It was in such circumstances that the young McGregor saw Peter Thomson winning the 1955 Open over the Old Course. This was the second of Thomson’s quintet of Open victories and the second year of a seven-year-run in which he never finished outside the top two.
McGregor remains one of Thomson’s greatest admirers and chuckles to this day at the memory of how his fellow member of the R&A went over to the US senior tour and won nine events in the one summer. “It was his answer to those Americans who had belittled his efforts on the grounds that he was not well known over there.
“When Peter came back,” continues McGregor, “he contented himself with a wry, ‘Well, I think they’ve heard of me now.’”
McGregor, who has given way at the Trust to Euan Loudon, formerly the chief executive of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, picked out the 2005 Open as the best from his 13 years. “Tiger’s win in 2000 was so amazingly perfect in every way as to be a little short of drama,” he ventures, before going on to admit that he was not entirely sure he could separate 2005 from 2010.
This was down to his staff’s presentation of the course last year. Following the mother and father of all storms on the night of 30 March, the Strathtyrum and the Eden were flooded, while the Swilcan Burn was depositing salt water all over the first and eighteenth fairways of the Open championship links.
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