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1995 Open Championship

Coordinates: 56°20′35″N 2°48′11″W / 56.343°N 2.803°W / 56.343; -2.803
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1995 Open Championship
Front cover of the 1995 Open Program
Tournament information
Dates20–23 July 1995
LocationSt Andrews, Scotland
Course(s)Old Course at St Andrews
Tour(s)European Tour
PGA Tour
Statistics
Par72[1]
Length6,933 yards (6,340 m)[1]
Field159 players, 103 after cut[1]
Cut148 (+4)[1]
Prize fund£1,250,000
1,876,980
$2,000,000
Winner's share£125,000
€175,000
$199,375
Champion
United States John Daly
282 (−6), playoff
← 1994
1996 →
St Andrews is located in Scotland
St Andrews
St Andrews

The 1995 Open Championship was a men's major golf championship and the 124th Open Championship held from 20 to 23 July at the Old Course at St Andrews in St Andrews, Scotland. John Daly won his first Open Championship and second major title in a four-hole playoff over Costantino Rocca.[2]

This was the final Open appearance for two-time champion Arnold Palmer and the first appearance for three-time champion Tiger Woods.

Course

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The Old Course at St Andrews[3]

Hole Name Yards Par Hole Name Yards Par
1 Burn 370 4 10 Bobby Jones 342 4
2 Dyke 411 4 11 High (In) 172 3
3 Cartgate (Out) 371 4 12 Heathery (In) 316 4
4 Ginger Beer 463 4 13 Hole O'Cross (In) 425 4
5 Hole O'Cross (Out) 564 5 14 Long 567 5
6 Heathery (Out) 416 4 15 Cartgate (In) 413 4
7 High (Out) 372 4 16 Corner of the Dyke 382 4
8 Short 178 3 17 Road 461 4
9 End 356 4 18 Tom Morris 354 4
Out 3,501 36 In 3,432 36
Total 6,933 72

Previous lengths of the course for The Open Championship (since 1950):[1]

  • 6,933 yards (6,340 m) – 1990, 1984, 1978
  • 6,957 yards (6,361 m) – 1970:
  • 6,926 yards (6,333 m) – 1964
  • 6,936 yards (6,342 m) – 1960, 1955

Round summaries

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First round

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Thursday, 20 July 1995

Place Player Score To par
T1 United States Ben Crenshaw 67 −5
United States John Daly
Zimbabwe Mark McNulty
United States Tom Watson
T5 Northern Ireland David Feherty 68 −4
United States Bill Glasson
Sweden Mats Hallberg
Fiji Vijay Singh
T9 Northern Ireland Darren Clarke 69 −3
United States John Cook
United States Jim Gallagher Jr.
England David Gilford
Sweden Per-Ulrik Johansson
United States Steve Lowery
United States Corey Pavin
Italy Costantino Rocca
United States Gene Sauers

Second round

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Friday, 21 July 1995

Place Player Score To par
T1 United States John Daly 67-71=138 −6
United States Brad Faxon 71-67=138
Japan Katsuyoshi Tomori 70-68=138
T4 United States Mark Brooks 70-69=139 −5
United States John Cook 69-70=139
United States Ben Crenshaw 67-72=139
South Africa Ernie Els 71-68=139
United States Corey Pavin 69-70=139
Italy Costantino Rocca 69-70=139
T10 United States Justin Leonard 73-67=140 −4
Fiji Vijay Singh 68-72=140
United States Payne Stewart 72-68=140

Amateurs: Sherry (−3), Webster (−2), Woods (+1), Clark (+3), Gallacher (+7).

Third round

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Saturday, 22 July 1995

Place Player Score To par
1 New Zealand Michael Campbell 71-71-65=207 −9
2 Italy Costantino Rocca 69-70-70=209 −7
3 Australia Steve Elkington 72-69-69=210 −6
T4 United States John Daly 67-71-73=211 −5
South Africa Ernie Els 71-68-72=211
United States Corey Pavin 69-70-72=211
Japan Katsuyoshi Tomori 70-68-73=211
T8 United States Mark Brooks 70-69-73=212 −4
Scotland Sam Torrance 71-70-71=212
T10 United States Bob Estes 72-70-71=213 −3
United States Brad Faxon 71-67-75=213
England Barry Lane 72-73-68=213
Australia Brett Ogle 73-69-71=213
Fiji Vijay Singh 68-72-73=213
United States Tom Watson 67-76-70=213

Final round

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Sunday, 23 July 1995

Place Player Score To par Money (£)
T1 United States John Daly 67-71-73-71=282 −6 Playoff
Italy Costantino Rocca 69-70-70-73=282
T3 England Steven Bottomley 70-72-72-69=283 −5 65,667
United States Mark Brooks 70-69-73-71=283
New Zealand Michael Campbell 71-71-65-76=283
T6 Australia Steve Elkington 72-69-69-74=284 −4 40,500
Fiji Vijay Singh 68-72-73-71=284
T8 United States Bob Estes 72-70-71-72=285 −3 33,333
England Mark James 72-75-68-70=285
United States Corey Pavin 69-70-72-74=285

Amateurs: Webster (+1), Sherry (+3), Woods (+7), Clark (+13).

