Top 10 Tubbies

Mak Lok-lin rues the departure of his favourite fatty and ponders some other overweight golfing achievers

9 Peter Alliss
Everyone knows the silky-voiced commentator for BBC and ABC, but less know that he was one of the best English golfers of all time. Son of Percy Alliss, a Ryder Cup star of his day, Peter went on to play in eight Ryder Cups himself, making the Alliss’ the first father-son combo to do so.
In all he amassed 23 tour wins, and had five top-10 finishes in the Open. In 1958 he won three events in succession, a record that has since been matched – by Nick Faldo (in 1983) and Seve Ballasteros (in 1986) – but which still stands today.
Mentored by the great Henry Longhurst and now considered something of a national treasure in the UK, his oft-repeated quotes includes the classic, “He used to be fairly indecisive, but now he’s not so certain.” Peter is also renowned for his little phrases such as: “I wonder…”, “Cor blimey, O’Reilly…” and of course, “It’s a funny old game…”
Although portly now, Alliss was svelte in his prime. So why is he in our top 10? Incredibly, when he was born in 1931 (in Berlin, where Percy was a club pro) Peter weighed a gargantuan 14 pounds 11 ounces, a European record at the time.
 

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