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Peter Oosterhuis and future

champion Nick Price. Watson

was serenaded by applause

and cheers from the Scottish

galleries, who respected his

talent and fortitude to reign

supreme on their courses.

Mark Calcavecchia overcame

two

Australian

major

champions, GregNorman and

Wayne Grady, in a playoff to

conclude a memorable 1989

Open. The Shark, who won

at nearby Turnberry in 1986,

had shot a course-record 64

to secure his participation

in extra holes, but the burly

American

bested

both

Norman and Grady that day

to earn the Claret Jug.

Texan Justin Leonard holed

putts from all directions with

a scintillating final round

of 65, in the 1997 Open

Championship. He took

advantage of the struggles

of Darren Clarke and Jesper

Parnevik. For the 25-year-old

from Dallas, it would be the

only major in a career that

has brought 12 victories on

the PGA Tour, with the finest

being that day at Troon.

The aforementioned Hamilton,

a 38-year-old who had played

for much of his career in Japan,

had claimed his maiden title

on the main tour in the States

earlier in 2004 at the Honda,

but few could have seen him

as a potential winner of the

Open.

Hamilton made three birdies

on the back-nine to take

control, before a bogey on

the 18

th

saw him fall into a

playoff with Ernie Els, who

had made gains on the 16

th

and 17

th

to boost his chances

of a second Open win.

Onto the extra holes the 11-

time Japan Tour champion

NWO Golf Links