Kel Nagle

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Kel Nagle
Nation: AustraliaAustralia Australia
Nickname: The Purple Clasher
Mr. Modesty
Career data
Professional since: 1946
Current tour: PGA Tour of Australasia , PGA European Tour , Champions Tour
Tournament wins: 81
Major wins : 1 (1960)
Awards: * Order of Australia (1980)

Kelvin "Kel" David George Nagle AM (born December 21, 1920 in Sydney , New South Wales , † January 29, 2015 ibid) was an Australian professional golfer who achieved international fame, especially as the winner of the British Open in 1960. Not a year passed between 1949 and 1975 in which Nagle could not record at least one tournament victory.

Of a total of 81 tournament victories, 61 were in the PGA Tour of Australasia , making him the list of most victories in the PGA Tour of Australasia by a considerable margin. In 2007 he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame .

life and career

Kel Nagle was born in North Sydney , a district of Sydney in the Australian state of New South Wales, in 1920 , where he began his career as a golfer at the age of 15, having previously worked as a caddy and in a shop at a golf course. After only a few years as a young golfer, he was called up for five and a half years of military service in 1939, during which time he did not play golf once, but became a professional player immediately after the end of World War II in 1946. At that time Nagle was already 25 years old, had little tournament experience and was already the father of three children. Well-built Nagle started his career as a long hitter , but was a poor putter. After learning from the top players there on his first trip to the United States in 1951, his style of play also changed, focusing more on accuracy in long strokes and shortening in putting . He also became a so-called "up-and-down" player, a player who manages to pocket the ball with just two strokes from off the green or in a green bunker. Through his friend and companion Peter Thomson , who started his professional career that year, he was encouraged in 1949 to continue his career as a professional golfer, still without a win. This was crowned with success; with the Australian PGA Championship he won his first tournament that same year. In the 1950s in particular, Kel Nagle became one of the best Australian golfers in history, even though he himself had only achieved one major win in the course of his career.

The year 1950 ended Nagle with a victory of the WA Open , which he could still win in the two following years. He achieved further success in 1951 with the victory of the North Coast Open , the first of a total of four victories (1951, 1952, 1954 and 1955), the New South Wales Open , the first of three victories (1951, 1957 and 1968), and the ACT Open , the first of a total of two victories (1951 and 1954). In 1952 he was able to win the NSW PGA Championship for the first time , which he finished again as a winner in 1953, 1955, 1956, 1959, 1965 and 1971. He won other tournaments in 1953 at the Adelaide Advertiser Tournament and the McWilliams Wines Tournament . In 1954 he won the Australian PGA Championship for the second time, which he then won in 1958, 1959, 1965 and 1968. Furthermore, this year he was victorious for the first time at the Lakes Open , where he also emerged as the winner in 1957 and 1958. At the Canada Cup in 1954, Nagle and Peter Thomson were able to prevail against the competition, with the two winning the tournament in front of second-placed Antonio Cerdá and Roberto DeVicenzo from Argentina . A year later the two were also in second place in the final ranking of the Canada Cup, behind the two Americans Ed Furgol and Chick Harbert .

In 1957 Nagle was able to win the New Zealand Open for the first time , which he subsequently won six times (1958, 1962, 1963, 1967, 1968 and 1969). Together with his compatriot Peter Thomson (9 wins) and Bob Charles , the only New Zealand British Open winner in history, he dominated the tournament for a period of two decades from the early 1950s to the early 1970s. He was also able to register for the first time as the winner of the New Zealand PGA Championship , where he was able to win this tournament six times in 1958, 1960, 1970, 1973, 1974 and 1975. After 1953 he was able to finish the Adelaide Advertiser Tournament 1958 again as a winner; four years later, in 1962, he won this tournament for the last time. In 1959 he also won the Queensland Open for the first time , which he finished again in 1964 as the winner. The 1959 Ampol Tournament ended in a draw for Nagle. At the Canada Cup in 1959 Nagle and Thomson were able to prevail again and won the golf tournament ahead of the two Americans Cary Middlecoff and Sam Snead . Two years later, the Australian duo landed again only in second place behind Jimmy Demaret and Sam Snead. However, Kel Nagle's career peak to date had reached the British Open in 1960 a year earlier , when he won the trophy and prize money of 1,250 with one stroke ahead of Arnold Palmer , who took part in this major tournament for the first time this year £ fought.

