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Sports correspondent & historian with |
Last week, I made a passing reference to the eight Kiwi golfers who preceded Ryan Fox in climbing the big mountain of winning a PGA tournament in the United States.
John Lister, who followed (Sir) Bob Charles as the second New Zealand player to win on the USA big tour, was one of a new breed of golfers to hit the headlines in their early twenties.
Lister had a particular affinity with the New Zealand PGA, when it was held in the Western Bay of Plenty from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s, winning the event on three occasions.
The New Zealand professional golf circuit of the late 60s and 70s would kick off in November, before arriving in the Central North Island at the start of the Christmas holiday season.
At its zenith, the professional tour would visit Tokoroa, Whakatāne and Te Puke, with the PGA at Mount Maunganui and the Tauranga four-round tournament, the jewels in the crown of the local professional tournaments.
Golfing stars such as British Open winners Kel Nagle and Peter Thompson would thrill large crowds of golf fans at the Mount Maunganui links and Gate Pa course.
John Lister left the amateur ranks at just 18 years of age and headed across the Tasman to learn his professional craft on the minor Australian circuits.
His first success eventually came on the sand greens of the Alice Springs Open during 1968.
Lister first came to the attention of the New Zealand golf public in the NZ PGA at Mount Maunganui in 1969, when he was just a solitary shot adrift of another relatively young Kiwi, Terry Kendall.
Next season he had a similar finish, three shots behind seven-time New Zealand PGA winner Kel Nagle.
Professional golf in New Zealand during the 1970s belonged to John Lister, who won 10 tournaments, including that triple NZ PGA win.
He broke through for his maiden NZ PGA victory at the Mount Maunganui Links course in 1971, when he blitzed the field with an amazing 30 under par to earn a six-shot win.
Back-to-back victories came in 1976 and 1977. His second title came after being tied with USA’s Bill Brask, at 17 under, going on to win their sudden-death playoff.
Lister’s third NZ PGA crown was just as tight – he squeezed home by one shot ahead of Bob Charles and John Downie.
John Lister shares a unique record with Tiger Woods: of winning the same tournament in four successive years. Lister achieved the feat in the Garden City Classic (1972-1975) in Christchurch; Woods achieved it in the Bay Hill Invitational (2000-2003).
Life in the fast lane of world golf included two British PGA tournament victories and his USA PGA tour win in 1976.
Lister’s fighting quality was put on show in the 11 major championship starts he contested, where he came up against the world’s best, such as Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson, and Seve Ballesteros.
He missed just four cuts in his 11 major starts, with a tie for 25th in the British Open and 27th equal in the US Open, showing he could compete on equal terms against the best players on the planet.