Source:[4]

Early in the final round, John Daly moved clear with birdies at the 4th, 7th, and 8th holes, while Michael Campbell bogeyed the 5th and 6th. Mark Brooks was Daly's closest challenger for much of the day, but a double bogey on the 16th hole saw him fall back; a closing birdie on the 18th hole meant he tied Steven Bottomley's clubhouse score at 5 under par (283). Daly's lead had grown to three strokes on the 16th tee, but he made bogeys on both the 16th and 17th holes, where he hit his approach against the face of the Road Hole bunker. He finished his round at 6 under par (282). When Steve Elkington failed to birdie the 16th and bogeyed the 17th, Michael Campbell and Costantino Rocca with the only players remaining with a chance to match Daly's score. Rocca was one behind Daly playing the 17th hole; he hit his approach onto the road behind the green, but hit his recovery shot to 4 feet and made the putt for par to remain one stroke behind going to the final hole. Campbell made par on the 17th to leave him 2 behind.

The 72nd hole

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As the final group, consisting of Rocca and 54-hole leader Michael Campbell, approached the last hole, Daly had completed his round and was in at 6 under par, a stroke clear of Rocca and two ahead of Campbell. Both golfers had a chance to tie Daly and force a playoff, with Rocca needing birdie and Campbell eagle to do so.

Rocca hit a shorter shot than Campbell, who nearly reached the green on his first shot, and played his second first. However, he misplayed the chip shot and only hit the ball a few yards, leaving him with an extremely long putt from an area of the hole referred to as the "Valley of Sin". Campbell failed to hole out on his second shot, thus leaving Rocca as the only one who could prevent the outright win for Daly.[5]

As Daly and his wife Paulette watched on a monitor, believing that Rocca's mistake clinched the victory for him, Rocca lined up to attempt his putt for a tournament-tying birdie. Needing to make a sixty-five foot uphill putt with a sharp break to stay alive, Rocca managed to redeem himself for his error on the second shot as the putt rolled in to tie Daly at −6.

Playoff

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For this 1995 edition, the four holes pre-selected for the aggregate score playoff were 1, 2, 17 (St. Andrew's infamous "Road Hole"), and 18.[5] All were par four holes.

Daly emerged with the early lead after parring the first playoff hole while Rocca carded a bogey. He added a shot to his lead with a birdie on 2, leaving him at −1 to Rocca's +1 as the two men headed to the Road Hole for the third playoff hole.[5]

Rocca hit his first shot onto the fairway while Daly ended up in the left-side rough. On the next shot, Rocca hit his ball into the Road Bunker, one of the deepest such hazards on the course. To further complicate matters, Rocca's shot was nestled deep in the sand near the front of the bunker and it took him three tries to finally extricate himself from the trap. Rocca two-putted from there to a triple-bogey 7, which all but ensured Daly would win the championship as he headed to the last hole with a five-shot lead after parring the Road Hole. Daly finished with another par at 18, giving him a four-hole total of 15, one-under-par. Rocca salvaged some pride with a birdie three for 19, three-over-par and four back.[5]

Place Player Score To par Money (£)
1 United States John Daly 4-3-4-4=15 −1 125,000
2 Italy Costantino Rocca 5-4-7-3=19 +3 100,000

Scorecard

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Hole   1     2    17   18 
Par 4 4 4 4
United States Daly E −1 −1 −1
Italy Rocca +1 +1 +4 +3

Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par

Eagle Birdie Bogey Double bogey Triple bogey +

Source[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. pp. 35, 203. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  2. ^ Reilly, Rick (31 July 1995). "An epic finish". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 25 March 2010.
  3. ^ "124th Open Championship: course". Southeast Missourian. 20 July 1995. p. B1.
  4. ^ "1995 Open Championship Leaderboard". R&A. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d Parascenzo, Marino (24 July 1995). "Daly takes crown". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. C1.
  6. ^ Bonk, Thomas (24 July 1995). "Big bad John rules St. Andrews". Eugene Register-Guard. (Los Angeles Times). p. 1B.
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56°20′35″N 2°48′11″W / 56.343°N 2.803°W / 56.343; -2.803