The stories of some Championships just demand to be told again and again as we look back on eight memorable moments
Woods won The Open at St Andrews in 2000(Image: Mirror)
They’re etched into the annals of Open history, but the stories of some Championships just demand to be told again, and again.
So here’s our pick of eight iconic post-war-year tournaments…
The Duel in the Sun
You know the story by now.
Two all-time greats produced an unforgettable ding-dong at a baking-hot Turnberry in what remains The Open’s most iconic day.
Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus exchanged blows by sinking birdie after birdie in 1977, with the pendulum swinging one way and then the other.
Watson’s near 60-foot putt from off the green to go level at 15 struck disbelief into every spectator, and he then birdied 17 to take the lead.
When Nicklaus hit his tee shot into a bush on 18, it appeared over but the Golden Bear chopped his ball out of the rough and onto the green – then proceeded to hole the 35-yard putt for birdie to send the crowd into euphoria.
The cheers were paused just long enough for Watson to sink his short putt to also birdie, giving him a finish of 65, a single shot better than his great opponent, and once more the supporters erupted.
As Watson remarked: “This is what it’s all about, isn’t it?”
Indeed it is. Between them, they won eight Open titles.
Darren’s dream comes true
Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland lifts the Claret Jug(Image: Getty Images)
Darren Clarke admits he was that kid who used to stand on the green and pretend he had a putt to win The Open.
At 43, and the 20th attempt, he finally got to do it for real.
Clarke arrived at Royal St George’s with his best days seemingly behind him, an overweight, 125-1 outsider.
But amid a burst of Northern Irish success, with Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy having also recently won majors, he delivered the week of his life in 2011.
Clarke held off Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson on a dramatic Sunday to finally get his hands on the Claret Jug.
When he paused during his acceptance to remember first wife Heather, who died in 2006, there was not a dry eye in the house.
Rocca and the Valley of Sin
Costantino Rocca walked so that Francesco Molinari could run.
Prior to Molinari’s success at The Open in 2018, Rocca stood out as Italy’s greatest-ever golfer and his finest moment came in pursuit of the Claret Jug.
In fact, in 1995, Rocca produced a shot that ranks alongside any other in the history of The Open.
Having duffed a pitch into St Andrews’ famous Valley of Sin when going for an eagle to win the tournament, Rocca found himself facing a 65-foot putt to force a play-off.
From the worst shot of his four rounds, Rocca then produced the best, under the greatest pressure of all.
His reaction, falling to his knees and thumping the ground in front of him, remains indelibly marked in the memories of anyone watching that day.
That John Daly, who he caught with that stunning shot, went onto win the four-hole play-off is perhaps the only reason Rocca’s effort is not a unanimous answer when counting down the greatest shots in Open history.
The likable Italian never did win a major, but as he said in the aftermath of his loss: “I’m the most famous runner-up in the world.”
Three decades on, that might still be true.
Flawless Woods puts on a show
The Open returned to St Andrews for the Millennium year and the Old Course was treated to perhaps the most complete performance its ever seen.
Having already won the US Open at Pebble Beach by 15 strokes earlier in the year, Tiger Woods produced an equally dominant display to clinch the first of his three Claret Jugs.
Woods was in complete control from start to finish, never finding a bunker across the four rounds, while he only made three bogeys – and they all came at the weekend when he was out of sight.
Tiger Woods during the final round of the British Open on the Old Course at St Andrews back in 2000(Image: Getty Images)
His 19-under-par tally was a record for any major at the time and his total of 269 was a record for The Open at St Andrews as he completed the career Grand Slam in style.
Woods was victorious again at St Andrews five years later, winning by five shots from Colin Montgomerie, and has repeatedly called the venue his “favourite course in the world”.
Nicklaus bids farewell
Woods may have lifted the Claret Jug again in 2005 but even his brilliance could not upstage the legendary Jack Nicklaus.
The three-time Champion Golfer called time on his storied relationship with The Open at the age of 65 in a farewell that could not have been more fitting.
Rapturous applause and cheers echoed around the famous venue as spectators showed their love for the Golden Bear, greeting every shot with increasingly louder roars of approval.
After nailing his drive down the final fairway, Nicklaus waved goodbye one final time as he stepped on the Swilcan Bridge – joined by playing partner and fellow Open legend Tom Watson.
And although he missed the cut, Nicklaus finished with a memorable 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to shoot a magnificent even-par 72 in his final competitive round.
Van de Velde gets his feet wet
From the iconic image of a bare-footed Jean Van de Velde clambering into the Barry Burn to try and play his ball, to local hero Paul Lawrie’s play-off triumph – The 1999 Open had it all.
Knowing a double bogey on the par-four 18th would hand him the title, Van de Velde pushed his drive far to the right but opted to try and reach the green with a two iron, rather than laying up.
He caught his second shot cleanly but it bounced 50 yards backwards off the grandstand next to the 18th green, careered off a rock in the Barry Burn and landed in the deep rough.
He duly duffed his third into the burn and entered Open folklore by removing his shoes and socks, rolling up his trousers and wading in after the ball – before ultimately opting to take a drop.
From there he pitched his fifth shot into a deep greenside bunker, chipped to eight feet with his sixth and, incredibly, produced a nerveless putt to at least card a 77 and force his way into the four-hole aggregate play-off with Lawrie and Justin Leonard – which Lawrie won.
Hugh Campbell, chairman of The R&A Championship Committee, summed it up: “There was triumph, tragedy, romance, farce, pathos and controversy.”
LOWRY THE PIED PIPER
It may have taken 68 years for The Open to return to Northern Ireland but it was more than worth the wait.
Shane Lowry provided a fitting conclusion to an historic week on the County Antrim coast, as a man from the island of Ireland walked away with the Claret Jug.
Moving Day is one that those there will never forget, with a party atmosphere that more resembled Glastonbury than golf.
Pride: 2019 Open Champion Shane Lowry of Ireland celebrates with the Claret Jug at Royal Portrush Golf Club. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)(Image: Getty Images)
Football chants and pop songs reverberated around the Dunluce Links following a 63 that separated Lowry from the pack, before celebrations ratcheted up a notch after he sealed victory on Sunday.
Lowry says he partied for days afterwards – and so did his fellow countrymen.
SEVE SHINES
No player is more inextricably intertwined with the history of The Open than the late, great Seve Ballesteros.
The image of the Spaniard’s beaming smile and famous fist pump after sinking the final putt to win at St Andrews in 1984 is one of the most iconic in golf.
Ballesteros, a three-time winner, went into Sunday trailing Ian Baker-Finch and Tom Watson by two shots but successfully put pressure on the final group by posting a three-under-par round of 69.
He then sealed the title with a birdie on the last, taking him to -12 for the week.
The man himself later described the winning putt as “the happiest moment of my whole sporting life” and the picture of him gesturing wildly afterwards has lived on ever since.
