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JackNicklaus1970Cropped

1970 / St Andrews

“And there, but for the grace of God…” were the immortal words of commentator Henry Longhurst after one of the most famous missed putts in the history of the game.

Doug Sanders, a runner-up to Jack Nicklaus in The Open in 1966, never did win a major but after a fine recovery from the Road Hole Bunker on the 17th, he required only a par to beat Nicklaus in the 1970 Open at St Andrews.

After a poor pitch at the last, his first putt came up three feet short. As he stood over his ball, he was distracted by something on his line and bent down to pick it up.

A murmur went round the gallery and Sanders admitted not re-settling himself properly. The putt missed on the right and after tying on 283, Sanders and Nicklaus contested The Open’s first 18-hole play-off.

Nicklaus was four ahead after 13 holes but two birdies from Sanders and a bogey from Nicklaus meant the lead was only one at the last, where more drama followed. Nicklaus discarded his sweater and smashed his drive over 360 yards to the back of the green.

Sanders had pitched close this time and would make a three so Nicklaus knew he needed to get up and down. He chipped to eight feet, holed the putt for a three and flung his putter high into the air, a rare emotional celebration from the Golden Bear.

He had a second Open victory but, more importantly, had won at the Home of Golf.

Lee Trevino, the long-time leader, shared third place with Harold Henning, defending Champion Golfer Tony Jacklin was fifth, after an outward 29 on the first day before play was suspended due to a flooded course, and Neil Coles shared sixth place after an opening 65, a record for the Old Course.

