From Havers to Stenson

The 152nd Open will be the 10th to be played at Royal Troon and the previous nine have had no shortage of memorable moments.

Here, we pick out some of the best…

1923 - Havers holes from the bunker

The 58th Open was the first to be held at Troon and came to a suitably dramatic conclusion.

Norfolk’s Arthur Havers held a slender lead from reigning Champion Golfer Walter Hagen throughout the final round and looked to be wobbling down the 18th when he found a greenside bunker.

But a fantastic hole-out helped seal his triumph, with Hagen narrowly failing to do likewise when he also found sand down the last.

Havers remains the only Brit to have lifted the Claret Jug at Royal Troon.

1987 - Calcavecchia pitches in

The 118th Open was coming to a thrilling conclusion when Mark Calcavecchia set off down the 12th hole.

He found himself in trouble when an approach landed on a mound of rough to the left of the green, but pulled off a remarkable pitch which flew down the stick and landed in the hole on the full.

Had it fallen an inch or two either side, the American would have had a mountain to climb.

As it was, he ended tied with Greg Norman and Wayne Grady before prevailing in a play-off.

2016 - Stenson sinks 50-footer

Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson were slugging it out like a pair of heavyweight boxers in the final round of The 145th Open.

Blows were traded in almost equal measure until Stenson began to pull away up the home straight, helped by a monstrous 50-foot putt on the 15th that helped him into a two-shot lead with three holes to play.

It was an advantage he retained to become the first Swede to win The Open.

1973 - Sarazen’s hole-in-one

The ‘Postage Stamp’ is the shortest hole used in The Open, at 123 yards, but that has not stopped it proving painful to countless players over the years.

Gene Sarazen, Champion Golfer of the Year in 1932, was among them, admitting: "For many years, the Postage Stamp hole had haunted me. I feared it.”

However, on his visit to Troon in 1973, the 71-year-old Sarazen conquered his demons with a stunning hole-in-one, 50 years after his first Open appearance on the same course.

Even in his eighth decade, Sarazen had produced one of the most famous shots of his storied career.

1950 - Trouble for Tissies

Ernie Els is among the others to have recorded a hole-in-one on Royal Troon’s famous 8th but it proved the undoing of Hermann Tissies in 1950.

The German Amateur Champion missed the green and found a bunker to the left, from which he then went into an opposite bunker.

The theme continued, Tissies hopping from sandpit to sandpit and eventually carding a 15 – in which he only needed a single putt.

1997 - Leonard seals it at 17

Justin Leonard was five shots off the lead heading into the final round of The 126th Open in 1997 but soon closed the gap.

His putter was hot throughout and he saved the best for the 17th green, rolling in a monster 30-footer for birdie which took him a shot clear at just the right time.

He closed out for a 65 and finished three shots ahead of Darren Clarke and Jesper Parnevik.

2004 - Albatross for Evans

The 133rd Open was won by Todd Hamilton, the sixth American in succession to conquer Royal Troon.

But there was a moment to savour for Brit Gary Evans on the opening day, in a case of the early bird catching the worm.

Playing as part of the first group, who were out at 6.30am, Evans carded an albatross at the par-5 4th after holing from 227 yards.

"I hit a 5-iron and it landed in the middle of the green," Evans explained.

"The next thing I knew arms were up in the air and everybody was going crazy. It was a fantastic feeling."