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Kel Nagle

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Kel Nagle
Personal information
Full nameKelvin David George Nagle
NicknameThe Pymble Crusher
Born(1920-12-21)21 December 1920
North Sydney, Australia
Died29 January 2015(2015-01-29) (aged 94)
Sydney, Australia
Height5 ft 10.5 in (1.79 m)
Weight190 lb (86 kg; 14 st)
Sporting nationality Australia
Career
Turned professional1946
Former tour(s)PGA Tour of Australasia
European Tour
Champions Tour
Professional wins94
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour2
PGA Tour of Australasia7
Other85
Best results in major championships
(wins: 1)
Masters TournamentT15: 1965
PGA ChampionshipT20: 1965
U.S. Open2nd: 1965
The Open ChampionshipWon: 1960
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame2007 (member page)
Far East Circuit
Order of Merit winner		1963
New Zealand Golf Circuit
money list winner		1964, 1969–70

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.

Early life

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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 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

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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".[citation needed]

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 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, and was inducted in November 2007.

Death

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

Award and honors

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Professional wins (94)

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PGA Tour wins (2)

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Legend
Major championships (1)
Other PGA Tour (1)
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 United States Arnold Palmer
2 2 Aug 1964 Canadian Open −11 (73-71-66-67=277) 2 strokes United States Arnold Palmer

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 1965 U.S. Open South Africa Gary Player Lost 18-hole playoff;
Player: +1 (71),
Nagle: +4 (74)

PGA Tour of Australia wins (3)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 22 Sep 1974 West End Tournament −7 (70-70-68-73=281) 1 stroke Australia Tom Linskey, Australia Rob McNaughton
2 16 Feb 1975 South Coast Open −8 (72-67-68-69=276) 1 stroke Australia Bob Shearer
3 10 Apr 1977 Western Australia PGA Championship −5 (73-71-69-70=283) 1 stroke New Zealand Barry Vivian

New Zealand Golf Circuit wins (19)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 31 Aug 1963 Wiseman's Tournament −7 (65-68-75-73=281) 2 strokes Australia Ted Ball
2 21 Nov 1964 New Zealand Open −26 (67-69-66-64=266) 12 strokes Australia Frank Phillips
3 28 Nov 1964 Caltex Tournament −7 (69-72-70-74=285) 1 stroke Australia John Sullivan
4 4 Dec 1965 Forest Products Tournament −19 (65-67-69-68=269) 1 stroke South Africa Cedric Amm
5 11 Dec 1965 BP Tournament −10 (69-72-73-74=278) Shared title with Australia Peter Thomson
6 3 Dec 1966 BP Tournament (2) −12 (68-70-69-69=276) 3 strokes England Clive Clark, Netherlands Martin Roesink
7 17 Dec 1966 Caltex Tournament (2) −4 (71-69-68-68=276) Shared title with Australia Peter Thomson
8 18 Nov 1967 New Zealand Open (2) −9 (70-64-70-71=275) 4 strokes Australia Ted Ball
9 30 Nov 1968 New Zealand Open (3) −8 (69-68-66-69=272) 7 strokes Australia Frank Phillips
10 15 Dec 1968 BP Tournament (3) −8 (64-69-69-70=272) 1 stroke New Zealand Bob Charles, England Guy Wolstenholme
11 29 Nov 1969 New Zealand Open (4) −7 (69-67-69-68=273) 2 strokes New Zealand John Lister
12 7 Dec 1969 Garden City Classic −20 (64-70-66-72=272) 2 strokes New Zealand John Lister
13 13 Dec 1969 Caltex Tournament (3) −9 (70-69-67-69=275) 7 strokes Australia Bill Dunk, New Zealand John Lister
14 11 Jan 1970 Forest Products Stars Travel New Zealand PGA Championship −24 (69-66-66-67=268) 3 strokes New Zealand John Lister
15 13 Dec 1970 Otago Charity Classic −16 (69-68-72-63=272) 2 strokes Australia Vic Bennetts
16 7 Jan 1973 New Zealand PGA Championship (2) −9 (66-73-70-66=275) 4 strokes New Zealand John Carter
17 6 Jan 1974 New Zealand PGA Championship (3) −16 (67-64-64-69=264) 2 strokes New Zealand Walter Godfrey
18 5 Jan 1975 New Zealand PGA Championship (4) −17 (65-67-65-70=267) 5 strokes Australia Lindsay Sharp
19 28 Nov 1976 Otago Charity Classic (2) −14 (66-69-66-63=274) 4 strokes New Zealand Bob Charles

Other Australian wins (46)

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Other New Zealand wins (7)

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European wins (11)

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Asian wins (1)

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Senior wins (5)

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this list may be incomplete

Major championships

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Wins (1)

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

Results timeline

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Tournament 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open
The Open Championship T19 T19
PGA Championship
Tournament 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
Masters Tournament CUT CUT CUT T35 T21 T15 CUT T31 T30
U.S. Open T17 CUT CUT 2 T34 T9 T52 CUT
The Open Championship 1 T5 2 4 45 T5 T4 T22 T13 9
PGA Championship T20 CUT
Tournament 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open T30
The Open Championship T32 T11 T31 T39 CUT T40 CUT CUT
PGA Championship
Tournament 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open
The Open Championship CUT
PGA Championship
  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

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

Summary

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

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "1960 Kel Nagle". The Open. Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  2. ^ Howard, Al (10 October 1948). "Cremin Bashes Par to Bag Pro Purse". Truth. Sydney. p. 23.
  3. ^ "Aussie golf great Nagle dies". SBS News. 29 January 2015.
  4. ^ a b c "Kel Nagle". Sport Australia Hall of Fame. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  5. ^ "Nagle beats Pickworth by one stroke". The Mercury. 22 November 1954.
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