[ VIEWPOINT ] TOUR TALES & TRUE

Grant Dodd
the age of 26, in 1946. Even then, and owing to the paucity of tournament golf in Australia at the time, Nagle was primarily a club professional at Pymble Golf Club in Sydney. Known as the Pymble Crusher for his longdriving ability, Nagle made a pivotal adjustment to his game in the early 1950s when he decided to rein in his aggressive streak and concentrate on accuracy off the tee and course management. The change, combined with his legendary prowess on the putting green, bought immediate and lasting results. In fact, by the time he decided to hang up his sticks, Nagle had won 61 times on the PGA Tour of Australia. To put that in context, Greg Norman, who is in second place overall, has clocked up a mere 31 victories here. But despite this statistic, two wins in the World Cup (formerly known as the Canada Cup) while representing Australia with Peter Thomson, and being nominated in the top 10 players in the world at the age of 50 by Mark McCormacks World Golf Rankings, it is victory in the Centenary Open Championship at St Andrews in 1960 that defines Nagles career. At the age of 39, the unheralded Australian held off a surging Arnold Palmer to win the claret jug by a stroke. I had the privilege of interviewing Nagle last year in his home in Sydney, and when discussion turned to that day 50 years ago the memories of the moment were as crystal clear to him as the day they happened. I sat mesmerised as he recounted standing over an eight-foot putt for par on the 17th green, and taking a deeper breath as the roar from Palmer making birdie at the final hole washed over him. Describing it as one of the best putts he ever holed, he made par on 17 and another on the last before borrowing Thomsons jacket so that he could attend the presentation ceremony in suitable attire. It is not surprising that when asked to nominate the finest player he saw in his long and distinguished career, Nagle prevaricates. Boros, Snead, Hogan: they were all pretty good. Hard to separate them, he says. First, you think that its just not in his nature to mythologise. Then, fleetingly, the thought strikes you. Maybe the best player weve never heard of is simply being honest.

The best golfer youve never heard of

Kel Nagle in his prime was a formidable opponent, but always a gentleman.

to ask Grant a question, e-mail us at golfdig@ newsmagazines.com.au

If someone asked you, Which golfer won a PGA tournament every year between 1949 and 1975? how many guesses would it take before you arrived at the name Kel Nagle? Id suggest, respectfully, that for all but the hardest of hard-core golf aficionados, placing Nagles name in the answer box would be a bridge too far. Despite a playing record that marks him as one of the true greats, it is an embarrassing few who are aware of the significance to the game of the unassuming 90-year-old. Nagles deferential modesty and low-key personality notwithstanding, it remains a mystery how he has existed in a state of relative anonymity for most of the past three decades. That is, of course, until you meet him in person and realise that talking himself up is anathema. A reputation among his peers as the quintessential gentleman was formed around oldfashioned values, and you cant help but think that even if self-promotion were more socially permissible in his heyday, Nagle would not have been a partaker. Delve a little into his career, however, and the achievements become even more extraordinary. Service in WWII in Darwin and Papua New Guinea meant that his professional career didnt begin until

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/ september 2011

BOB THOMAS/GETTY IMAGES