7
Doug Sanders
1970 Open,
Old Course, St Andrews
It wasn’t that much of a surprise to see Sanders leading the Open Championship with only two holes to play in 1970. He had already won 20 of an eventual haul of 22 professional titles and had shown his liking for links golf at the 1966 Open, where he finished second to Nicklaus by a shot at Muirfield. That same year, he recorded top-10 finishes in all four Majors.
The popular American was well known for his colorful outfits and played the final round at a windy St Andrews in an unlikely combo of pink cashmere sweater and mauve pants and shoes.
Protecting his one shot lead, he had already got out of jail on the 17th with a fine sand save from the notorious Road Hole bunker. But on the 18th, needing a par to win, he nervously sent his pitch 30 feet past the hole and left his lag putt in an eminently missable position – three feet above the hole with more than a hint of left to right break.
The tension was palpable, with playing partner Lee Trevino visibly aghast at the pressure building on Sanders as he stood over the classic “putt to win the Open.” After standing over the putt for an age, Sanders stooped to pick up an imaginary grain of sand off his line. His nerves clearly showing and his concentration broken, he prodded a feeble push of a putt that missed comfortably on the low side.
In the following day’s playoff, Sanders, clad in a more subdued yellow and brown clad ensemble, pushed Nicklaus all the way, before the Golden Bear snuck an eight-foot birdie putt at the very last hole to win by the narrowest of margins.
Sanders never really recovered and years later remarked about his career: “It’s that putt everyone remembers. What can I say? It’s what I remember most, too.”
The moment is captured brilliantly here: www.tinyurl.com/DougSanders
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