Thomson Holed 6ft Putt To Tie With Nagle

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31246, 19 December 1966, Page 3

Thomson Holed 6ft Putt To Tie With Nagle

(New Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON.

The Australians, P. W. Thomson and K. D. G. Nagle, fought out the most exciting finish of the New Zealand golf circuit to tie for first place in the Galtex £2OOO tournament at Paraparaumu on Saturday.

Neither led by more than two strokes at any stage during the final 36 holes, and they went to the last hole all square.

The gallery of several hundred watched tensely as Nagle’s approach shot to the 483-yard par-five hole stopped 50 yards short of the pin. Thomson put his second on the back fringe, about 25 feet from the flag. The odds were on a win for Thomson when Nagle chipped weakly, leaving himself 10 feet short. However, Thomson, using a putter, rapped his ball six feet past the hole.

Each Won £350 When Nagle rolled in his putt the pressure was on Thomson, but the defending title-holder sank his putt for the tie, with an aggregate of 276.

Nagle on Saturday had two rounds of 68 and Thomson, who had led by one stroke overnight, carded 70 and 67.

Thomson had won the Caltex tournament three times and Nagle twice. Each won £350 on Saturday. The Englishman, C. Clark, who was level with the Australian pair after 12 holes in the final round, finished with a 68.

The Queenslander, R. C. Vines, and E. A. Ball, of New South Wales, tied for fourth place on 283. Ball, whose form had been disappointing on the New Zealand circuit, finished with a 66. Charles 66, Sixth The New Zealand Open champion, R. J. Charles, also had a 66 in the final round to gain sixth placing. He had been eleventh after three rounds.

Charles began the last round quietly, covering the first nine in a one-under-par 35. But he came home in 31— six under—to equal the record for the last nine holes. He had four birdies, and an eagle at the eighteenth with a 20-foot putt. A disappointment was the Englishman, A. Jacklin, who, after being tied with Nagle and Vines in second place at the halfway, finished on 294. Jacklin was only a shot behind Nagle and Thomson when he went to the eighteenth in the third round. He hit his tee shot out of bounds and put another ball in a hazard for a one-stroke penalty. He finished with a seven and a round of 72, but was still well in the running for major prize money.

Perhaps upset by his lapse, he had an 82 in the afternoon, with three sevens on his card: