The 1995 Open Championship was a

men's major golf championship The men's major golf championships, commonly known as the major championships, and often referred to simply as the majors, are the most prestigious tournaments in golf. Historically, the national open and amateur championships of Great Britain a ...

and the 124th

Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

held from 20–23 July at the

Old Course at St Andrews The Old Course at St Andrews, also known as the Old Lady or the Grand Old Lady, is considered the oldest golf course. It is a public course over common land in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland and is held in trust by the St Andrews Links Trust under ...

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fou ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. John Daly won his first Open Championship and second major title in a four-hole playoff over

Costantino Rocca Costantino Rocca (born 4 December 1956) is an Italian golfer. He was long known as the most successful male golfer that Italy has produced, until the 2018 success of Francesco Molinari, who credited Rocca as an inspiration to him following his Ope ...

. This was the final Open appearance for two-time champion

Arnold Palmer Arnold Daniel Palmer (September 10, 1929 – September 25, 2016) was an American professional golfer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most charismatic players in the sport's history. Dating back to 1955, he won numerous ev ...

and the first appearance for three-time champion

Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records. * * * Woods is widely regarded as ...

Course

The Old Course at St Andrews Previous lengths of the course for The Open Championship (since 1950):

Round summaries

First round

''Thursday, 20 July 1995''

Second round

''Friday, 21 July 1995'' Amateurs: ''

Sherry Sherry ( es, jerez ) is a fortified wine made from white grapes that are grown near the city of Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, Spain. Sherry is produced in a variety of styles made primarily from the Palomino grape, ranging from light versi ...

(−3),

Webster Webster may refer to: People *Webster (surname), including a list of people with the surname *Webster (given name), including a list of people with the given name Places Canada *Webster, Alberta *Webster's Falls, Hamilton, Ontario United State ...

(−2), Woods (+1),

Clark Clark is an English language surname, ultimately derived from the Latin with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educate ...

(+3)'',

Gallacher Gallacher is a surname of Irish origin and is a variant of the Gaelic Ó Gallchóbhair found chiefly in Scotland. The name Ó Gallchóbhair has been variously anglicised as Gallagher, Gallaher, Gallaugher, Goligher etc. Notable people with the sur ...

(+7).

Third round

''Saturday, 22 July 1995''

Final round

''Sunday, 23 July 1995'' Amateurs: Webster (+1), Sherry (+3), Woods (+7), Clark (+13). Source: 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

As the final group, consisting of Rocca and 54-hole leader

Michael Campbell Michael Shane Campbell (born 23 February 1969) is a New Zealand professional golfer who is best known for having won the 2005 U.S. Open and, at the time, the richest prize in golf, the £1,000,000 HSBC World Match Play Championship, in the s ...

, 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. 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

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. 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. 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.

Scorecard

''Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par'' Source

References

External links

St Andrews 1995 (Official site)

{{coord, 56.343, -2.803, type:event, display=title The Open Championship Golf tournaments in Scotland