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The Unpredictable Open Championship

Ever the gentleman, Tom Watson congratulates Stewart Cink on his Open victory © Getty Images

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The Open Championship is the most unpredictable of the four majors and over the years has thrown up a shock winner or two. The last two victors, veterans Darren Clarke and Ernie Els, were well outside the favourites when they teed up on the first hole.

So will there be a surprise name etched into the Claret Jug come Monday? Or will someone win in highly unlikely circumstances? Do not bet against it. Here are ten others who did it previously…

Stewart Cink (2009)

Poor old Stewart Cink. The American won his maiden major championship at Turnberry in 2009 - but it was just so difficult to be pleased for him. Why? Because dear old Tom Watson - the legend, the gentleman - bogeyed the 72nd hole when a par would have seen him become the oldest major champion - breaking the record by some 11 years.

The whole golfing world was willing Watson on.

Todd Hamilton (2004)

After turning professional at the age of 22, Todd Hamilton struggled to make an impact in his homeland and spent most of his career on the Japan Golf Tour - where he is still the all-time leading non-Japanese money winner after 11 wins.

At the age of 38, Hamilton returned to the States and finally earned his PGA Tour card. In his debut season he won the Honda Classic and the Open Championship. Perhaps less surprisingly, he also won the PGA Tour's Rookie of the Year award for 2004.

Ian Baker-Finch (1991)

Ian Baker-Finch's Open Championship victory was a surprise, to say the least. The Australian had won just one PGA Tour event and one European Tour event previous - as well as a handful of tournaments in his homeland.

Sadly for IBF, his most famous Open Championship moment was not his victory. It was this:

Ben Curtis (2003)

Perhaps we should not have been so shocked when Hamilton lifted the Claret Jug, because 12 months previous the even more unknown Ben Curtis had done just that.

Curtis, a 300-1 outsider, capitalised on a Thomas Bjorn-meltdown to become just the second golfer in history to win on his major championship debut, joining Francis Ouimet in the record books.

Gene Sarazen (1932)

Gene Sarazen, already a four-time major champion when he sailed into Prince's, Kent, in 1932, was by no means a surprise winner. But it was a victory that changed the game forever.

Having found a bunker, Sarazen reached into his bag and pulled out a secret club that he designed himself.

Inspired by how air travels around the wing of an airplane, Sarazen built a lofted club with a flange lower than the leading edge so the club would "bounce" through the sand and produce more consistent shots.

His competitors called it "The Weapon", but at the 1932 Open Championship, the sand wedge was born.

Paul Lawrie (1999)

When Jean van de Velde pierced the middle of the fairway of the 72nd hole at Carnoustie, no one can have imagined what happened next - not least Paul Lawrie, some three shots behind the Frenchman.

Van de Velde's collapse will forever be part of Open Championship folklore, and gave Lawrie the opportunity to come back from the largest third-round deficit ever. Bizarrely, Lawrie was never leader or co-leader at any point during the tournament.

Tiger Woods (2000)

Another unsurprising winner, but the manner in which Tiger Woods did it was astonishing. The American won the first of three Opens - and fourth of 14 majors overall - at St Andrews with a frankly ridiculous 19-under par total, still to this day a record for all majors championships.

The win also meant Woods became the fifth player to win the career grand slam and, at 24 years of age, the youngest.

Padraig Harrington (2008)

Padraig Harrington's 2007 Open victory was not much of a shock - the Irishman had already won 13 times on the European and PGA Tours. But just days prior to his Open defence at Birkdale it did not look like he was going to play when he hurt his wrist in practice.

But as the old adage says: Beware the injured golfer.

Perhaps the most surprising stat about Harrington's second Open victory is that it still remains his last win on the PGA and European Tours.

John Daly (1995)

The colourful American with almost as many ex-wives as professional victories was already a major winner when he stepped onto the first tee at St Andrews in 1995, but no one could have predicted that 72 holes later the 'Wild Thing' would be in the clubhouse holding the lead.

Daly, watching on a television screen, went through every emotion as Italian Constantino Rocca first duffed his ball into the dreaded Valley of Sin and then holed a monster 60-foot putt to force a play-off.

Daly went on to win comfortably in the extra holes and is now the answer of the pub quiz question: "Who is the only eligible golfer to win more than one major but never played at the Ryder Cup?"

Ben Hogan (1953)

Wait. The same Ben Hogan who had recorded 34 top ten finishes in major championships - including eight wins - by the time he rocked up at Carnoustie in 1953? Yes. The very same Ben Hogan.

The golf uber-legend's win in his first and only Open Championship was a remarkarble feat in sporting history - as were his five previous major titles. Why? Because in February 1949, Hogan was in a head-on collision with a bus. He flung himself across wife Valerie in an act to save her life, and it ended up saving his own, as the steering column will have undoubtedly killed him. Still, a fractured pelvis, collar bone and ankle - not to mention the blood clots - will keep you off the course for a while.

Not only that, the win meant he became the first player in history to win the Open, Masters and US Open in the same year - a record not matched to this date. Hogan was denied the chance to also win the PGA Championship because it was actually played over the same weekend as the Open.

And not even Hogan could manage that…

Follow Alex Perry on Twitter: @AlexPerryESPN

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