1997 -

Aberdeen's Paul Lawrie won perhaps the most amazing Open championship in history.

The 30-year-old, who a week ago did not even know he would be playing at Carnoustie, triumphed when he produced unquestionably the best shot of his life to settle a four-hole play-off with American Justin Leonard and Frenchman Jean Van de Velde.

A qualifier like Lawrie, Van de Velde had stood on the 72nd tee with a three-stroke lead and with the chance to become France's first winner since Arnaud Massy in 1907 in his grasp.

But then came drama the like of which has never been seen before in the event - and at the end of it Lawrie was celebrating becoming Scotland's first winner of the title since Sandy Lyle in 1985.

He was also the first Scot to win in Scotland since James Braid in 1910 - Edinburgh-born Tommy Armour had become an American citizen by the time of his Carnoustie victory in 1931 - and the first player in major championship history to win after starting the final round 10 strokes behind.

Ranked 159th in the world, Lawrie collected the record £350,000 first prize and with it guaranteed himself a Ryder Cup debut in September.

After hitting his approach to the 487-yard 18th - the final play-off hole - to within three feet of the flag he made the birdie putt to win by three. He had also holed from 10 feet at the 17th - and all this after the round of his life, a four under par 67.

But all the sympathies lay with Van de Velde.

With only one victory in his previous 288 European tour events - the 1993 Rome Masters - Van de Velde had gone from five ahead at the start of the day to one behind after 11 holes, but simply refused to give up.

Helped by a collapse from Australian Craig Parry and a last-hole blunder by America's 1997 winner Justin Leonard, Van de Velde seemed to have conquered his nerves and the toughest course in the world. But there was one hole to come.

Lawrie and Leonard had given up all hope of winning when Van de Velde stood on the 72nd tee at three over par.

They were both in the clubhouse on six over. But then Van de Velde wildly pushed his drive close to the burn near the 17th tee.

Still there seemed no problem. He could take a double bogey six and still become the first qualifier to win since 1962, when everybody in the field had to go through the preliminary stage.

But Van de Velde chose to try to find the distant green rather than lay up short. His shot hit the side of the grandstand and incredibly bounced back over the burn into knee-high rough.

For fully five minutes he contemplated trying to play it out, removing his shoes and socks and rolling up his trousers to the knee.

He even climbed down the wall to think over his options and appeared to be sinking in the mud, but eventually decided to take a penalty drop back in the rough.

That was four and he could still win by getting up and down, but the drama was not over. His fifth shot went into the greenside bunker, he came out to six feet and made it to send a drama-filled championship into extra time.

Van de Velde carded a closing 77 as the trio finished on the six-over mark of 290, the highest winning score since Fred Daly took three more and triumphed at Hoylake in 1947.

Van de Velde's golf had descended into farce and that continued when the play-off eventually began at the 472-yard 15th in steady rain.

They drew lots to see who drove first, Van de Velde earned the right and promptly hooked into gorse.

Lawrie, then Leonard found deep rough, but they still held the advantage as the Frenchman had to take a penalty drop.

There was another long hold-up while he decided where to drop before he found his way back onto the fairway before pitching on for four.

His two opponents had to chop out, then both failed to find the green with their third. Lawrie then rolled a 70-foot putt up to the holeside for a tap-in bogey five.

Leonard chipped and saved a five as well, but Van de Velde had to accept a double bogey six after missing from 18 feet.

None of the three could make the green at the 250-yard 16th. Lawrie and Van de Velde were bunkered, Leonard in tangly rough.

Van de Velde came out to eight feet and missed to be three over par, Lawrie lipped out to bogey as well and stand two over and Leonard, having seen his first chip come up well short and roll back towards him, chipped to five feet and holed so that he was two over as well.

Television commentator Peter Alliss was describing the play at that point as "abysmal - a total anti-climax". But something was salvaged with the finish.

Leonard almost holed from 35 feet at the third extra hole, the 17th, but after he missed Van de Velde sank a 15-footer and Lawrie from 10, both for birdie.

So Lawrie took a one-shot lead over the other two back to the 18th tee. Van de Velde had a chance to make amends, but went into the left-hand rough this time and could not recover.

Leonard and Lawrie were both on the fairway, but Leonard went first and for the second time in the day dumped his ball into the burn.

Lawrie then seized his chance with the most inspired shot of his career. And he could hardly believe it.

"It feels really good - I am sure I am going to cry," he said. "I thought there was no way - it's just incredible.

"But I tried to take one shot at a time and somehow I managed it. It can't get any better than this."

Earlier - hours and hours earlier - it had taken just eight holes for Van de Velde to lose his five-stroke overnight lead.

He bogeyed the second by missing from four feet, then the third after hitting an iron off the tee into the rough.

Parry birdied there from three feet to slice the deficit to two and there was another two-shot swing at the short eighth. Van de Velde three-putted from the front edge, Parry converted a nine-foot birdie chance.

Meanwhile, Lawrie was making his spectacular move.

The Aberdeen 30-year-old, sixth at Sandwich six years ago, had three birdies in an outward 34, then hit a majestic long iron to three feet at the difficult 479-yard par four 12th.

That lifted him to joint fourth with world number one Tiger Woods and Argentina's Angel Cabrera and, after stumbling at the short 13th by going into a bunker, a chip to two feet at the 515-yard next kept him very much interested.

But the Frenchman responded to being caught with a massive drive down nine and a 15-foot birdie putt. With nine to play he was back in front on his own.

