There was to be yet more American success at Royal Troon in 1997, when Justin Leonard eventually overcame the home favourite, Darren Clarke, and Sweden’s Jesper Parnevik in the final round.
Playing in his first Open as a professional, the reigning Masters champion Tiger Woods was very much the centre of attention throughout the week. He was on the fringes of contention but closed with a 74 to finish 12 shots adrift of Justin Leonard and left to rue a series of high scores at individual holes – a triple-bogey seven in the first round, a quadruple-bogey eight in the second round and a triple-bogey six at the Postage Stamp in the fourth round.
Heading into the final day, Parnevik was two strokes clear of Clarke and five of Leonard. The Swede led until late on, when he bogeyed two of the last three holes as Leonard accelerated in the other direction.
Neither of the Europeans could break par, which places Leonard’s stunning, closing 65 into context. He won by three.
