Can it really be 40 years since Seve Ballesteros won his second Open Championship, in the suitably regal setting of St Andrews? It is, yet those images of that fist pump on the final green when victory was sealed with a birdie remains as fresh in the mind today as it was back then.
The August ’84 edition of Golf Monthly captured Super Seve in all his splendour as he came from two shots behind Tom Watson and Ian Baker-Finch going into the final round to win by two from Watson and Bernhard Langer.
Playing in the penultimate group, all was tied up as he played the 17th, the Road Hole. Colin Callander takes up the story.
“He pulled his tee shot into the left hand rough. There were many in the packed grandstands around the green who felt that the title had slipped away from his grasp. Certainly few could have predicted what happened next. Playing from a lie which he later described as “not too good but not too bad”, the Spaniard fired a breathtaking six-iron onto the top side of the green. Two putts ensured the par which had eluded him on his three previous visits to the hole.”
Ballesteros reflected that the six-iron won him the claret jug. “It was 200 yards to the flag and it was the key shot of the championship for me.”
Golf Monthly’s coverage of the Open is outstanding, including a comprehensive report, an interview with Seve, brilliant photography, Tony Jacklin’s Open diary and a news section. When you add in the fact that August 1984’s issue also includes their report on the US Open, it’s one not to miss. You can find it here.