Leonard three-putted the 10th to slip three behind, but the damage that did was nothing compared to Woods at the 12th.

He had to play his second with the ball above his feet and blocked it right into gorse. It ended in a double bogey six and at seven behind he had left himself too much ground to make up. He eventually finished joint seventh.

Lawrie did not buckle in his bid, though. He was in rough off the last tee, but he had no thought of laying up short of the Barry Burn.

The ball obligingly hopped over it, did finish in sand, but he splashed out to six feet, made it for a wonderful 67 and set the clubhouse target. The drama was only just starting.

Parry rejoined Van de Velde with a 25-foot birdie putt at the 10th and needed only a par on the next to lead on his own for the first time. Van de Velde drove into rough and could not make the green.

The course - or was it the pressure? - then got to Parry in a big way, though.

He went from a bad lie in the rough off the 12th tee to an even worse one on the other side of the fairway. He had a hack, but moved the ball only a few feet, then pitched over the green and ran up a triple bogey seven.

Van de Velde bogeyed himself, but top spot was his again at four over as the action turned from the sublime to the ridiculous.

But their adventures reawakened Leonard's hopes and a pitch to four feet at the long 14th brought him alongside Van de Velde.

Everything pointed to the American taking the crown, but there were more twists to come. He came up short of the 15th and missed his eight-foot putt for par, Van de Velde two-putted the 14th for birdie.

Suddenly he was two ahead again, then three. But with the prize within his grasp and the eyes of the golfing world upon him he could not close it out and after the not-so-magnificent seven he had to try to get his mind in gear for the play-off.

He failed in that and instead it was Lawrie who amazingly became the first player from outside the world's top 150 to win a major since the rankings were introduced 13 years ago.

Collated scores after the fourth round of the 128th Open Golf Championship at Carnoustie Golf Club, Scotland (Gbr and Irl unless stated, Par 71):

290 P Lawrie 73 74 76 67 (£350,000), J Leonard (USA) 73 74 71 72 (£185,000), J Van de Velde (Fra) 75 68 70 77 (£185,000)

(Lawrie won four-hole playoff. Lawrie 5 4 3 3, Leonard 5 4 4 5, Van de Velde 6 4 3 5)

291 A Cabrera (Arg) 75 69 77 70, C Parry (Aus) 76 75 67 73 (£100,000 each)

293 G Norman (Aus) 76 70 75 72 (£70,000)

294 D Love III (USA) 74 74 77 69, T Woods (USA) 74 72 74 74, D Frost (Rsa) 80 69 71 74 (£50,000 each)

295 J Furyk (USA) 78 71 76 70, S Dunlap (USA) 72 77 76 70, R Goosen (Rsa) 76 75 73 71, J Parnevik (Swe) 74 71 78 72, H Sutton (USA) 73 78 72 72

296 S Verplank (USA) 80 74 73 69, T Yoneyama (Jpn) 77 74 73 72, C Montgomerie 74 76 72 74

297 L Westwood 76 75 74 72, C Rocca (Ita) 81 69 74 73, P Sjoland (Swe) 74 72 77 74, B Langer (Ger) 72 77 73 75, F Nobilo (Nzl) 76 76 70 75, A Coltart 74 74 72 77

298 E Els (Rsa) 74 76 76 72, P O'Malley (Aus) 76 75 74 73, B Watts (USA) 74 73 77 74, I Woosnam 76 74 74 74, M A Martin (Spa) 74 76 72 76

299 P Harrington 77 74 74 74

300 P Fulke (Swe) 75 75 77 73, D Clarke 76 75 76 73, T Bjorn (Den) 79 73 75 73, J Maggert (USA) 75 77 75 73, P Stewart (USA) 79 73 74 74, T Herron (USA) 81 70 74 75, L Mattiace (USA) 73 74 75 78

301 P Baker 77 74 78 72, P Affleck 79 75 74 73, D Hart (USA) 73 79 75 74, M McNulty (Zim) 73 77 76 75, M Weir (Can) 83 71 72 75, Nick Price (Zim) 77 74 73 77

302 D Waldorf (USA) 80 72 76 74, M James 76 74 74 78

303 D Howell 76 78 79 70, J Sluman (USA) 80 74 77 72, S Pate (USA) 73 76 80 74, N Ozaki (Jpn) 74 78 75 76

304 S Allan (Aus) 79 73 83 69, T Levet (Fra) 78 76 76 74, Choi Kyoung-ju (Kor) 76 72 81 75, D Robertson 76 75 78 75, Neil Price 79 74 76 75, K Tomori (Jpn) 74 75 79 76, B Estes (USA) 75 76 77 76, P Lonard (Aus) 76 78 74 76, B Hughes (Aus) 76 71 78 79

305 S Luna (Spa) 78 74 80 73, D Paulson (USA) 74 78 79 74, P Price 77 76 77 75, J Robinson 77 76 77 75

306 D Duval (USA) 79 75 76 76, J Rystrom (Swe) 78 75 76 77, M Brooks (USA) 82 70 76 78

307 J Sandelin (Swe) 75 78 77 77

308 S Struver (Ger) 77 73 79 79

309 L Thompson 75 78 76 80

310 B Davis 80 71 82 77, J Huston (USA) 80 71 77 82

311 L Janzen (USA) 80 74 79 78

312 S Katayama (Jpn) 76 75 78 83

313 M Thompson 76 78 78 81, D Cooper 75 77 76 85