Jim Ferrier was just 16 years of age when he shook Australian golf to its core.

Defeating Eric Apperly 1-up in the final of the New South Wales Amateur Championship marked the teenage son of Manly Golf Club secretary Ben Ferrier as a player of rare promise.

Ferrier then ran second to Ivo Whitton at the Australian Open – making 6 on the 72nd hole to lose by a stroke – and quickly established that his talents and personality would demand a much greater audience.

He would win the Australian Amateur on four occasions, won the 1938 Australian Open by 14 strokes and was victorious in a total of 13 professional events in Australia whilst still an amateur.

Yet for all his dominance – or perhaps partly because of it – Ferrier also ruffled feathers.

His dress sense upset the local golf hierarchy, he hit the ball harder – and often wider – than anyone else in the field and even produced his own book, How I Play Golf.

This publishing feat would prove to be a pivotal moment in not only Ferrier’s career but the legacy he would leave for Australian golf.

Unable to turn professional without spending two years in a pro shop, Ferrier emigrated to America in 1940 and became a US citizen in 1944 but his accomplishments became part of Australian folklore.

His triumph at the 1947 US PGA Championship secured his place in history as the first Australian winner of one of golf’s majors, relying on an exquisite short game to go 27-under par for the 203 holes that he played that week.

“Jim Ferrier is the greatest I ever saw at getting down with a chip and a putt,” said Byron Nelson who refereed the final.

He led the 1950 Masters by three with six holes to play before finishing second behind Jimmy Demaret and was second at the 1960 US PGA Championship at 45 years of age.

Unlike Ferrier, Marcus Fraser does not overpower golf courses but rather massage layouts to bend to his will.

Possessing a silky swing that generates seemingly effortless power, Fraser announced himself with victory at the 1999 Victorian Amateur Championship and proved his game could contend with the best in the world when he won the individual title at the 2002 Eisenhower Trophy.

The Corowa native would make his name in Europe and after turning professional at the end of 2002 won twice on the Challenge Tour in 2003 along with the Russian Open, a win that secured his status on the main tour in 2004.

Rising to a career-high world ranking of 51 in 2012, Fraser spent 15 years playing full-time on the European Tour with three victories and a top-20 finish at the 2015 Open Championship.

Jim Ferrier
Career wins: 36
Major wins: 1 (1947 US PGA Championship)
PGA TOUR wins: 18
Australasian wins: 13
Australian Open: Won (1938, 1939)
Australian Amateur: Won (1935, 1936, 1938, 1939)

Marcus Fraser
Career wins: 6
Major wins: Nil
European Tour wins: 3
Australian Tour wins: 1
Australian Open: 4 (2018)
Australian PGA: T2 (2011)