R & A presents 1965 claret jug to Thomsons

Peter Thomson & # 39; s wife, Mary Thomson, and son Andrew with Ramsey Award winner Brendan Moloney this week.

Mary Thomson said it was the first time she got a trophy in 20 years, "and the last time was when Peter and I won the B-group foursomen in Sorrento".

Andrew Thomson told the now famous story that he brought the claret jar from 1965 to school as a four-year-old and came home in tears because one boy said: "My father has 12"

It was a moving occasion during the annual dinner of the Australian Golf Media Association on Saturday night in The Lakes, when the R & A presented the Thomson family a special replica of the 1965 Bordeaux can.

Thomson, possibly the biggest golfer in Australia, won five Open Championships – in 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958 and 1965. He died in June of this year, at the age of 88.

The trophy is a replica of the iconic trophy on a 90 percent scale and is engraved on two levels with the names of Champion Golfers in the years up to 1965.

The presentation of the replica Claret Jug was made by Clive Brown, chairman of the R & A championship committee, to his wife, Mary, and Andrew Thomson, the son of Peter. Clive also presented commemorative tee markers that were used during the first round of The 147th Open at Carnoustie.

Mary Thomson was delighted to accept the trophy. "It was his greatest honor to be part of the Royal and Ancient Club," she said. "It was always very special for him, which is why we bought our home in St Andrews."

Thomson was a patron of the AGMA and a member of old, and Mary Thomson also thanked the media. "It is great that tonight's presentation was made on this occasion, because Peter felt very much one of you. & # 39;

Peter Thomson was also a distinguished honorary member of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews. The plaque from his St. Andrews locker was also presented to Peter's family by Chris Hilton, captain of the club.

Peter Thomson was one of the most decorated and celebrated Champion Golfers in the history of The Open, won the championship five times in all and is the only golfer of the 20th century to lift the Claret Jug three times in a row between 1954 and 1956.

His two-shot victory in The Open at Royal Birkdale in 1965 saw him face the challenge of many of the biggest names in golf including Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Kel Nagle and Roberto de Vicenzo to lift the Claret Jug.

Brendan Moloney, from the magazine Golf Australia, won the most important AGMA gong, the Tom Ramsey Award.