For the 150th Open, the oldest tournament in golf returns to the Old Course at St Andrews.
We look at six memorable Opens at St Andrews from the previous 29 times it has staged the event, dating back to 1873.
1927 – Bobby Jones (-7)
One of golf’s pioneers, American amateur Jones walked off the course during the third round of his previous trip to St Andrews in frustration in 1921.
Six years on, he set a new record score for victory at The Open of seven under.
Jones had won the first of his three Opens a year earlier at Royal Lytham and St Annes and dominated the field to win by six shots to retain the Claret Jug.
Due to his amateur status, Jones received no prize money for winning the tournament.
Instead, Aubrey Boomer and Fred Robson earned £62 and 10 shillings each for their share of second place, well short of the £95 price for an adult ticket just to watch a day’s play in 2022.
1984 – Seve Ballesteros (-12)
The charismatic Spaniard denied Tom Watson a record-equalling sixth Open after a dramatic final round in the St Andrews sun.
Watson was in contention for a third consecutive Claret Jug as he shared the clubhouse lead with Australia’s Ian Baker-Finch after three rounds.
But the American stumbled on the famous 17th ‘Road Hole’ as a wayward approach cost him a bogey.
At the same time, Ballesteros was up on the 18th green making a birdie that was followed by what became his trademark fist-pump celebration.
Ballesteros ended up winning by two shots for his second Open Championship and fourth Major title.
1995 – John Daly (-6)
Daly, a larger-than-life character in many ways, was the unlikely winner for a week that brought a changing of the guard in golf.
Arnold Palmer’s final Open was also Tiger Woods’ first 27 years ago, but the battle at the top of the leaderboard came down to Daly and the unheralded Costantino Rocca.
Rocca’s shot at glory appeared gone when trailing Daly by one shot coming up the 18th, he duffed his chip shot approach into the green, only to sink a 65-foot putt up a slope to force a playoff.
The Italian collapsed to the ground and beat the turf in celebration, but he failed to compose himself in time for the four-hole playoff.
Rocca made a triple-bogey at the road hole as Daly eased to victory by four shots in the playoff.
2000 – Tiger Woods (-19)
Woods made his first mark on The Open in spectacular style by setting a then record score of 19 under at a Major championship to become at 24 the youngest player to complete the career Grand Slam.
In what was to be the second of his run of four consecutive Majors to claim the ‘Tiger Slam’, Woods decimated the field to win by eight shots.
2010 – Louis Oosthuizen (-16)
At the 139th Open Championship at St Andrews Oosthuizen announced himself on the world stage with one of the most commanding victories in Major history.
The 150th Anniversary Open in 2010 belonged to the then unheralded 27-year-old South African, who had just one European Tour victory the previous March.
He cruised to a seven-stroke triumph; only Tiger Woods with an eight-stroke victory on the Old Course in 2000 had won by more since 1913.
Thursday’s weather was the best of the week and Rory McIlroy took advantage by returning a 63, equalling the major championship record. It was the second 63 recorded at St Andrews, the eighth in all Opens but the first in an opening round. He led by two from Oosthuizen.
Oosthuizen became the fourth South African to win The Open after Bobby Locke, Gary Player and Ernie Els and achieved his victory on Nelson Mandela’s 92nd birthday.
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2015 – Zack Johnson (-15)
The last time The Open came to St Andrews the tournament was forced into a Monday finish for just the second time in history due to strong winds that suspended play on Friday and Saturday.
Jordan Spieth’s quest for a calendar Grand Slam was blown off course as the American complained about being forced to briefly play through some of the worst conditions.
After winning The Masters and US Open, Spieth missed out on a playoff by just one stroke.
Instead, it came down to Johnson against Louis Oosthuizen, who won the Open at St Andrews in 2010, and Marc Leishman after all three finished on 15 under.
Johnson’s birdies of the first two holes of a four-hole playoff had him edge out Oosthuizen by one shot.
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© Agence France-Presse & Compleat Golfer
