Jack Newton

The 104th Open will be remembered as the first of Tom Watson’s five triumphs but it could so easily have been Jack Newton lifting the Claret Jug.

The pair were contrasting characters but came together over the course of a gripping head-to-head at Carnoustie, Newton having shot himself into contention with a course record 65 in his third round.

The Australian led down the back nine but dropped shots in three of the last four holes proved costly, Watson holing a 20-footer on the last to draw level and force a play-off which he won by a single shot.

Newton may have been beaten but his performance was made all the more impressive by an injury suffered on the practice tee prior to the Championship, the Australian’s ankle damaged to the point he had it professionally wrapped each day and was subjected to painkilling injections.

A far more serious injury was to follow in 1983, when Newton lost his right arm and eye after walking into the spinning propellor of an aeroplane.

Remarkably, he taught himself to play one-handed – swinging the club left-handed in a right-handed stance – and still regularly shot in the mid-80s.

Newton, who was also a runner-up at the 1980 Masters, died in April 2022 aged 72.