ONE TENDS TO THINK OF THE OLD COURSE AT ST. ANDREWS as a grand stage, not unlike La Scala in Milan or the Sydney Opera House. As such, we associate it with virtuoso performances. In that regard, the Old Course hasn't disappointed, as it has hosted scenes like Tiger Woods' epic 2000 win and Seve Ballesteros' jubilant celebration in 1984.
But St. Andrews has also heard some false notes, and here are the 10 worst shots in Old Course history.
10. James Braid, 1905 British Open
In this first Open with a 36-hole cut, Braid tried to hit an heroic shot from a fairway bunker on the 16th hole during the final round. But the ball scooted right and ended up on the train tracks, which were in play at the time. Braid duffed the next shot and made six, but the error didn't end up being costly, as he went on to win the second of five Opens.
9. Tom Watson, 1984 British Open
Tied with Seve Ballesteros, Watson hit a perfectly positioned drive down the extreme right side of the Road hole, leaving the best angle to the well-guarded green. But he misjudged his approach, which wound up over the menacing Road. His bogey (along with a Ballesteros birdie on the final hole) left Watson two shots short of his best chance to win his sixth Open until his unlikely performance in 2009.
8. Johnny Bulla, 1939 British Open
The year 1939 was a year of missed chances in the majors. Following Sam Snead's triple-bogey disaster in the U.S. Open, Bulla had a share of the lead to start the final round. But on the 2nd hole, Bulla hit a huge hook that went through the adjoining 17th fairway and into the railway yard. His final-round 73 left him two shots behind winner Dick Burton.
7. Prince of Wales, 1922 driving-in ceremony
The single, honorary drive off the 1st tee is the swearing-in rite for the incoming captain of the R&A. In 1922 the Prince of Wales (later to become King Edward VIII) nearly topped his drive, resulting in a dribbled shot that barely reached the front of the 18th green.
6. David Duval, 2000 British Open
In contention for second place, Duval took four shots to get out of the Road hole bunker to become the hazard's second-most infamous victim.
5. Tommy Nakajima, 1978 British Open
Duval's flailing came 22 years after Nakajima took five swings to extricate himself out of the six-foot-deep pit, which soon came to be known as the "Sands of Nakajima."
4. Ian Baker-Finch, 1995 British Open
The 1991 British Open winner so thoroughly lost his game that just four years after his most triumphant moment, he suffered the lowest point of his career: Standing on the 1st tee and overlooking the 1st fairway, which is shared with the 18th hole and is more than 130 yards wide, Baker-Finch hooked his drive out of bounds. Unfortunately, he was playing with Arnold Palmer, who was playing his final Open, and so had a huge crowd watching.
3. Costantino Rocca, 1995 British Open
At the conclusion of that same Open, Rocca came to the 18th hole needing a birdie to tie John Daly. Rocca drove left of the green, but completely duffed his pitch, and the ball ended up in the Valley of Sin in front of the green. In a remarkable turn of fortune, Rocca holed the 60-foot putt. But his dramatics had run out by the four-hole playoff, in which he three-putted the first green before his chances blew away in the Sands of Nakajima.
2. Leo Diegel, 1933 British Open
Diegel was certainly familiar with the pressure of major-championship golf, having won two PGA Championships and having finished in the top 10 in eight U.S. Opens and three British Opens. But needing to make a short putt on the final green to tie fellow Americans Denny Shute and Craig Wood, Diegel, who putted with both forearms parallel to the ground, somehow whiffed it, finishing one shot out of the playoff won by Shute.
1. Doug Sanders, 1970 British Open
Needing to make a three-footer on the final green to beat Jack Nicklaus by a shot, Sanders stood for an uncomfortably long time over the ball. He then reached down to brush something off his line and instead of stepping away and lining up the putt again, inexplicably settled back into his address position, where he was presumably misaligned. The putt slid right as Sanders instinctively reached out with his putter to pull it back, as if it were a practice stroke instead of the most important putt of his life. He lost the playoff the following day to Nicklaus.