The Australian won a large number of international tournaments in 1961 when he won the Open de France , the Hong Kong Open , the Swiss Open , the Irish Hospitals Tournament and the Dunlop Tournament . The first and only time he won the Victorian PGA Championship was in 1962. That year he finished second at the British Open, six strokes behind Arnold Palmer, but only got £ 1,000 for this performance £ 400 less than the winner. In 1962, Nagle was the first to win the Bowmaker Tournament , which he won again three years later. At the Esso Golden Tournament , which was held as a round-robin tournament at Moor Park Golf Club in Rickmansworth , Hertfordshire from 1961 to 1967 , Kel Nagle was able to register as the winner in 1963 and 1967. He mastered the Canadian Open in 1964. In 1966, The Purple Clasher took part in the Wills Masters and the West End Tournament ; with the former it was enough for a win, with the latter only for a draw. A year later it was enough for a victory in the West End Tournament ; He repeated this achievement in 1968, 1972 and 1974, when he won three more tournaments. He also won the Victorian Open for the first time in 1967 , which he won two years later.

In 1971 and 1973 he won a golf tournament sponsored by Pringle of Scotland . Also in 1971 he was the winner of the PGA Seniors Championship and the World Seniors ; In 1973 he was able to win the PGA Seniors Championship again and two years later he was again winner of both senior tournaments. In 1975 Kel Nagle also won the South Coast Open for the first time , followed by the Western Australia PGA Championship , which he also won for the first time. In addition, his winning streak, which had lasted since 1949, broke up during this time, with at least one tournament victory per year; In 1976 he was completely without profit. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Kel Nagle largely withdrew from official tournaments, but played golf on a senior basis until the 1980s and 1990s, where he continued to participate in numerous senior tournaments. In 1980 Nagle was accepted as a member of the Order of Australia for his achievements in golf . In 1986 he was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame , followed by the Australian Sports Medal in 2001. Since 2005, the Kel Nagle Plate named after Nagle has been awarded to the best Australian rookie every year. In 2007, The Purple Clasher was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame along with Joe Carr , Hubert Green , Charles B. Macdonald , Curtis Strange and Se Ri Pak .

Nagle passed away on January 29, 2015 at the age of 94 in his hometown of Sydney. Until his death he was considered the oldest living winner of a major tournament. He also holds other records, including the most victories on the Australasian Tour (61 victories) and the age record as the oldest winner of the Australasian Tour (aged 55 in 1975). Until 2010 he was also considered the oldest winner of the Australian PGA Championship, having won it in 1968 at the age of 48. In 2010, this age record was surpassed by Peter Senior , who won the tournament at the age of 51. Ken Nagle was buried on February 4, 2015 in the Northern Suburbs Crematorium in North Ryde ; At the funeral there were family, friends and acquaintances as well as some former and active golfers such as Peter Thomson, Wayne Grady , Jack Newton , Rodger Davis , Ian Stanley , Brian Jones , Frank Phillips and Greg Norman's trainer Charlie Earp .

Others

Australian golfer, sports commentator and golf architect Bruce Devlin named his son after Kel Nagle.

Gary Player once said of Nagle that he can honestly say that he hadn't met anyone in his life who didn't like Kel Nagle.

Nagle himself was considered one of the great gentlemen of golf throughout his active career.

Even Jack Nicklaus called Nagle as a significant competitor and true gentleman.

successes

PGA Tour of Australasia 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 Tournament, McWilliams Wines Tournament
  • 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 Tournament
  • 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 Tournament
  • 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

PGA Tour Victory (2)

Major Championship is in bold .

More wins (13)

Selection of senior victories

  • 1971 PGA Seniors Championship , World Seniors
  • 1973 PGA Seniors Championship
  • 1975 PGA Seniors Championship, World Seniors

Results in major championships

competition 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
The Masters DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
US 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
competition 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
The Masters CUT CUT CUT T35 T21 T15 CUT T31 T30 DNP
US Open DNP T17 DNP CUT CUT 2 T34 T9 T52 CUT
The Open Championship 1 T5 2 4th 45 T5 T4 T22 T13 9
PGA Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP T20 CUT DNP DNP DNP
competition 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
The Masters DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
US 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
competition 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984
The Masters DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
US Open DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
The Open Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP CUT
PGA Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP

DNP = did not take part
CUT = cut not made
"T" split placement
Green background for victory
Yellow background for top 10

Web links

  • Kel Nagle on the official website of the World Golf Hall of Fame (English)
  • Kel Nagle on the official website of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame
  • Kel Nagle on the official website of the PGA Tour
  • Kel Nagle on the official website of the European Tour (English)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kel Nagle, Who staved off Palmer to Win '60 British Open, this at 94 (English), accessed on February 5, 2015
  2. ↑ Golf's Great Gentleman Nagle Dies Aged 94 , accessed February 4, 2015
  3. ↑ a b c d e Golfing Greats Pay 90th Birthday Tribute To Nagle , accessed February 4, 2015
  4. ^ Kel Nagle honored by friends, family and golfing greats in funeral , accessed on February 5, 2015
personal data
SURNAME Nagle, Kel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Nagle, Kelvin David George (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian golfer
DATE OF BIRTH December 21, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH Sydney , New South Wales, Australia
DATE OF DEATH January 29, 2015
Place of death Sydney , New South Wales, Australia