1995 Open Championship

1995 Open Championship
	Front cover of the 1995 Open Program
Tournament information
Dates	20–23 July 1995
Location	St Andrews, Scotland
Course(s)	Old Course at St Andrews
Tour(s)	European Tour; PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	72
Length	6,933 yards (6,340 m)
Field	159 players, 103 after cut
Cut	148 (+4)
Prize fund	£1,250,000 ; €1,876,980; $2,000,000
Winner's share	£125,000 ; €175,000; $199,375
Champion
	John Daly
	282 (−6), playoff
	← 1994 1996 →

St Andrews

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Location in Scotland

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

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

First round

Thursday, 20 July 1995

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

Second round

Friday, 21 July 1995

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

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

Third round

Saturday, 22 July 1995

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

Final round

Sunday, 23 July 1995

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

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

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	John Daly	4-3-4-4=15	−1	125,000
2	Costantino Rocca	5-4-7-3=19	+3	100,000

Scorecard

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

Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par

	Eagle		Birdie		Bogey		Double bogey		Triple bogey +

Source^[6]

References

^ ^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.
^ Reilly, Rick (31 July 1995). "An epic finish". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 25 March 2010.
^ "124th Open Championship: course". Southeast Missourian. 20 July 1995. p. B1.
^ "1995 Open Championship Leaderboard". R&A. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Parascenzo, Marino (24 July 1995). "Daly takes crown". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. C1.
^ Bonk, Thomas (24 July 1995). "Big bad John rules St. Andrews". Eugene Register-Guard. (Los Angeles Times). p. 1B.

External links

56°20′35″N 2°48′11″W / 56.343°N 2.803°W / 56.343; -2.803

[ocmg11-1] "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. pp. 35, 203. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012.

[sijl95bro-2] Reilly, Rick (31 July 1995). "An epic finish". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 25 March 2010.

[95brocs-3] "124th Open Championship: course". Southeast Missourian. 20 July 1995. p. B1.

[dbg1995oc-4] "1995 Open Championship Leaderboard". R&A. Retrieved 9 July 2022.

[ppp95brord4-5] Parascenzo, Marino (24 July 1995). "Daly takes crown". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. C1.

[erg95brord4-6] Bonk, Thomas (24 July 1995). "Big bad John rules St. Andrews". Eugene Register-Guard. (Los Angeles Times). p. 1B.

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[5]

[6]

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