Watch famous moments from the Open Championship at St Andrews including Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Rory McIlroy and Seve Ballesteros
The Old Course at St Andrews will host the 150th Open Championship from July 14-17 so we look at some of the most memorable moments to occur at the most-used venue for the game’s oldest major championship.
St Andrews: Finest moments
Arnold Palmer, 1960
Arnold Palmer made his eagerly-awaited Open debut in 1960 having already won the Masters and US Open that year, but still had to come through a 36-hole qualifier to take his place in the field. Palmer’s participation breathed new life into a championship that had been lacking American stars and although he broke par the first three days and closed with a 68, Australian Kel Nagle beat him by one.
Doug Sanders and Jack Nicklaus, 1970
After saving par from the Road Hole bunker in the final round, Sanders needed to par the 18th to finish a shot ahead of Jack Nicklaus and left himself with a short putt for the title. Standing over the ball, Sanders thought he saw a small pebble on his line and stooped to pick it up, but failed to reset himself after realising it was just a mark on the green. He eventually jabbed at the ball and saw it dribble past the hole, with Nicklaus winning the following day’s 18-hole play-off by a shot as both men birdied the last.
Seve Ballesteros, 1984
Although playing in separate groups, the final round of the 1984 Open effectively became a thrilling duel between Ballesteros and five-time winner Tom Watson. As Watson was making a costly bogey on the 17th after firing his approach over the green and close to the wall, Ballesteros was coaxing in a curling birdie putt on the 18th before celebrating with a memorable fist pump which would go on to become his personal logo.
Nick Faldo, 1990
Nick Faldo holed an incredible eagle on the 18th of his opening round to card an impressive 67 and from then on showed tremendous consistency and quality to fire three more scores of 65, 67 and 71 to end up with a staggering 18 under par total - five ahead of runners-up Mark McNulty and Payne Stewart. Tiger Woods equalled the 18 under par record in 2006 and it was finally broken by Henrik Stenson in 2016 when the Swedish superstar managed to reach 20 under.
Costantino Rocca and John Daly, 1995
When Rocca duffed his chip on the 72nd hole into the Valley of Sin, his chances of winning the 124th Open looked to have disappeared. However, the Italian somehow regained his composure and, as clubhouse leader John Daly looked on, holed his long birdie putt to force a play-off, dropping to his knees and thumping the turf with both fists in celebration. Daly won the four-hole play-off by four shots.
Tiger Woods, 2000
A month after smashing one major record with his 15-shot win at the US Open, Woods set another with a 19-under-par total. Ernie Els, second in the previous two majors, led him by one after the first day, but thereafter it was a one-man show. Els and Thomas Bjorn were next best on 11 under and the world number one’s margin of victory had not been beaten since Young Tom Morris’ 12-stroke win in 1870. Woods remarkably did not find a single bunker all week.
Rory McIlroy, 2010
Rory McIlroy shot the lowest opening round in the history of the tournament, playing the final 10 holes in a staggering eight under to match the course record of 63. At the time only seven other players had scored that low at an Open Championship although Branden Grace would later beat that record with 62 in 2017. McIlroy missed a 5-foot birdie putt on the 17th to break the record and eventually finished tied for third behind champion Louis Oosthuizen.