Peter Thomson and Karrie Webb
(Click on the image to zoom in.)
Yes. Although if today you ask about the Aussies' top golfer, you might still think of Gregory John Norman.
Without taking anything away from Greg's impressive accomplishments, there are and have been other and able golfers from the Land Down Under. Jim Ferrier took the PGA Championship at the Plum Hollow Country Club in Southfield, Michigan, just outside of Detroit in 1947. He went on to win 36 tournaments - a quite respectable record even by today's standards - and fans of Groucho Marx will remember that in 1955 Jim was a guest on You Bet Your Life.1
Footnote
Naturally Jim and Groucho traded some zingers.
| Groucho: | I play golf, too, you know. What is your handicap, Jim? |
| Jim: | Well, as a pro, I don't have a handicap. |
| Groucho: | Well, congratulations. How is it a tall, handsome man like you isn't married? |
| Jim: | Oh, I'm married. I have a wife. |
| Groucho: | You just said you didn't have a handicap. Haven't you got the same handicap that fifty million other men have? |
| Jim: | Well, I don't consider my wife a handicap. | Groucho: | Well, you had a bad lie, Jim, but you recovered very nicely. |
But before Greg came onto the Golf Scene, the most famous and successful Australian golfer was undoubtedly Peter Thomson. Peter was most active during the 1950's and 60's but he continued playing well past the Millennium.2 During his career he racked up a total of 104 tournament wins with five of them majors when he won the Open Championship3 in England in 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, and 1965. But Peter was never ranked #1 since at that time there was no official #1 ranking. Today's Official World Golf Ranking or OWGR only started up in 1986.
Footnote
Today the phrase "The Millennium" may be so obscure to require considerable elaboration. But at one time it was so familiar as to require no explanation.
In general, a millennium refers to a period of 1000 years or the date a thousand years after some event. But in the 1990's the word was capitalized and "The Millennium" referred to the turn of the 20th Century or the beginning of the 21st Century. So that would strictly speaking mean midnight following December 31, 2000, and the beginning of January 1, 2001.
However, some people took the Millennium to mean the whole year. In that case there was some debate as if it would be the year 2000 or 2001. If it was the beginning of the 2000's then it was the year 2000. If it was the first year of the 21st Century it would be the year 2001.
A major concern was the once the year flipped from the 1900's to the 2000's then the computer software which relied on the dates from the 1900's wouldn't make the transition correctly. The worry was that there would be major or even catastrophic failures of critical software and this led some people to prepare for the collapse of civilization. But it seemed to have been forgotten that if there was such a problem in individual software programs they could be corrected. Needless to say the "Y2K Scare" (short for "Year-2000" where 1K = 1000) did not occur and the transition from 1999 to 2000 proceeded relatively uneventfully.
Footnote
The Open Championship is sometimes confused with the US Open and so is sometimes called The British Open. Peter competed in five US Opens where his highest standing was in 1956 where he tied for 4th Place.
If you're in England NEVER call it The British Open. It's ALWAYS The Open Championship.
Peter played during what can be called the Golden Age of Golf - TELEVISED golf, that is. He was even matched up with Gary Player for Shell's Wonderful World of Golf in 1963. The show was hosted by golfing great Gene Sarazen and was held at the Royal Melbourne course (Psst! Peter won.)
Peter turned professional in 1949 and played in 43 major tournaments. His first was the Open Championship in 1951 where he tied for 6th place. Although he tied for 2nd the following two years, starting in 1954 he won over the next three consecutive years, a feat no other golfer has repeated. Certainly he seemed to prefer the Open, and he continued to play every year from 1956 to 1979. His last appearance was in 1984 at St. Andrews which was also his last appearance in a major.
Of course any discussion of Australian golf has to include Karrie Webb. At this writing Karrie has amassed a total of 56 tournament wins with 41 being on the Ladies Professional Golfers Association Tour (LPGA). These include the British Women's Open, the PGA Women's Championship, and twice winning the US Women's Open (in 2000 and 2001). All in all she has seven major wins, with the win at the Women's British Open in 2002 giving her the "Super Grand Slam".
Karrie (pronounced CAR-ee) began winning tournaments from the start and was 19 in 1994 when she turned professional. The next year she was named Rookie of the Year for the Ladies European Tour, and the following year she was named LPGA Rookie of the Year. Karrie was also named the Queensland Sportswoman of the Year (in 2000, 2001, and 2002). Other awards have been the LPGA Tour Player of the Year (1999 and 2000), and election to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2005. Although she had been eligible for induction into the LPGA Hall of Fame at age 25, according to the rules she had to wait until she had been touring for 10 years.
Of course, one advantage of turning professional is you get paid, and Karrie was the first golfer - male or female - to make a million dollars her first year as a pro. No one male or female had done that (not even a chap named Eldrick Tont Woods), and she was named LPGA top money winner in 1996, 1999, and 2000. Of course, Karrie still plays professionally and in 2025 she began touring on the LPGA Senior Tour.
In their photographs Peter and Karrie always appear quite cheerful but then golfers have always been known for their sunny dispositions and optimistic outlook. So surely there can be no objection to a Little Levity from the Links.
What gaming tables did golfers avoid in the old casinos?
Hazards.
What was the favorite music of golfers in the 1930's and 40's?
Swing.
What did the golfer say about the difficulties of being a scratch player?
He said it was no handicap.
And of course there's:
Why do golfers never want so watch movies like The Maltese Falcon, The Treasure of Sierra Madre, and To Have and Have Not?
They don't want to see a Bogey.
References and Further Reading
"He is the Australian Who is the Only Golfer in the Modern Era to Win Three Straight Open Championships", Charlie Walker, November 2, 2025.
"Remembering When Peter Thomson Played Gary Player at Royal Melbourne", Aussie Golfer, June 28, 2018.
"43 Majors Played", Fore Majors.
"Karrie Webb", LPGA, September 19, 2019.
"Karrie Webb", Kory Grow, Legends of the LPGA, September 19, 2019.
"Who is Karrie Webb?", Matt Coles, National Club Golfer, May 12, 2024 (Updated: September 12, 2025.
"Two-Time U.S. Women's Open Champion Webb Set for U.S. Senior Women's Open Debut", Ron Sirak, USGA, August 18, 2025.