Kelvin David George Nagle AM (21 December 1920 – 29 January 2015) was an Australian

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

best known for winning

The Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

in 1960. He won at least one tournament each year from 1949 to 1975.

Early life

Nagle was born in

North Sydney North Sydney is a suburb and commercial district on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. And is the administrative centre for the local government area of North Sydney Council. History The Indigenous people on the s ...

. Because of five-and-a-half years of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

military service (1939–45), Nagle got a late start on pro golf, as he played no golf between ages 19 and 24, and turned pro at age 25 (1946). He made up for lost time by winning at least one tournament each year from 1949 to 1975.

Professional career

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". 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 Gary James Player (born 1 November 1935) is a South African retired professional golfer who is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. During his career, Player won nine major championships on the regular tour and nine ...

described as "the best short game out here". Although he had won over 30 tournaments in Australia, and had won the

Canada Cup The Canada Cup () was an invitational international ice hockey tournament held on five occasions between 1976 and 1991. The brainchild of Toronto lawyer Alan Eagleson, the tournament was created to meet demand for a true world championship that a ...

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 Arnold Daniel Palmer (September 10, 1929 – September 25, 2016) was an American professional golfer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most charismatic players in the sport's history. Since embarking on a professional career in ...

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 affected 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 played on the Senior PGA Tour (now PGA Tour Champions) in the U.S. in the 1980s, when he was in his 60s and early 70s. 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 The World Golf Hall of Fame was, until recently, located at World Golf Village between Jacksonville, Florida and St. Augustine, Florida, in the United States. It is unusual amongst sports halls of fame in that a single site honored both men ...

, and was inducted in November 2007.

Death

Nagle died in Sydney on 29 January 2015 at the age of 94.

Award and honors

*In 1980, he was awarded Member of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

for the service to the sport of golf. *In 1986, he was awarded

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Don Bradman, Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and ...

inductee. *In 2001, Nagle was awarded

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, off ...

. *In 2005, Kel Nagle Plate, presented annually to the best performing rookie in the Australian PGA Championship. *In 2007, he was inducted into the

Professional wins (95)

PGA Tour wins (2)

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

PGA Tour of Australia wins (3)

Other Australian wins (46)

*1949 (1)

Australian PGA Championship The Australian PGA Championship is a golf tournament on the PGA Tour of Australasia. It is the home tournament of the Australian PGA. Since 2000 it has been held in the South East Queensland region. The tournament was part of the OneAsia Tour fro ...

*1950 (1) WA Open *1951 (4)

North Coast Open The North Coast Open was a professional golf tournament in Australia from 1951 to 1975. History It was always held at Coffs Harbour Golf Club in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales. It was a PGA Tour of Australia event from 1973 to 1975. The name ...

, New South Wales Close, WA Open, ACT Open *1952 (3)

, WA Open, NSW PGA Championship *1953 (3) NSW PGA Championship, Adelaide Advertiser Tournament, McWilliam's Wines Tournament *1954 (5)

, Lakes Open, ACT Open, Riverside and Tasmanian Tyre Services £500 Tournament *1955 (2)

, NSW PGA Championship *1956 (1) NSW PGA Championship *1957 (2) New South Wales Close, Lakes Open *1958 (3)

, Lakes Open, Adelaide Advertiser Tournament *1959 (5)

Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...

Queensland Open The Queensland Open, originally called the Queensland Championships, and also known as the Queensland Lawn Tennis Championships, Queensland Grass Court Championships and the Queensland State Championships, was a tennis tournament played in Bris ...

, NSW PGA Championship, Ampol Tournament (tie with

) *1962 (2) Victorian PGA Championship, Adelaide Advertiser Tournament *1963 (1) Lake Karrinyup Bowl *1964 (1)

*1965 (2)

, NSW PGA Championship *1966 (2)

Wills Masters The Wills Masters was a golf tournament held in Australia and played annually from 1963 to 1975. The Wills Classic had been held in Australia from 1960 and 1962. Total prize money from 1963 to 1965 was A£4,000. In 1966 and 1967 it was A$8,000 ...

, West End Tournament (tie with Murray Crafter), *1967 (2) Victorian Open, West End Tournament *1968 (3) New South Wales Open,

, West End Tournament, *1969 (1) Victorian Open *1970 (1) NBN-3 Tournament *1971 (1) NSW PGA Championship *1972 (1) West End Tournament

New Zealand Golf Circuit wins (19)

Other New Zealand wins (7)

*1957 (2)

New Zealand Open The New Zealand Open is the premier men's golf tournament in New Zealand. It has been a regular fixture on the PGA Tour of Australasia tournament schedule since the 1970s. The 2019 event was the 100th edition of the tournament. Since 2014 it has ...

, New Zealand PGA Championship, *1958 (2) New Zealand Open, New Zealand PGA Championship *1960 (2) New Zealand PGA Championship, Caltex Tournament *1962 (1) New Zealand Open

European wins (11)

* 1960 Open Championship *1961

French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...

, Swiss Open,

Irish Hospitals Tournament The Irish Hospitals Tournament was a professional golf tournament played from 1958 to 1962. Total prize money was £5000 from 1958 to 1960 and £5,555 in 1961 and 1962. It was sponsored by the Irish Hospitals' Sweepstake The Irish Hospitals ...

, Dunlop Tournament *1962 Bowmaker Tournament, Carling-Lancastrian Tournament *1963 Esso Golden Tournament *1965 Bowmaker Tournament *1967 Esso Golden Tournament (tie with Peter Thomson) *1971 Volvo Open

Other wins (3)

*1954

(with Peter Thomson) *1959

(with Peter Thomson) *1961 Hong Kong Open

Senior wins (5)

''this list may be incomplete'' *1971 Pringle of Scotland Seniors Championship, World Senior Championship *1973 Pringle of Scotland Seniors Championship *1975

PGA Seniors Championship The PGA Seniors Championship is a European Senior Tour golf tournament for men aged fifty and above. It was founded in 1957 and became part of the European Senior Tour on its founding in 1992. It was not held in 2016 or 2017 but returned in 201 ...

, World Senior Championship

Major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1974 Open Championship)
"T" = tied

Summary

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

Team appearances

(representing Australia):

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

(winners),

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

(winners),

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

* Lakes International Cup (representing Australia): 1952, 1954 (winners) * Vicars Shield (representing New South Wales): 1948 (winners), 1949 (winners), 1950 (winners), 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954 (winners), 1955 (winners)

References

External links

* * * *
Kel Nagle interviewed by Neil Bennetts, National Library of Australia, 1990
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nagle, Kel Australian male golfers PGA Tour of Australasia golfers European Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Winners of men's major golf championships World Golf Hall of Fame inductees Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Members of the Order of Australia Golfers from Sydney Sportsmen from New South Wales 1920 births 2015 deaths 20th-century Australian sportsmen

Early life

Professional career

Death

Award and honors

Professional wins (95)

PGA Tour wins (2)

PGA Tour of Australia wins (3)

Other Australian wins (46)

New Zealand Golf Circuit wins (19)

Other New Zealand wins (7)

European wins (11)

Other wins (3)

Senior wins (5)

Major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

Summary

Team appearances

See also

References

External links