Name
Finish
R1
R2
R3
R4
Total
Par
Jack NICKLAUS
Champion Golfer
1
68
69
73
73
283
-
Doug SANDERS
2
68
71
71
73
283
-
Harold HENNING
3
67
72
73
73
285
-
Lee TREVINO
3
68
68
72
77
285
-
Tony JACKLIN
5
67
70
73
76
286
-
Peter OOSTERHUIS
6
73
69
69
76
287
-
Neil COLES
6
65
74
72
76
287
-
Hugh JACKSON
8
69
72
73
74
288
-
Peter THOMSON
9
68
74
73
74
289
-
Tommy HORTON
9
66
73
75
75
289
-
John PANTON
9
72
73
73
71
289
-
Arnold PALMER
12
68
72
76
74
290
-
John RICHARDSON
13
67
72
76
77
292
-
Bert YANCEY
13
71
71
73
77
292
-
Maurice BEMBRIDGE
13
67
74
75
76
292
-
Sir Bob CHARLES
13
72
73
73
74
292
-
Roberto BERNARDINI
17
75
69
74
75
293
-
Billy CASPER
17
71
74
73
75
293
-
Clive CLARK
17
69
70
77
77
293
-
Christy O'CONNOR SR
17
72
68
74
79
293
-
Roberto DE VICENZO
17
71
76
71
75
293
-
Walter GODFREY
22
71
75
74
74
294
-
Guy WOLSTENHOLME
22
68
77
72
77
294
-
Tom WEISKOPF
22
70
74
72
78
294
-
Ronnie SHADE
25
72
75
69
79
295
-
Bruce DEVLIN
25
72
76
72
75
295
-
Graham MARSH
25
75
72
74
74
295
-
Bobby COLE
28
71
76
71
78
296
-
Tom SHAW
28
73
71
73
79
296
-
Stuart BROWN
28
73
73
71
79
296
-
Brian HUGGETT
28
68
78
73
77
296
-
Dave THOMAS
32
70
72
76
79
297
-
Dale DOUGLASS
32
75
71
73
78
297
-
David GRAHAM
32
72
72
74
79
297
-
Florentino MOLINA
32
67
75
78
77
297
-
Gay BREWER
32
69
74
74
80
297
-
Eric BROWN
32
73
72
74
78
297
-
Peter ALLISS
32
69
74
78
76
297
-
Brian BARNES
32
69
74
75
79
297
-
Kel NAGLE
32
71
74
73
79
297
-
Tony GRUBB
41
72
77
71
78
298
-
Dave MARR
41
71
71
74
82
298
-
Alex CAYGILL
41
74
72
74
78
298
-
Steve MELNYK
41
69
74
76
79
298
-
Peter TOWNSEND
45
72
73
74
80
299
-
Jimmy HUME
45
72
75
76
76
299
-
George WILL
45
69
78
74
78
299
-
Guy HUNT
48
72
70
80
78
300
-
Jimmy MARTIN
48
71
74
75
80
300
-
Norman WOOD
50
73
73
77
78
301
-
Tommy AARON
50
68
74
79
80
301
-
Tomas LOPEZ
50
70
72
75
84
301
-
Warren HUMPHREYS
50
73
73
76
79
301
-
Derek SMALL
54
69
74
80
79
302
-
Davis LOVE JR
55
71
74
73
85
303
-
Richard LIVINGSTON
56
75
73
75
81
304
-
Sandy WALKER
57
70
78
75
84
307
-
David WEBSTER
WD
71
77
76
-
-
-
Norman DREW
WD
72
76
76
-
-
-
Miller BARBER
WD
72
74
78
-
-
-
Donald SWAELENS
WD
72
72
80
-
-
-
Michael BONALLACK
WD
69
76
79
-
-
-
John HUDSON
WD
74
72
78
-
-
-
Gary PLAYER
WD
74
75
75
-
-
-
Marshall DOUGLAS
WD
72
74
78
-
-
-
Andrew BROOKS
WD
72
69
84
-
-
-
Peter BUTLER
WD
75
74
76
-
-
-
Ernie GEORGE
WD
71
75
79
-
-
-
George BELLINO
WD
70
76
79
-
-
-
David TALBOT
WD
75
71
80
-
-
-
Gordon CUNNINGHAM
WD
74
74
78
-
-
-
Orville MOODY
WD
71
76
79
-
-
-
Robert WEBSTER
WD
75
74
78
-
-
-
Bernard HUNT
WD
72
75
80
-
-
-
Jock BROWN
WD
78
70
79
-
-
-
Tadashi KITTA
WD
75
73
80
-
-
-
Fred BOOBYER
WD
73
76
79
-
-
-
Keith WARREN
WD
71
77
82
-
-
-
Bryon HUTCHINSON
WD
72
76
82
-
-
-
Bill LARGE
WD
75
73
83
-
-
-
Antonio GARRIDO
M/C
75
75
-
-
-
M/C
Max FAULKNER
M/C
74
76
-
-
-
M/C
David SNELL
M/C
74
76
-
-
-
M/C
Luciano GRAPPASONNI
M/C
74
76
-
-
-
M/C
Sewsunker SEWGOLUM
M/C
72
78
-
-
-
M/C
John LISTER
M/C
76
75
-
-
-
M/C
Eric DAWSON
M/C
76
75
-
-
-
M/C
Bob BARBAROSSA
M/C
73
78
-
-
-
M/C
Scott MACDONALD
M/C
75
76
-
-
-
M/C
Bill HECTOR
M/C
77
74
-
-
-
M/C
Hugh BOYLE
M/C
73
78
-
-
-
M/C
Hedley MUSCROFT
M/C
75
76
-
-
-
M/C
George LOW
M/C
74
77
-
-
-
M/C
Jimmy HITCHCOCK
M/C
75
76
-
-
-
M/C
Bernard GALLACHER
M/C
74
77
-
-
-
M/C
Valentin BARRIOS
M/C
77
74
-
-
-
M/C
Jimmy KINSELLA
M/C
76
75
-
-
-
M/C
Ray FLOYD
M/C
73
78
-
-
-
M/C
Eddie POLLAND
M/C
75
77
-
-
-
M/C
Peter BERRY
M/C
71
81
-
-
-
M/C
Frank RENNIE
M/C
78
74
-
-
-
M/C
Stuart LEVERMORE
M/C
70
83
-
-
-
M/C
Mark DARNELL
M/C
76
77
-
-
-
M/C
Lionel PLATTS
M/C
81
72
-
-
-
M/C
Ross WHITEHEAD
M/C
74
79
-
-
-
M/C
John COOK
M/C
72
81
-
-
-
M/C
Donald STEEL
M/C
78
76
-
-
-
M/C
Laurie AYTON JR
M/C
75
79
-
-
-
M/C
Lawrence BUTHELEZI
M/C
78
77
-
-
-
M/C
Nigel SUMNER
M/C
75
80
-
-
-
M/C
Vivian LAW
M/C
76
79
-
-
-
M/C
Tony FISHER
M/C
77
78
-
-
-
M/C
Christy O'CONNOR JR
M/C
76
79
-
-
-
M/C
Ian MOSEY
M/C
74
81
-
-
-
M/C
Bob SWEENY JR
M/C
75
80
-
-
-
M/C
Juan NUNEZ
M/C
77
79
-
-
-
M/C
Tony RICE
M/C
76
80
-
-
-
M/C
Doug MCCLELLAND
M/C
75
81
-
-
-
M/C
Peter MATKOVICH
M/C
74
82
-
-
-
M/C
Christy GREENE
M/C
76
80
-
-
-
M/C
Vince BAKER
M/C
78
79
-
-
-
M/C
Jock BURNS
M/C
77
80
-
-
-
M/C
Bobby LOCKE
M/C
77
81
-
-
-
M/C
David BUTLER
M/C
78
80
-
-
-
M/C
Jim FARMER
M/C
78
80
-
-
-
M/C
Gordon GRAY
M/C
78
81
-
-
-
M/C
Denny SHUTE
M/C
82
78
-
-
-
M/C
Brian ALLEN
M/C
77
84
-
-
-
M/C
Tertius CLAASSENS
M/C
78
83
-
-
-
M/C
David JAGGER
M/C
76
85
-
-
-
M/C
Alex MITCHELL
M/C
77
85
-
-
-
M/C
Fred DALY
M/C
80
85
-
-
-
M/C
Gene SARAZEN
M/C
81
85
-
-
-
M/C
Hans Henrik LUND
Wd
81
-
-
-
-
M/C

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