Brian Watts

For Brian Watts, The 127th Open will always be the one that got away.

Watts led for 54 holes of the Championship at Royal Birkdale in 1998 and held a two-shot lead going onto the back nine but was reeled in by Mark O’Meara.

Needing a birdie on the last to win, he got his fiendishly tough bunker shot within six inches but lost out to O’Meara in the subsequent play-off.

A year later Watts put in his second-best Open performance, a tie for 24th, and made the cut at all four majors.

Making his name on the Japan Golf Tour, the Montreal-born golfer had an otherwise unremarkable record at The Open, missing the cut three times in seven appearances.

A catalogue of injuries curtailed Watts’ career in 2005.