Rewind to 1995

Costantino Rocca needed something remarkable as he walked up the 18th hole at St Andrews in the final round of The 124th Open.

The Italian’s bid for an unlikely Open triumph in the summer of 1995 had captured the imagination, but appeared to be slipping away.

Needing a birdie on the closing hole to force a play-off, he made a mess of his second shot, leaving himself in the Valley of Sin and with around 65 feet to the hole.

Then came the putt.

Rocca struck it firmly and watched as it rolled towards the cup before disappearing into the hole. As the crowd erupted, he threw his arms aloft, sank to his knees and slammed the ground in jubilation.

John Daly, who looked set to claim the Claret Jug, could barely believe what he had witnessed.

“I actually thought it was mine,” Daly later said.

Instead, The Open was going to a play-off. It was a fitting finale to a Championship that had spent four days defying expectation.

Daly would ultimately win the Claret Jug, defeating Rocca by five strokes over four play-off holes, but the story of 1995 was about more than the name that finished at the top of the leaderboard.

It was about a field of outsiders seizing their moment at the home of golf.

Daly, already a major winner, was searching for his best form and didn’t expect to be in contention himself – however his arrival in St Andrews sparked something within the American.

“I didn’t expect anything,” Daly said. “But when I got there it was like: ‘Man! I just love it here’.”

“The footsteps that have walked on St Andrews, the home of golf, where it all began. I just fell in love with it so fast.

“If there is any way I’m going to turn my career around it’s right here.”

That feeling translated into his golf. A five-under 67 put him among the early leaders and a 71 the following day left him sharing the halfway lead.

His remarkable power gave him opportunities around the Old Course that few others could match.

Despite his impressive form, Daly wasn't the biggest story after 54 holes. That honour belonged to Michael Campbell.

The New Zealander was playing only his second major and had missed the cut on his Open debut the previous year. On Saturday, however, he produced a stunning 65 to take a two-shot lead into the final round.

His third round contained one of the Championship’s defining moments. At the Road Hole, Campbell found the notorious bunker with his ball plugged just inches from the face.

From a position that appeared almost impossible, he escaped to around two feet and preserved his lead.

“Was I surprised? Absolutely. I was having fun, just enjoying the moment of being there, enjoying the atmosphere of The Open at St Andrews,” Campbell said in a Tales of The Open podcast.

“The golf was just a nice byproduct of me feeling comfortable [and] relaxed. I played my best golf, ever, on that third day.”

He was joined in Sunday’s final pairing by Rocca, another player few expected to be challenging for the Claret Jug.

The Italian had not won since 1993 but found himself within touching distance of something special.

Completing a cast of unlikely contenders was Steven Bottomley, who had qualified for the Championship through a play-off and had missed ten of his previous 13 cuts.

A new swing refined on the practice ground had changed his fortunes, and on Sunday he produced one of the finest rounds of the week.

His 69, the only sub-70 score of the final round, included a series of spectacular long putts. It moved him to five-under and established a target the leading players would have to chase. It would ultimately prove enough for him to share third place with American Mark Brooks.

For Campbell, the target set by Bottomley became unreachable. A delayed helicopter flight left him struggling to reach St Andrews before his tee time, and with almost no opportunity to prepare. His challenge unravelled with four bogeys in his opening 11 holes.

Daly, meanwhile, was doing what he had done all week, embracing the Old Course and the challenge it presented.

His driving remained a weapon, but it was his putting and patience that would separate him from the field. A birdie at the 8th restored his lead, and by the 12th he was two shots clear.

Even two late bogeys, on the 16th and 17th, could not knock him from the summit. Daly reached the 18th with a one-shot lead and played the hole conservatively, knowing Rocca needed to find a way to catch him.

Rocca did exactly that, and in spectacular fashion.

After saving par at the 17th, he found trouble at the last. His third shot left him around 65 feet from the hole, seemingly ending his challenge.

Instead, he produced one of the most famous putts in Open history.

Rocca had forced a play-off, but couldn't continue the momentum. Daly remained composed while Rocca struggled to challenge his opponent.

The play-off was therefore one-sided with Daly winning by five strokes to lift the Claret Jug.

As the dust settled on a memorable week, the outcome told only part of the story.

Campbell’s brilliant Saturday, Bottomley’s unlikely charge, Daly’s rediscovery of his game and Rocca’s moment of magic combined to create a Championship for the ages.

Rocca may not have won, but his performance is stuff of Open legend.

“I’m the most famous runner-up in the world,” he said.