Bobby Locke

Bobby Locke (1917-1987) is considered to be one of the best players ever to come from South Africa. He started playing as an amateur at a very early age and won the South African Open five times in six years from 1935 to 1940. After the war, in which he served as a bomber pilot in the South African Air Force, he went to the United States and played in 59 tournaments in just over two years, winning no fewer than 13 of them and finishing runner-up in a further ten. This was a magnificent achievement by any standards. Locke then returned to Europe where he won the Open four times in 1949, 1950, 1952 and 1957. He was a flam­boyant figure on the golf course, usually dressed in large plus-fours and a white cap, but was not popular. At one stage he was barred from the US tour and was memorably accused of slow play. Locke's reply to this was to wager that he was the fastest player in the world, provided that he was timed from when he arrived six feet away from his ball to after he had played his shot. He had a car accident in 1959 which damaged his eyesight and he played little competitive golf after that date.

 Peter Thomson

There is a question mark against Peter Thomson as one of the world's great golfers. Perhaps this is because his triumphs came in a period when few Americans played in Europe and because of his relative lack of success when he played in the US. However, his record as winner of five Open Championships has only been equalled by Tom Watson this century and no-one has won three consecutive Open Championships since "Young" Tom Morris. Thomson's wins carne in 1954, 1955, 1956 and 1958, missing out in 1957 when he was beaten into second place by Bobby Locke, and finally in 1965 when he beat the defending champion Tony Lema at Royal Birkdale - his finest victory. Thomson was the most relaxed player, orthodox and controlled, only lacking a certain length from the tee, which handicapped him when he played in the US. However, he played on the USPGA Seniors Tour in the early 80s, winning a number of tournaments.