealand PGA Championship
1962 (3) New Zealand Open, Victorian PGA Championship, Adelaide Advertiser
1964 (2) New Zealand Open, Queensland Open
1965 (2) Australian PGA Championship, NSW PGA Championship
1966 (2) Wills Masters, West End Tournament (tie)
1967 (3) Victorian Open, New Zealand Open, West End Tournament
1968 (4) New South Wales Open, New Zealand Open, Australian PGA Championship, West End Tournament
1969 (2) New Zealand Open, Victorian Open
1970 (1) New Zealand PGA Championship
1971 (1) NSW PGA Championship
1972 (1) West End Tournament
1973 (1) New Zealand PGA Championship
1974 (2) New Zealand PGA Championship, West End Tournament
1975 (2) New Zealand PGA Championship, South Coast Open
1977 (1) Western Australia PGA Championship^[5]

PGA Tour wins (2)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	9 Jul 1960	The Open Championship	−10 (69-67-71-71=278)	1 stroke	Arnold Palmer
2	2 Aug 1964	Canadian Open	−11 (73-71-66-67=277)	2 strokes	Arnold Palmer

Major championship is shown in bold.

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	1965	U.S. Open	Gary Player	Lost 18-hole playoff (Player:71, Nagle:74)

Other wins (11)

1954 Canada Cup (with Peter Thomson)
1959 Canada Cup (with Peter Thomson)
1961 French Open, Hong Kong Open, Swiss Open, Irish Hospitals Tournament, Dunlop Tournament
1962 Bowmaker Tournament
1963 Esso Golden Tournament
1965 Bowmaker Tournament
1967 Esso Golden Tournament (tie with Peter Thomson)

Senior wins (5)

this list may be incomplete

1971 Pringle of Scotland Seniors Championship, World Seniors
1973 Pringle of Scotland Seniors Championship
1975 PGA Seniors Championship, World Seniors

Major championships

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runner-up
1960	The Open Championship	2 shot lead	−10 (69-67-71-71=278)	1 stroke	Arnold Palmer

Results timeline

Tournament	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1959
Masters Tournament	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	T19	DNP	DNP	DNP	T19	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

Tournament	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969
Masters Tournament	CUT	CUT	CUT	T35	T21	T15	CUT	T31	T30	DNP
U.S. Open	DNP	T17	DNP	CUT	CUT	2	T34	T9	T52	CUT
The Open Championship	1	T5	2	4	45	T5	T4	T22	T13	9
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	T20	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP

Tournament	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979
Masters Tournament	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	T30	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	T32	T11	T31	T39	CUT	T40	CUT	DNP	CUT	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

Tournament	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984
Masters Tournament	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

Summary

Tournament	Wins	2nd	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Masters Tournament	0	0	0	0	2	9	5
U.S. Open	0	1	1	2	3	9	6
The Open Championship	1	1	6	7	12	21	17
PGA Championship	0	0	0	0	1	2	1
Totals	1	2	7	9	18	41	29

Most consecutive cuts made – 6 (twice)
Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (1965 U.S. Open – 1965 Open Championship)

Team appearances

Canada Cup (representing Australia): 1954 (winners), 1955, 1958, 1959 (winners), 1960, 1961, 1962, 1965, 1966

References

↑ "1960 Kel Nagle". The Open. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
↑ Howard, Al (10 October 1948). "Cremin Bashes Par to Bag Pro Purse". Truth. Sydney. p. 23.
↑ "Aussie golf great Nagle dies". SBS News. 29 January 2015.
1 2 3 "Kel Nagle". Sport Australia Hall of Fame. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
↑ "Gentleman golfer Kel Nagle celebrates 90th birthday with some of the greats". The Australian. Associated Press. 15 December 2010. Retrieved 18 October 2013.

External links

Kel Nagle at the European Tour official site
Kel Nagle at the PGA Tour official site
World Golf Hall of Fame profile
Sport Australia Hall of Fame profile
Kel Nagle interviewed by Neil Bennetts, National Library of Australia, 1990

The Open Championship champions

1860 Willie Park Sr. 1861 Tom Morris Sr. 1862 Tom Morris Sr. 1863 Willie Park Sr. 1864 Tom Morris Sr. 1865 Andrew Strath 1866 Willie Park Sr. 1867 Tom Morris Sr. 1868 Tom Morris Jr. 1869 Tom Morris Jr. 1870 Tom Morris Jr. 1871 No championship 1872 Tom Morris Jr. 1873 Tom Kidd 1874 Mungo Park 1875 Willie Park Sr. 1876 Bob Martin† 1877 Jamie Anderson 1878 Jamie Anderson 1879 Jamie Anderson 1880 Bob Ferguson 1881 Bob Ferguson 1882 Bob Ferguson 1883 Willie Fernie† 1884 Jack Simpson 1885 Bob Martin 1886 David Brown 1887 Willie Park Jr. 1888 Jack Burns 1889 Willie Park Jr.† 1890 John Ball# 1891 Hugh Kirkaldy 1892 Harold Hilton# 1893 William Auchterlonie 1894 John Henry Taylor 1895 John Henry Taylor 1896 Harry Vardon† 1897 Harold Hilton# 1898 Harry Vardon 1899 Harry Vardon 1900 John Henry Taylor 1901 James Braid 1902 Sandy Herd 1903 Harry Vardon 1904 Jack White 1905 James Braid 1906 James Braid 1907 Arnaud Massy 1908 James Braid 1909 John Henry Taylor 1910 James Braid 1911 Harry Vardon† 1912‡ Edward Ray 1913 John Henry Taylor 1914 Harry Vardon 1915–19 No Championships due to World War I 1920 George Duncan 1921 Jock Hutchison† 1922 Walter Hagen 1923 Arthur Havers 1924 Walter Hagen 1925 Jim Barnes 1926 Bobby Jones# 1927‡ Bobby Jones# 1928 Walter Hagen 1929 Walter Hagen 1930 Bobby Jones# 1931 Tommy Armour 1932‡ Gene Sarazen 1933 Denny Shute† 1934‡ Henry Cotton 1935 Alf Perry 1936 Alf Padgham 1937 Henry Cotton 1938 Reg Whitcombe 1939 Dick Burton 1940–45 No Championships due to World War II 1946 Sam Snead 1947 Fred Daly 1948 Henry Cotton 1949 Bobby Locke† 1950 Bobby Locke 1951 Max Faulkner 1952 Bobby Locke 1953 Ben Hogan 1954 Peter Thomson 1955 Peter Thomson 1956 Peter Thomson 1957 Bobby Locke 1958 Peter Thomson† 1959 Gary Player 1960 Kel Nagle 1961 Arnold Palmer 1962 Arnold Palmer 1963 Bob Charles† 1964 Tony Lema 1965 Peter Thomson 1966 Jack Nicklaus 1967 Roberto De Vicenzo 1968 Gary Player 1969 Tony Jacklin 1970 Jack Nicklaus† 1971 Lee Trevino 1972 Lee Trevino 1973‡ Tom Weiskopf 1974 Gary Player 1975 Tom Watson† 1976 Johnny Miller 1977 Tom Watson 1978 Jack Nicklaus 1979 Seve Ballesteros 1980 Tom Watson 1981 Bill Rogers 1982 Tom Watson 1983 Tom Watson 1984 Seve Ballesteros 1985 Sandy Lyle 1986 Greg Norman 1987 Nick Faldo 1988 Seve Ballesteros 1989 Mark Calcavecchia† 1990 Nick Faldo 1991 Ian Baker-Finch 1992 Nick Faldo 1993 Greg Norman 1994 Nick Price 1995 John Daly† 1996 Tom Lehman 1997 Justin Leonard 1998 Mark O'Meara† 1999 Paul Lawrie† 2000 Tiger Woods 2001 David Duval 2002 Ernie Els† 2003 Ben Curtis 2004 Todd Hamilton† 2005‡ Tiger Woods 2006 Tiger Woods 2007 Pádraig Harrington† 2008 Pádraig Harrington 2009 Stewart Cink† 2010 Louis Oosthuizen 2011 Darren Clarke 2012 Ernie Els 2013 Phil Mickelson 2014‡ Rory McIlroy 2015 Zach Johnson† 2016 Henrik Stenson

† indicates the event was won in a playoff; ‡ indicates the event was won wire-to-wire in 72-holes; # indicates the event was won by an amateur

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