The 11 most memorable shots in Open Championship history at St. Andrews

With now 30 British Opens played at St. Andrews dating to 1873, distilling the history of the Open and the Old Course into a dozen or fewer shots is no easy task.

Despite opening and closing holes that could be considered relatively easy — until the pressure is on — St. Andrews has provided some incredible moments.

For example, No. 1 is the easiest opening tee shot in championship golf, and also the most nerve-racking. The hole is fraught with history, tradition, the peering eyes of the R&A members from the nearby clubhouse and the prospects of trying not to go out-of-bounds right (easily within play) or left (as Ian Baker-Finch did) on a fairway that’s 100 yards wide.

Meanwhile, the home hole at St. Andrews is the least worrisome of the lot, as long as you don’t park your tee shot across the white boundary fence along The Link (a road) and its frontage of houses, hotels, clubhouses and shops. The green is indeed drivable, given the slightest favoring wind and some dry ground. The tee shot is toward the clock on the R&A clubhouse, from which it’s a wedge, bump-and-run or long putt through a deep swale (Valley of Sin) to a green sitting in the middle of town and farmed by huge spectator stands. It’s not a very testing hole but certainly a very sporting one – dense with tradition and emotion. In that sense, it’s a fitting end.

Many memories have been made at those two holes and others. Here is a look at the 11 greatest:

11
Jock Hutchison (1921): Hole-in-one at No. 8, first round

Jock Hutchinson checks his scorecard during the 1936 Masters Tournament. (Augusta National/Getty Images)

With only two par 3s – Nos. 8 and 11 – St. Andrews offers limited chances for holes-in-one. Yet Jock Hutchison nearly made two in the same round. Hutchison, the 1920 PGA Championship winner, was born in St. Andrews but emigrated to the United States as a young man. He arrived back in Scotland early in 1921 and played many rounds on the Old Course in preparation for the Open. Hutchison aced the 142-yard eighth hole, then drove the 303-yard, par-4 ninth and missed holing out by inches. Those eagles proved pivotal in an opening-round 72. Hutchison tied amateur Roger Wethered at 296, then won the 36-hole playoff by nine shots.

10
Tommy Nakajima (1978): ‘The Sands of Nakajima’

Tommy Nakajima at the Augusta National Golf Course during the 1983…